Volcano Corporation, a leading developer and manufacturer of precision guided therapy tools designed to enhance the diagnosis and treatment of coronary and peripheral vascular disease, announced that it received clearance to market the Eagle Eye Platinum digital IVUS catheter in Japan, and  introduced the device at the 20th PCI Live Demonstration Course in Kurashiki. This state-of-the-art catheter offers all of the benefits of the predecessor Eagle Eye Gold catheter, plus improved deliverability and the convenience of additional radiopaque markers. Full market release of Eagle Eye Platinum in Japan is expected in the second quarter of 2011.

"Volcano is thrilled to offer our most advanced digital IVUS catheter to the largest — and most developed — IVUS market in the world," commented David Sheehan, President of the IVUS and FM Business Units at Volcano Corporation. "Since the catheter's release in the US and Europe, customers have been impressed with its deliverability through tortuous anatomy and complex lesions, and have appreciated the ability to more accurately perform angiographic lesion length assessments by using the integrated radiopaque markers instead of taking the time to use a separate pullback device. We are expecting the strong interest that Japanese physicians have shown for the Eagle Eye Platinum catheter to carry over into their clinical experience as well."

"In Japan, physicians are tackling increasingly complex and challenging PCI," added Junichi Osawa, President and Managing Director of Volcano Japan. "The more tapered tip design of the Eagle Eye Platinum catheter, with lower entry profile and new GlyDx hydrophilic coating, facilitates guidance of CTO procedures, and the smoother lower profile catheter transitions improve delivery through smaller guides. This can help facilitate radial access, an approach common in Japan and growing elsewhere in the world due to reduced bleeding complications."

The Eagle Eye Platinum is the third generation of catheters in the Eagle Eye product line. Eagle Eye catheters have been used in over 500,000 procedures worldwide. Like Eagle Eye Gold, the Eagle Eye Platinum catheter offers fast, plug-and-play functionality as well as grayscale IVUS, VH IVUS, and ChromaFlo imaging modalities.