Acist study finds positive results of its Navvus MicroCatheter device

Eden Prairie company Acist Medical Systems announced study results Wednesday showing its machines can accurately measure the severity of a blood vessel blockage to determine if a stent is needed.

The company presented the results Wednesday at the EuroPCR interventional cardiology conference in Paris.

Acist sponsored the prospective, observational study of its devices in 169 coronary artery disease patients at 11 hospitals worldwide, including Mercy Hospital in Coon Rapids and the University of Minnesota Medical Center in Minneapolis. All the patients had a diagnostic technique called fractional flow reserve (FFR) performed to see if they had a blocked coronary artery that could trigger problems like a heart attack.

The study found that Acist’s thin optical FFR device called the Navvus MicroCatheter, when inserted in the coronary artery, provides nearly the same level of accuracy as other FFR devices that are more complicated for the doctor to use, according to the data presentation.