A microguide wire with a scale (scaler guide). Technical note

There are various methods for measuring an affected vascular size during embolization or percutaneous transluminal angioplasty (PTA). Metallic balls, electrodes, grids, coins on the skin were simple and useful in this sense, but not stable and exact for measuring. A 0.014" or 0.016" microguide wire with 5 gold markers in the tip is newly developed and used clinically (a scaler guide). One marker measures 1 mm in length. There is a distance of 4 mm between two neighboring markers. A microcatheter is navigated using a standard microguide wire into the vessels of the lesion. Bilateral digital subtraction angiography (DSA) is performed after exchange of a microguide wire with a scaler guide. Magnification ratio between distance measured by DSA and real distance from markers is calculated. Thereafter, the size of the vessels will be measured. With this method, the size of vessels was measured in patients with aneurysm or arteriovenous malformation or stenotic lesion. Selection of coils or PTA balloons could be made easily and effectively. Interventions were more safely performed with this new scaler guide.