2023’s best medtech innovations
Category: Best Medical Technology
Nominee: Boston Scientific/Baylis Medical’s VersaCross Transseptal Platform
VersaCross is a left-heart access device designed with an atraumatic radio frequency-tipped pigtail wire to achieve access and then serve as an exchange wire, reducing the number of exchanges throughout a cardiac procedure.
“Structural heart procedures requiring transseptal approaches demand a very precise puncture location to optimize therapy delivery,” said Dr. William Gray after using the device for the first time to place an Abbott MitraClip in 2019.
“Traditionally, this requires the use of multiple devices in a step-wise method,” he continued. “If the optimal location is not achieved on first pass, we are required to return to the starting point, which involves the time-consuming and potentially riskier reintroduction of multiple devices. This new device enables a novel technique which minimizes the need for exchanges and streamlines transseptal access while achieving the optimal puncture location.”