St. Jude's Ilumien Optis System Hits Japan

The device, which the company says is the only of its kind, uses fractional flow reserve (FFR) in conjunction with optical coherence tomography (OCT) imaging technology to give physicians a physiological and anatomical view of the coronary vessels. The FFR and OCT measurements allow physicians to more easily differentiate plaque build-up and determine if the narrowed arteries are causing ischemia, or a restriction in blood flow, ultimately assisting in stent placement.

“The Ilumien Optis system enables a higher image resolution, and thus makes it possible for us to analyze difficult anatomical structures, allowing me to focus on diagnostic and treatment strategies,” says Dr. Takashi Akasaka of Wakayama Medical University. “Also, this new analytical tool will be helpful for sizing and placing the stent. This technology has become increasingly important to help efficiently diagnose and treat patients.”

Th Ilumien Optis' OCT technology uses an imaging catheter to capture near-infrared light imaging and measure important vessel characteristics otherwise invisible or difficult to assess with older intracoronary imaging tools. This creates high-resolution setting and realtime, 3-D reconstruction that offers a 360-degree panoramic view of the vessel. This three-dimensional representation, which has previously only been available off-line and not in real time, enables better visualization in preparation for stenting and evaluation of the stent’s position once placed. St. Jude says the potential in this is to help physicians diagnose their patients more quickly.

-Chris Wiltz is the Associate Editor of MD+DI