Philips’ LumiGuide Enhanced 160-cm Endovascular Navigation Wire Gains FDA Approval

September 17, 2024—Royal Philips announced the introduction of the FDA-approved, 160-cm version of its LumiGuide endovascular navigation wire, which uses the company’s Fiber Optic RealShape (FORS) technology.

According to the company, the introduction of a longer FORS-enabled LumiGuide navigation wire in the United States allows clinicians to visualize a broader range of catheters. The new 160-cm (63-inch) LumiGuide wire provides greater reach and enhanced catheter loading possibilities than the company’s existing 120-cm (47-inch) guidewire. It enables physicians to experience three-dimensional (3D) device guidance with more catheters than before, enabling use of the technology for more patients and procedures. Philips announced the introduction of the existing LumiGuide powered by the FORS technology in February 2024.

Philips’ LumiGuide—powered by FORS technology—allows interventionists to see their guidewires and catheters with 3D, color images as they manipulate them inside the patient’s body, from any angle, in real-time, and with minimal radiation. The FORS technology simplifies navigation in tortuous vessels, so complex cases such as aortic repair procedures can be completed 37% faster and use 70% less x-ray imaging during the process, noted the company.

Also, Philips advised that LumiGuide integrates into the company’s Azurion image-guided therapy system, allowing its use alongside pre-operative cross-sectional imaging.

The company stated that the new, enhanced LumiGuide guidewire was used for the first time on a patient by Carlos Timaran, MD, who is Professor and Chief of Endovascular Surgery at UT Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas, Texas. Prof. Timaran used the technology during a complex aortic aneurism repair procedure, which marked the 1000th patient treated using FORS technology since it was introduced in 2020.

“The new enhanced Philips LumiGuide navigation guidewire represents a significant leap forward in endovascular surgery, offering unprecedented 3D visualization and precision during complex procedures,” commented Prof. Timaran in Philips’ press release. “As the first to use this guidewire for a complex aortic repair, I experienced firsthand its potential to revolutionize how we approach minimally invasive vascular interventions. The patient who underwent this groundbreaking procedure is doing well, further validating the efficacy of this innovative technology.”