Cook has received the CE mark for the new Z-Trak Introduction System for its Zenith TX2 TAA Endovascular Stent Graft. Able to track easily well into the aortic arch, this next-generation Z-Trak Plus Introduction System provides trackability and manoeuvrability for precise, controllable device orientation and deployment of the company’s thoracic aneurysm stent graft.
Utilising a hydrophilic-coated Cook Flexor sheath and super-elastic alloy inner cannula, the Z-Trak Plus system was designed to provide enhanced precision and flexibility of entry and tracking. The Flexor sheath features kink-resistant tubing technology for flexibility and trackability during use. The system allows the operator to make last-minute adjustments prior to deployment of the stent graft, affording physicians the ability to achieve highly accurate placement at their own pace. The trigger-wire delivery mechanism allows adjustment of the endograft in a semi-deployed state for pinpoint accuracy. This is supported with a semi-deployed trifold configuration that prevents ‘wind-sock’ effect during deployment, thus providing the physician with the choice to not slow or stop the heart during deployment.
Cook’s Zenith TX2 TAA Endovascular Graft, indicated for treatment of descending thoracic aortic aneurysms and type B aortic dissection, is a tube of surgical graft material reinforced with self-expanding stainless steel Z-stents that is made up of two parts. It is sized to the length of thoracic aorta that needs to be covered to seal off the aneurysm. The graft is positioned in the aorta across the aneurysm to prevent blood flow into the aneurysm. Cook claims the TX2 is the only stent graft with circumferentially anchoring barbs on both the proximal and distal segments of the device, which provides best-in-class fixation. Radial force from the self-expanding Z-stents allows the graft to provide an excellent seal within the patient’s aorta.
“We’ve designed a delivery system for a thoracic stent graft that rivals even the most elegantly trackable devices used in coronary angioplasty,” said Barry Thomas, global leader of Cook Medical’s endovascular therapy products division. “Often the biggest problem encountered during endovascular treatment of thoracic aortic aneurysm is putting the device in place for deployment. By combining the Flexor sheath’s kink-resistance, flexibility and low coefficient of friction, the Z-Trak delivery system allows the physician to navigate the aortic arch more easily to deliver the stent graft to the precise location desired.”
Date: Feb/2007
