Merit Medical has announced the commercial launch of Torpedo, a proprietary gelatin foam indicated for use in the embolization of hypervascular tumours. The Torpedo provides physicians a pre-shaped gelatin foam loaded into a cartridge with an optional blunt stylet, removing the need for manual foam shaping and providing fast and easy attachment to the catheter for delivery, a press release describes.
The Merit Torpedo is easy to prepare and use, requiring only hydration with a 50:50 saline-to-contrast mixture. The product is available in two diameters (2.5mm and 5mm) and two lengths (10mm and 20mm), and is designed for use with a catheter with an inner diameter large enough to allow delivery of the Torpedo to the target vasculature via syringe injection. The gelatin foam in the Torpedo is biocompatible, hydrophilic, and resorbable.
“In the operating room, time and consistency are crucial,” comments Fred Lampropoulos, chair and CEO of Merit Medical. “The Torpedo device, which includes embolizing gelatin compressed into a cylindrical shape and pre-loaded into a cartridge, will save physicians valuable time and improve material delivery with precision and predictability by eliminating manual cutting and shaping. The Torpedo’s launch exemplifies Merit’s commitment to ongoing innovation in the field of embolotherapy, and we look forward to bringing physicians even more ground-breaking technologies soon.”
The Torpedo’s commercial launch follows the recent 510(k) clearance of Merit’s EmboCube. The EmboCube offers uniformly cut cubes of gelatin foam preloaded into a syringe, specifically designed to save time and avoid inconsistent particle sizes associated with manual preparation of gelatin foam sheets. Torpedo and EmboCube, the newest additions to Merit’s suite of microcatheters and embolic products, together address an important market need: reducing surgical time without compromising quality of care.
