A Maple Grove, Minn., company has launched a new long-term hemodialysis catheter with a coating it says will decrease thrombus accumulation.
The Duraspan Catheter, which is made by r4 Vascular, has a novel coating on the catheter surface that mimics the glycocalyx layer found on natural endothelial tissue surfaces in vessel walls. Laboratory tests of the Duraspan catheter have demonstrated an 87% reduction in platelet adhesion and thrombus accumulation compared with uncoated catheters, according to the company.
In developing the catheter, r4 Vascular engineers used stealth coating technologies, approaching the thrombus problem by camouflaging the catheter in a biomimetic coating, said Don Geer, company president. The catheter is available in either a 3.5 or a 7 cm tip stagger version.
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