Extracorporeal Bypass Cannula - AngioVac

The AngioVac Generation 4 Cannula is a single-use, venovenous cannula with a nitinol basket, reinforced, self-expandable funnel shaped distal tip used during extracorporeal bypass for the removal of undesirable intravascular material such as thrombi. The AngioVac Cannula is used in conjunction with the commercially available extracorporeal bypass circuit composed of the AngioVac Circuit extracorporeal bypass tubing set, centrifugal pump, bubble trap with integral filter and reinfusion cannula. The AngioVac System is utilized for the removal of undesirable intravascular material at a desired location during venovenous extracorporeal circulation. 

Via feedback from interventional cardiologists who used the AngioVac Gen 3 platform, AngioDynamics identified a need to produce a longer length, lower profile cannula which could navigate further into the heart to retrieve emboli which had settled within the pulmonary artery. This required the design to facilitate the surgeons navigation through the more torturous vasculature during a pulmonary embolectomy procedure. 

Feedback from physicians who used the previous version of the AngioVac platform suggested that the cannula and sheath were like a “slinky” thus hindering additional navigation to the pulmonary artery. HaA utilized simulated vasculature models and animal labs to iterate the cannula’s design until it could consistently and easily navigate to both pulmonary arteries. We tested out different angled tips between the outer sheath and inner cannula, as well as different durometers of shafts to provide the right amount of flexibility for making tight turns. HaA also worked with the manufacturer to produce a catheter design for the cannula and sheath, which allowed for precise rotational control of the distal funnel tip. 

A braided catheter was used for the cannula and sheath which enabled precise rotational control of the sheath and funnel tips. Dual durometer shafts were selected to promote stability during insertion and flexibility for tight navigational turns. An 85-degree angled cannula tip combined with a straight sheath tip provided end users with the option to utilize a wide variety of angles to facilitate navigation through the heart. The overall lengths and deltas between each component were refined to provide an optimal navigational experience for the surgeon from either approach: right internal jugular vein, or right femoral vein.