Abbott announced the launch of VOYAGER NC Coronary Dilatation Catheter, a next-generation balloon dilatation catheter with high-pressure capability designed to optimize the treatment of patients with coronary artery disease (CAD) during angioplasty procedures. VOYAGER NC is now available in the United States, Europe and select countries in Asia and Latin America. Featuring Abbott's proprietary technology, the new VOYAGER NC system can be used for both pre-dilatation and post-dilatation procedures. Physicians can use VOYAGER NC to navigate tortuous anatomy and open up lesions before a stent is delivered, or expand a stent more precisely against the vessel wall after it is implanted. The VOYAGER NC Coronary Dilatation Catheter is the latest innovation in Abbott's broad portfolio of minimally invasive medical devices to treat coronary artery disease. It is available in a wide variety of diameters (from 2 mm to 5 mm) and lengths (from 6 mm to 25 mm) on a rapid exchange delivery system. "When choosing a dilatation catheter, one of the key attributes interventional cardiologists look for is the ability to accurately deliver the balloon to the target lesion, particularly in challenging coronary anatomy," said Dean J. Kereiakes, M.D., medical director, The Christ Hospital Heart and Vascular Center in Cincinnati, OH. "VOYAGER NC delivers on its promise as a high performance balloon dilatation catheter with high-pressure capability, frequently making difficult cases easier, even when treating the most challenging lesions." Proprietary technological advancements that Abbott engineered into the VOYAGER NC balloon dilatation catheter include: • A specialized tip with a smooth, rounded shape designed to deflect off stent struts and enhance balloon delivery through stents. • Flexible tungsten markers designed to help physicians navigate through arteries and properly position the balloon within a treatment area. • Bi-layer balloon material designed to make the balloon thinner and more flexible, enabling controlled balloon growth. "Precise delivery of interventional medical devices, especially when treating challenging lesions, is critical to successful outcomes in patients, and VOYAGER NC has excellent deliverability," said Charles Simonton, M.D., FACC, FSCAI, divisional vice president, Medical Affairs, and chief medical officer, Abbott Vascular. "The launch of VOYAGER NC underscores Abbott's ongoing commitment to bring innovative technologies to market from our broad, vascular pipeline." VOYAGER NC is the latest offering out of Abbott's vascular pipeline. Products currently in development include a bioabsorbable drug eluting stent, a peripheral drug eluting stent, and Abbott's next-generation drug eluting stent, to be called the XIENCE PRIME Everolimus Eluting Coronary Stent System. XIENCE PRIME builds on the proven performance of Abbott's market-leading XIENCE V Everolimus Eluting Coronary Stent System and the MULTI-LINK family of stents. XIENCE PRIME is a pipeline product currently in development at Abbott.