BURLINGTON, Mass. - *Infraredx, Inc. , a medical device company committed to advancing the diagnosis and management of coronary artery disease, today announced that it has entered into an agreement with HealthTrust, a group purchasing organization. Under the agreement, HealthTrust will offer the Infraredx TVC Imaging System™, a novel dual-modality intravascular imaging technology, to its member network of 1,400 acute care facilities.
The TVC Imaging System is used to guide percutaneous coronary interventions (PCI) by integrating near-infrared spectroscopy (NIRS) to detect lipid-core plaques and intravascular ultrasound (IVUS) to visualize the vessel, including the structure of plaques and the degree of stenosis (narrowing) due to plaque build-up. Lipid-core plaque is a fatty coronary artery plaque known to cause PCI complications, and the rupture of lipid-core plaque is associated with most heart attacks.
"We are pleased to be selected by HealthTrust to provide our innovative TVC Imaging System now to more than 25 percent of the hospital healthcare facilities across the United States," said Don Southard, president and chief executive officer of Infraredx. "Our contract will enable HealthTrust members access to our novel dual-modality intravascular imaging technology, which provides valuable information for physicians to make procedural and patient care decisions aimed at improving clinical outcomes and lowering healthcare costs."
*About The TVC Imaging System™*
The TVC Imaging System™ is a novel dual-modality intravascular imaging system that is designed to change the way coronary artery disease is managed by providing information that is critical for evaluating vessel structure and composition, also known as true vessel characterization. The TVC Imaging System helps interventional cardiologists identify lipid-core plaques, which are known to cause stenting complications.
The TVC Imaging System is the only commercially available dual-modality imaging system to combine both intravascular ultrasound (IVUS) and near-infrared spectroscopy (NIRS). The TVC Imaging System provides clear and relevant information about vessel structure and composition, in real time. The TVC Imaging System is the only device specifically approved in both the U.S. and Europe for the detection of lipid-core plaques.
*About Infraredx, Inc.*
Infraredx, Inc. is a privately funded medical device company dedicated to providing technology designed to enable practitioners to personalize the diagnosis of coronary artery disease. The Company is committed to optimizing coronary stenting as currently performed for coronary stenoses and believes that its technology may to ultimately serve as part of a strategy to provide secondary and eventually primary prevention of coronary events.
