SPAS^TM Stent Positioning Assisting System - Next Level of Safety in PCI

Background: Imprecise stent deployment is a well-known clinical observation that is usually underestimated or ignored. High percentage of PCI time is dedicated to wire manipulation and stent positioning. Operator’s varying skill levels lead to diverse outcomes and in some cases to serious complications. While the incidence of STEMI and stroke is on the rise, time to stent deployment become more critical. Stent Positioning Assisting System, SPAS™ is a novel tool for precise stent positioning to allow for safer implantation.

Methods: Custom survey of 512 experienced interventional cardiologists and radiologists in Germany, UK, Spain, Italy, China, USA, France and Japan was conducted to identify clinical need for an innovative precise stent deployment tool. The main criteria used: (i) work experience of 3+ years, (ii) 100+ PTCA in the past 12 months.

Results: 79% of the surveyed physicians recognized clinical importance of the novel positioning tool. 80% intended to use SPAS™ in their practice. Majority of PCI specialists reported significant difficulty and complexity using contemporary techniques when stenting of bifurcation lesions of the coronary artery (72%), ostium lesions (76%) and the left main LCA (61%). Achieving accuracy of stent deployment was perceived as a major problem in stenting of ACS (52%) and in “stent-to-stent” implantations (66%).

Conclusion. Significant number of PCIs are still complex and associated with many risks even with contemporary techniques. SPAS™ is expected to bring stenting to the next level of safety allowing any physician to perform at a highly-skilled operator level to achieve best outcomes for the patients.