AngioDynamics and renowned interventional nephrologist Stephen Ash are bringing to market an evolution of split-tip dialysis catheters, Centros, featuring Curved Tip Catheter Technology
Ash’s previous split-tip design, introduced in 1999, set the standard for dialysis catheters at the time. Today, he is considered to be one of the preeminent experts on dialysis and Curved Tip Catheter Technology. His latest innovation, the Centros split-tip dialysis catheter, is the culmination of significant clinical and technical innovations made during the past eight years.
The Centros dialysis catheter and Curved Tip Catheter Technology evolved from Ash’s desire to further increase blood flow through catheters, reduce fibrin sheathing, and improve catheter placement and positioning. “Centros came about as I thought about what to do regarding sheathing,” he explained. “Catheters become sheathed and clotted over time, and nothing that had been tried worked. A much more elegant idea is to center the tip of the catheter in the vein. We’ve taken the design concept of a catheter and changed it from a line to a plane. This means the catheter ports will not lie in contact against the vein wall, and will instead fit into the middle of the vessel.” Realigning the catheter ports in the middle of the blood flow eliminates the need for additional side holes, and reduces the risk of sheathing and clotting associated with vein wall contact. “
Clinical data from the Centros Pilot Clinical Trial demonstrated that the self centering catheter provides highly acceptable flow rates of 400mL/min at a modest negative pressure of -200mm Hg, without deterioration in flow rate over seven weeks of use.
The Centros design allows the catheter to work in the vena cava, or any type of central vein, and maintain maximum blood flow. “To get a typical catheter in the right atrium is a matter of fiddling and x-ray observation,” adds Ash. “Then gravity takes over and when the patient sits up and moves around, the catheter will migrate up to the superior vena cava. Centros makes catheter placement easy without the need for big adjustments or fiddling.”
