OCTOBER 22, 2008 -- Tomophase Corp. (Burlington, MA) says it will display the first in-vivo cross-sectional images of implanted pulmonary stents using its proprietary optical coherence tomography (OCT) system at next week's meeting of the American College of CHEST Physicians (Philadelphia, PA, October 27-29). The images were captured using the Tomophase OCT System as part of an ongoing research collaboration with Dr. Armin Ernst, Director of Interventional Pulmonology and Dr. Hisashi Tsukada, Research Associate, at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center (Boston, MA).
Tomophase says its OCT system enables the interventional pulmonologist to clearly visualize sub-epithelial tissue structures in the airway. The
system, which is not yet FDA-approved, uses a near-infrared emitting
probe in a catheter which is integrated with a conventional video bronchoscope. The images captured by the research team at Beth Israel are from in-vivo animal model tracheal tissue. During the next several months, the company plans to continue this work as it progresses towards use of the system in human clinical studies.
"Much of the structure in the airways beneath the epithelial layer is essentially invisible to clinicians. Providing real-time access to this information could provide major benefits to both diagnostic and therapeutic approaches to many pulmonary diseases. We believe this research collaboration with Beth Israel Deaconess is an important first step in establishing the utility of this breakthrough technology in both research and the clinic," said Dr. Peter Norris, CEO of Tomophase.
"These latest imaging results from the Tomophase OCT system show excellent detail in the region surrounding the implanted stent," commented Dr. Ernst. "As such, it may ultimately prove very useful to clinicians in understanding the detailed nature of the interaction between the stent material, including those made from bio-absorbable materials, and the surrounding tissue. High-resolution, cross-sectional OCT imaging technology may also have the potential to provide real-time evaluation of other drug and device/tissue interactions as well."
"Our goal at Tomophase is to use our proprietary optical technology to help clinicians image subsurface pulmonary tissue at a level of resolution currently unavailable, while not exposing the patient to potentially harmful radiation, UV light or contrast agents," said Norris.
More information:
Tomophase Corporation
American College of CHEST Physicians meeting