Best known for its clever Zephyr® Endobronchial Valve (EBV), Pulmonx® has announced the launch of a tablet version of its Chartis Pulmonary Assessment System, a diagnostic tool designed to identify optimal patients for EBV therapy.
Background
More than 65 percent of severe emphysema patients have been shown to have low collateral ventilation in one or more target lobes of the lung. This is PulmonX’s target market for its tiny, one-way valve. Already implanted globally in more than 10,000 patients, the Zephyr EBV is placed in the lungs to block airflow to diseased regions in order to achieve lung volume reduction.
The Chartis System is a proprietary endoscopic, catheter-based diagnostic system that helps physicians predict with high accuracy those patients that are most likely to benefit from EBV therapy. It identifies collateral ventilation by enabling precise and real-time assessment of flow and pressure readings for specific lobes in the lungs. This critical information allows physicians to select those patients with no or low collateral ventilation for Zephyr EBV treatment.
Multiple randomized controlled trials have demonstrated that patients selected using the Chartis System and treated with the Zephyr EBV have experienced statistically significant improvements in lung function, exercise capacity and quality of life.
The new tablet will be showcased at the European Respiratory Society International Congress (ERS) this week in Amsterdam. It will be made commercially available immediately in Europe, where the Zephyr EBV and Chartis System have received the CE Mark. The system remains an investigational device in the United States, limited by U.S. law to investigational use.
Company comments
“Chartis has proven remarkably effective at identifying those patients that will receive the most benefit from the Zephyr valve,” said Pulmonx Chief Executive Officer Glen French. “With our new Chartis system, we are making the diagnostic easier for physicians to use to ensure the best possible patient selection.”
Source: Pulmonx
