Aptus Endosystems Inc.
This article was originally published in Start Up
Executive Summary
Despite notable advances in endovascular aortic aneurysm repair systems to prevent aneurysm rupture by stent-graft implantation, between 15-20% of patients eventually require secondary intervention to address endograft failures. Aptus Endosystems hopes to dramatically reduce the incidence of secondary intervention with its EVAR system: a low-profile modular endograft which uses novel stapling fixation that the company says approaches the durability of open surgery and makes minimally invasive AAA treatment an option for more patients, even those with challenging anatomy.
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SOVAmed GMBH
SOVAmed, a technology spin-off from the University of Koblenz-Landau in Germany, develops visualization and analysis tools that support vascular surgeons and interventional radiologists. SOVAmed's lead application, SOVA.evar, is designed to detect AAAs and evaluate clinically significant parameters more accurately and rapidly than existing technologies.
Endoluminal Sciences Pty Ltd.
Endoluminal Sciences has developed a polymer-based "active sealing" technology called ELS SEAL that can be applied to existing EVAR devices to enhance the long-term durability of the seal against the vessel wall, without increasing the device profile or impacting established delivery techniques. Its "bolt-on" technology aims to address the lethal failure mode of EVAR systems, endoleaks, as well as open up EVAR treatment to the 40% of patients who are not currently candidates for the procedure.