January 7, 2009--LightLab Imaging (Westford, MA) announced several important developments in the field this past year that it says significantly increased its leadership position in intravascular optical coherence tomography (OCT). LightLab is using its portfolio of proprietary technology to design, manufacture, and sell intravascular OCT systems that aid interventional cardiologists in the diagnosis and treatment of coronary artery disease.
With a ten-fold higher resolution than intravascular ultrasound, LightLab says OCT is poised to become the gold standard imaging modality when high resolution images are essential. As of December 31, 2008, Light Lab has more than 300 M2 and M2x OCT imaging systems in 20 countries in Europe, Asia, the Middle East, and South America. Per-system catheter utilization increased 45% in 2008 over 2007, and the number of imaging catheters sold in 2008 increased 90% from 2007 levels. The number of clinical OCT procedures using LightLab Imaging OCT systems has now surpassed 10,000, providing LightLab with unsurpassed "real-world" experience with OCT.
"From all perspectives, LightLab is recognized as the clear global leader in intravascular OCT," said David Kolstad, LightLab Imaging's president and CEO. "During 2008, we continued to execute strategies that will further extend our leadership position in the year ahead. Among them, we expect to shortly announce the initiation of patient enrollment in a major clinical study of our intravascular OCT system here in the United States."
OCT is rapidly becoming indispensable in the evaluation of coronary stents. This November, OCT was recognized in a special meeting article in the European Heart Journal in which the European Society of Cardiology and the European Association for Percutaneous Cardiovascular Interventions together with European regulatory bodies recommended OCT as a modality for assessing stent coverage in clinical studies designed to support regulatory submissions for new stents in Europe.
For more information, go to www.lightlabimaging.com.
--Posted by Gail Overton, [email protected].