While our design efforts started only two years ago, we are pleased with the speed to market and clearance of this biliary indication in the U.S., Mr. Coradini said. Cordis Endovascular recently introduced this product in Europe, and started our clinical trials there for iliac arteries with 100 patients. The S.M.A.R.T. TM Stent is a strong and predictable stent, offering excellent advantages to both the interventionalist and patient, said Dr. O Neill. Its nitinol alloy design enables precise and accurate positioning, while its exceptional flexibility allows it to reach lesions even through very tortuous vessels, he concluded. Numerous clinical studies have shown stent procedures significantly reduce the potential of re-hospitalization for recurring obstructions of vessels in the body, including the bile ducts, as well as peripheral and coronary arteries.
Stents represent breakthrough technology for treating circulatory and vessel disease.
To date, more than two million Cordis Stents have been implanted in patients around the world. A stent is a tiny, tubular-shaped, expandable scaffold. In a vessel, it is delivered to a blockage site by a catheter, then expanded by a balloon or self-expansion to the full diameter of the lumen and remains permanently in place. By compressing obstructions and plaque buildup against the vessel wall, a stent restores flow of fluid or blood. Since its establishment in 1959, Cordis Corporation, along with its subsidiaries, has been a pioneer in circulatory disease management, and is the world s largest, most comprehensive developer and manufacturer of innovative products for interventional medicine, minimally invasive imaging, and electrophysiology.