Medtronic Canada is pleased to announce it has received a licence from Health Canada for its fourth-generation flow diverter, Pipeline^TM Vantage with Shield Technology^TM - for the treatment of wide neck intracranial aneurysms. This novel flow diverter is designed with enhanced features to both the delivery system and implant device. These features allow physicians to deliver, deploy and treat intracranial aneurysms with ease and reliability while providing a scaffold that promotes growth of endothelial cells within the target blood vessel. 

The annual rate of brain aneurysm rupture is approximately 8 – 10 per 100,000 people, and ruptured brain aneurysms are fatal in about 50% of cases. An estimated 500,000 people throughout the world die each year due to ruptured brain aneurysms, with half the victims younger than 50 years of age.^[i] Of those who survive, about 66% suffer some permanent neurological deficit.ⁱ Advances in flow diversion over the last 10 years have helped to significantly reduce the rate of aneurysm rupture.^[ii]

“Ruptured brain aneurysms can cause significant morbidity and mortality. Flow diversion is a proven approach to treating intracranial aneurysms, but the design and materials used in the implant can play a critical role in the procedural success and ultimate repair of the damaged vessel,” said Vitor Mendes Pereira, M.D., an endovascular neurosurgeon, St. Michael’s Hospital in Toronto, Canada.  “. Advances in flow diversion technology, such as those contained in the Pipeline™ Vantage Embolization Device with Shield Technology™, have proven to be a vital preventative measure for optimizing outcomes for patients with this serious condition.”  

Dr. Pereira and his team were instrumental in collaborating to design this latest generation device at the RADIS lab in the Li Ka Shing Knowledge Institute of Unity Health Toronto. The design enhancements included in Pipeline Vantage with Shield Technology introduce a new .021”-compatible delivery system for easier distal access, as well as improvements in resheathing delivery and overall implant performance.

For more information, contact Roxane Bélanger, public relations, 905-460-3800, and visit medtronic.ca, and follow us on Twitter and LinkedIn