Imperative Care, a medtech company based in California, created the Zoom Stroke Solution, a complete system for the mechanical removal of clots in patients with ischemic stroke. The system includes an access catheter, aspiration catheters, a powerful pump, and the latest addition, the Zoom Pod, a clot filter that is positioned within the sterile field.
As the filter is located within the sterile field, it allows the clinician to immediately identify when the clot has been aspirated, and avoids the need to try to find the clot after the procedure has been completed by opening a sealed aspiration canister. If clinicians wish to further analyze the aspirated clot, they can simply send the sealed Zoom POD to the lab and avoid further exposure to body fluids or clot disruption through handling.
Here’s a short animation introducing the Zoom system:
Medgadget had the opportunity to speak with Daniel Davis, President and COO of Imperative Care, about the Zoom POD and the company’s suite of technologies for mechanical thrombectomy.
Conn Hastings, Medgadget: Please give us a brief overview of ischemic stroke, and how it is currently treated.
Daniel Davis, Imperative Care: Stroke is a medical emergency that occurs when a blood vessel feeding the brain gets clogged or bursts, cutting off vital blood flow to the brain. It is the fifth-leading cause of death in the US and a major cause of serious disability among adults.
About 87% of strokes are ischemic and occur when a clot cuts off blood supply to the brain, causing brain cells and tissue to die within minutes. Treatment of ischemic stroke involves mechanical thrombectomy, a procedure that removes blood clots from the brain.
Medgadget: Please explain the importance of speed in clot removal. How can clinicians ensure rapid clot removal?
Daniel Davis: Every minute after a stroke counts, and it’s a known fact that “time equals brain.” In order to improve recovery outcomes and increase a person’s chance of survival, it’s critical for physicians to remove the clot quickly.
For ischemic stroke patients, the first challenge of removing the clot is getting to it. If the clot can’t be reached, it can’t be retrieved.
The second challenge is effectively removing the clot on the first pass, which can greatly impact the time it takes to successfully treat the patient. The longer it takes to remove the clot directly impacts long term patient outcomes.
Imperative Care has developed a complete stroke system to allow physicians to effortlessly navigate through the brain’s tortuous anatomy and remove the clot quickly. The Zoom Stroke Solution was built with both time and first pass efficiency in mind.
Medgadget: Give us an overview of the Zoom Stroke Solution and how it works.
Daniel Davis: The Zoom Stroke Solution is the only complete stroke system, from access through reperfusion, designed for fast and effective clot removal in patients with acute ischemic stroke. The system includes the Zoom 88 Large Distal Platform (LDP), the first stroke-specific .088” access catheter designed to get closer to the clot. The system also includes four vessel-matched aspiration catheters featuring a unique, angled TRX tip that enables 15% greater clot engagement. Additionally, we have the Zoom Pump, the most powerful pump on the market, and now, the Zoom POD, the only clot filter allowing for sterile field clot capture.
Each component of the Zoom Stroke Solution is built to work together to achieve fast and effective clot removal in a wide range of vessels. By innovating across the entire stroke procedure, we are working to improve patient outcomes from all angles.
Medgadget: How does the system ensure ease of access to the tortuous intracranial vasculature?
Daniel Davis: Imperative Care’s entire Zoom catheter portfolio shares a similar design philosophy of effortless navigation and uncompromised structural integrity. Physicians who use our Large Distal Platform can navigate closer to the treatment site with control and flexibility, which is critical to successful procedures, without sacrificing support or stability. Furthermore, depending on the lesion location, the physician can engage with clot using any of the Zoom aspiration catheters with familiarity and confidence in performance.
Medgadget: Congratulations on the launch of the Zoom POD. Please explain how it fits in with the Zoom system and how it is used.
Daniel Davis: The newly launched Zoom POD is the first and only sterile field clot filter device, enabling faster time to clot capture. Unlike other clot filters that are attached to the pump and positioned outside the sterile field, the Zoom POD is positioned within the sterile field. This allows the physician to immediately see the clot as it is extracted from the patient, quickly confirming capture, and giving the physician more control over the mechanical thrombectomy procedure. Without the Zoom POD, physician must break sterile barrier post-procedure and fish the clot out of the canister to confirm that it has been successfully retrieved.
Additionally, once the clot has been captured in the POD, physicians interested in pathology can send the clot to the lab within the Zoom POD, without ever needing to manipulate the clot. This reduces the chance of blood exposure for physicians and hospital staff post-procedure.
Medgadget: Do you have any plans for future products or upgrades? How do you see this type of technology evolving in the future?
Daniel Davis: Imperative care takes a physician-driven approach to innovation and has implemented a rapid iteration process from the very beginning. What we mean by that is that we continue to optimize every aspect of the system. From access to the thrombectomy devices, to even the connection between the thrombectomy device and the aspiration source, and the aspiration source itself.
What you see with the Zoom POD is optimizing that connection between the thrombectomy catheter and the aspiration source. And we’re going to continue taking that approach to improve every aspect of the thrombectomy experience for the physicians so that we can continue to get closer and closer to changing physicians’ expectation to TICI 3, or perfect reperfusion, in 10 minutes with their first attempt.
The Zoom POD is yet another example of how we continue to get closer towards that goal of simplifying and improving the thrombectomy procedure. It’s not a single innovation that alone will bring us close to that goal. We will achieve this goal by working closely with our physician customers to continually improve and iterate each aspect of the Zoom Stroke Solution. This clinical focus will drive us to that success and elevate patient outcomes.
Link: Imperative Care…
