Vascular Access Technologies Inc. has developed the SAFECVAD(TM), an innovative device that allows physicians a safer approach to central vein access

Central venous access is essential for medical treatments of many major medical conditions, including cancer, kidney failure and cardiovascular diseases. Although performed millions of times a year, it is associated with an abnormally high rate of complications, especially for the growing population of high-risk patients who are most in need of access for life-sustaining care. End Quote

San Jose, CA (1888PressRelease) March 02, 2012 - Central venous access is performed over five million times a year in the United States alone, enabling central line placements that are needed for life-sustaining treatments including hemodialysis, chemotherapy, antibiotic delivery and heart implants.

For the past 50 years, the standard of care has been to perform an essentially blind insertion of a hollow needle through the patient's skin in the neck or upper chest, attempting to locate and access the jugular or subclavian veins. This "outside-in" procedure is typically aided only by "anatomical landmarks" and generally requires multiple attempts at access, resulting in serious or life-threatening complications approximately 200,000 times each year in the United States alone. The impact of these complications is particularly severe for the over one million "high-risk patients" who are generally most in need of access for life-sustaining treatment.

When available, only ultrasound guidance has been shown to moderately reduce risks for some patients and only in jugular vein access. However, a high number of complications continue to exist. In addition to the unacceptably high human impacts, these complications add substantial economical cost pressures to hospitals and expose physicians to serious liability risks. The non-reimbursable cost of complications to U.S. hospitals is estimated at over $3 billion per year-a cost almost comparable to the entire device market for central venous access.

Vascular Access Technologies' SAFECVAD™ is a proprietary catheter device and method that allows physicians to replace the essentially blind "outside-in" method for central venous access with an elegant, safer and simpler alternative. The SAFECVAD™ was developed by the distinguished Vascular Surgeon Dr. Kumar Pillai, Vascular Access Technologies' founder and Chief Medical Officer. Using the device, physicians insert a guide wire through safe femoral vein access in the thigh and, under fluoroscopic guidance, guide it up to the precise location in the jugular vein in the neck or the subclavian vein in the upper chest, where an "inside-out" exit is made to allow safe and visible central line placement on the first attempt.

Vascular Access Technologies is targeting the worldwide growing market of central venous access procedures performed by Interventionists, who already routinely use fluoroscopic guidance and treat the majority of high-risk patients. "Through the 1990s, General Surgeons and Anesthesiologists performed the overwhelming majority of central venous access procedures," said Mark Wholey, MD, Chairman of the Pittsburgh Vascular Institute, renowned interventional pioneer, and member of Vascular Access Technologies' Scientific Advisory Board. "Today, however, half of all procedures are performed by Interventionists. We are the ones who know best the significant risks of central venous access, and who are called on to deal with the consequences when they occur." The Interventionist market opportunity for the SAFECVAD is $1.5 billion in the United States and Europe combined, with an early-adopter market opportunity for the high-risk patients surpassing $400 million.

"The SAFECVAD™ has the potential to nearly eliminate the insertion-related complications associated with the present technology and method of central line placement," said Patrick Burt, Chief Executive Officer of Vascular Access Technologies. "We are confident that our innovation will increase patient safety, improve the quality of care, and deliver substantial economic benefits to the healthcare community-including lower complication costs and liability risks for practitioners and hospitals."

About Vascular Technologies, Inc.
Vascular Access Technologies is a privately held company located in Palo Alto, California. Since its first patent submission in 2006, Vascular Access Technologies has expanded its intellectual property assets to include new innovative device designs and peripheral applications, built working prototypes, and performed successful animal testing. The company is in its third phase of testing and in the preparation of a pre-market submission for the SAFECVAD™ device to the Food and Drug Administration.

To arrange for a full presentation contact:
Robert J Gurrola or Kevin P. Dempsey
Summa Financial Group, LLC
Bus. Phone: 408-454-2600
http://vasctech.com

http://www.summallc.com

###

Visit Summa Financial Group, Llc Website

space