Medtronic (NYSE: MDT) today announced an exclusive U.S. distribution agreement for Future Medical Design peripheral guidewires.
Japan-based Future offers specialty and workhorse guidewires. The agreement includes the first 400 cm, 0.018″ peripheral guidewire available in the U.S., according to a news release. Medtronic says it expands its portfolio for transradial access for the treatment of peripheral arterial disease (PAD).
The medtech giant now becomes the sole distributor of the new F-14 and F-18 peripheral stainless steel guidewires. Future offers them in 300 cm and 400 cm lengths. With the 0.018″ 400 cm wire, along with the 200 cm working length In.Pact 018 drug-coated balloon and Pacific Plus PTA catheter, these offerings provide physicians with a comprehensive suite of tools needed to reach lesions from a transradial approach.
According to Medtronic, Future engineered the guidewires for crossability, trackability and tip retention to enable the treatment of complex cases. The stainless steel core provides strength and torqueability, while multiple tip loads help navigate tortuous vessels and cross challenging lesions or occlusions.
“The F-14 and F-18 guidewires offer the tactile feedback, wire strength and control physicians need for lower extremity interventions, while also expanding radial access tools, a significant advancement,” said Dr. John Laird, M.D., chief medical officer for the Peripheral Vascular Health business at Medtronic. “The addition of these to the Medtronic portfolio is a meaningful step forward for our customers and the patients they serve.”