US-based Kips Bay Medical has reported the first commercial implant of its eSVS mesh at the Military Institute of Medicine in Warsaw in Poland.
The implant was performed on 12 April 2014 under the direction of Military Institute of Medicine Cardiac Surgery department head Dr Piotr Hendzel. Presiding surgeon in the case was Dr Grzegorz Suwalski.
Dr Suwalski said: "I was very pleased with how easily the eSVS Mesh was applied to the vein graft and I believe that the eSVS Mesh technology represents a new tool for cardiac surgeons that has the potential to significantly improve the long-term outcomes for cardiac bypass surgery patients."
Kips Bay Medical has designed the eSVS Mesh to improve the long-term outcome of coronary artery bypass graft (CABG) surgery procedures by addressing limitations of unsupported saphenous veins.
The eSVS mesh is fitted like a sleeve on the outside of a saphenous vein graft in order to strengthen the vein and to give the vein graft the physiological attributes of an artery.
The eSVS mesh strengthens the saphenous vein graft (SVG) and prevents the damaging expansion of the vein graft, thereby reducing or preventing the resulting injury that can lead to SVG failure.
Made up of nitinol wire, the eSVS mesh is highly flexible and kink-resistant. Currently, Kips Bay Medical is conducting a feasibility trial for the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to demonstrate the initial safety and performance of the eSVS mesh.