Terumo Launches Glidewire Advantage and 8-F Pinnacle Destination Guiding Sheath

September 10, 2009—Terumo Interventional Systems (Somerset, NJ) announced the launch of the Glidewire Advantage peripheral guidewire. The device is a single wire that enables the operator to both cross the lesion and deliver interventional devices, such as balloons and stents.

According to the company, the Glidewire Advantage combines Terumo's Glidewire construction on the distal 25 cm with a spiral polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) coating on the proximal end so that the guidewire easily navigates and crosses the lesion, while also providing the operator with tactile feel and support for secure device placement. The two wire sections are fused together using Terumo's DuoCore technology.

"On selected cases, this may be the only wire we use," commented Vikram S. Kashyap, MD. "Thus, access, sheath placement, and intervention can be performed using this and negating two or three other wire choices."

Terumo Interventional Systems also announced the expansion of its line of Pinnacle Destination guiding sheaths. The introduction of the 8-F Destination guiding sheath extends the range of interventional procedures that can be performed by the product line to include atherectomy and stent graft procedures. The Pinnacle Destination line supports all applicable diagnostic and interventional procedures with a range of sizes from 5-F to 8-F, lengths, and tip shapes, as well as two different valve types.

According to the company, the Pinnacle Destination design includes an atraumatic tip, which minimizes the potential for vessel damage, allows smooth transition from guidewire to dilator and dilator to sheath, and helps to ensure easy penetration without force. The sheath has a hydrophilic coating on a nylon outer layer, with a PTFE inner layer, and stainless steel coil.

"Pinnacle Destination is reliably consistent and extremely durable," commented Barry Weinstock, MD. "The addition of the 8-F size helps me expand the types of cases I can perform with confidence, providing me with a device that creates an environment that can withstand challenging manipulations often required to deliver devices. The very first case I tried was a complex case in very challenging anatomy, and the Destination allowed me to achieve an excellent result."