Biospace.com June 16, 2003
EndoBionics, Inc. Introduces First Cell Therapy Device For Direct Injection Of Adult Stem Cells Via The Coronary Arteries
SAN LEANDRO, Calif., June 16 /PRNewswire/ -- EndoBionics announced a novel MicroSyringe for the delivery of a patient's own adult stem cells to the heart directly through the coronary arteries last Friday at the Medtech Insight Conference in San Francisco. Such a therapy may be the most effective means of using so-called autologous adult stem cells, which are in limited supply in the bone marrow.
The MicroSyringe is the only device that can directly inject stem cells from the inside of the coronary arteries and into the perivascular tissue. The MicroSyringe involves a C-shaped balloon that, when inflated, pushes a microscopic needle into the wall of arteries.
Recently published human studies show that autologous bone marrow stem cells injected into the heart can cure heart damage, improving blood flow and shrinking scars, and that there may be a proportional response between the numbers of cells delivered and the amount of healing observed. The direct-injection method prevents the blood stream from washing the cells away.
"Delivering the cells just outside the artery with the MicroSyringe deposits them in an oxygen- and blood-rich area that is critical to cell survival," said EndoBionics Executive Vice President Robert Cafferata, Ph.D.
EndoBionics, Inc., based in San Leandro, is a development-stage medical device company that is developing cost-effective, innovative drug-device systems for treatment of tumors and vascular, cardiac and neurological diseases. The MicroSyringe is not approved for use in humans. EndoBionics' Internet address is www.EndoBionics.com.
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