Acuson exhibits IVUS catheter at AHA show

Acuson of Mountain View, CA, demonstrated a 64-channel intravascular ultrasound catheter as a work-in-progress for cardiac imaging at last month's American Heart Association meeting in Dallas. The company believes that the side-fire catheter should be more versatile than one-channel IVUS catheters.

The catheter is placed in the right atrium for intracardiac imaging and provides better image quality than a transthoracic or transesophageal probe, according to the company. It supports color Doppler, Doppler Tissue Imaging, spectral imaging, and almost all imaging techniques available on the Aspen or Sequoia scanners.

Acuson has an investigational device exemption for the transducer and is conducting clinical trials for the probe. The company plans to file a 510(k) application next year.