Crossing Total Occlusions Using a Hydraulic Pressure Wave: Development of the Wave Catheter

With the ongoing miniaturization of surgical instruments, the ability to apply large forces on tissues for resection becomes challenging and the risk of buckling becomes more real. In an effort to allow for high force application in slender instruments, in this study, we have investigated using a hydraulic pressure wave (COMSOL model) and...

Endovascular crossing of Chronic Total Occlusions using an impulse: An explorative design study

In this study we investigated whether exerting an impulse on a Chronic Total Occlusion (CTO) improves the success rate of CTO crossing as compared to the currently used method of statically pushing the guidewire against the CTO. A prototype (Ø2 mm) was developed that generates translational momentum using a spring-loaded indenter and converts it...

Crossing Total Occlusions: Navigating Towards Recanalization

Chronic total occlusions (CTOs) represent the “last frontier” of percutaneous interventions. The main technical challenges lies in crossing the guidewire into the distal true lumen, which is primarily due to three problems: device buckling during initial puncture, inadequate visualization, and the inability to actively navigate through the CTO....