Surmodics Conducts Limited Market Evaluation of Pounce LP Thrombectomy System

January 22, 2024—Surmodics, Inc. announced successful early clinical use of the company’s Pounce LP (low-profile) thrombectomy system.

The device, which received FDA clearance in June 2023, is currently in limited market evaluation. A full commercial launch is planned after completion of the market evaluation.

According to Surmodics, the Pounce thrombectomy devices are intended for the nonsurgical removal of thrombi and emboli from the peripheral arterial vasculature. The new Pounce LP system is indicated for use in vessels ranging from 2 to 4 mm in diameter, sizes typical of vessels found below the knee. It complements the original Pounce thrombectomy system, which is indicated for use in vessels 3.5 to 6 mm in diameter. The original device was introduced in 2021.

The company noted that the first physician to use the Pounce LP system was Lucas Ferrer Cardona, MD, a vascular surgeon with the Dell Seton Medical Center at the University of Texas Hospital in Austin, Texas.

“In our first use of the device, the Pounce LP thrombectomy system performed exceptionally well in helping our team restore blood flow to the foot for a limb-threatened patient,” commented Dr. Ferrer in Surmodics’ press release. “Using the device, we promptly removed acute and subacute thrombus from the midperoneal artery below the knee with no adjunctive use of thrombolytics and no embolization.”

He continued, “Thrombi or emboli in below-the-knee vessels have traditionally been very challenging to remove. I believe this device holds great promise in filling a major gap in our treatment algorithm.”

Elizabeth Genovese, MD, a vascular surgeon at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, who has experience using the original Pounce System, is an early user of the Pounce LP system. She recently deployed the Pounce LP device to revascularize a patient with arterial occlusions in both the anterior tibial and peroneal arteries.

Dr. Genovese stated in the company’s press release, “The Pounce LP system allowed me to treat chronic thrombus in these vessels with the effectiveness I’d expect from open surgical Fogarty embolectomy while maintaining the advantages of an endovascular approach for treating underlying and distal disease. We were able to achieve an optimal outcome in a very complex lesion, and this type of result would not have been possible without this device.”