Related Experiment Video
Updated: May 10, 2026
Closed Chest Biventricular Pressure-Volume Loop Recordings with Admittance Catheters in a Porcine Model
Published on: May 18, 2021
Dedicated radial ventriculography pigtail catheter
1Univeristy of Illinois at Chicago, Chicago, IL, USA. miv@uic.edu
Insights
A novel cardiac ventriculography catheter designed for radial access offers two configurations for diverse patient anatomies. This innovation aims to simplify left ventricular access, potentially reducing procedure time and radiation exposure.
Area of Science:
- Cardiology
- Medical Device Design
- Interventional Radiology
Background:
- Traditional cardiac ventriculography often utilizes femoral arterial access.
- Radial and upper arm arterial access present unique anatomical challenges for catheter manipulation.
- Existing catheters may not optimally address the diverse anatomical variations encountered in patients.
Purpose of the Study:
- To introduce a new dedicated cardiac ventriculography catheter system.
- To design catheter configurations specifically for radial and upper arm arterial access.
- To improve catheter performance, ease of use, and patient outcomes during ventriculography.
Main Methods:
- Development of two distinct catheter configurations: "short" and "long" versions.
- Design focused on facilitating retrograde aortic valve crossing and adapting to various anatomies.
- Evaluation of catheter suitability for different patient body types and ascending aortic orientations.
Main Results:
- The "short" catheter is optimized for horizontal aortas, obese patients, and small ventricles.
- The "long" catheter is suited for vertical aortas, thin patients, and larger ventricles.
- The new design demonstrated stable performance during contrast injection, achieving comparable opacification to traditional catheters.
Conclusions:
- The new dedicated radial ventriculography catheter offers tailored configurations for diverse patient anatomies.
- This design facilitates faster, simpler left ventricular insertion, potentially reducing procedure time and radiation exposure.
- The catheter provides stable performance and effective opacification, representing an advancement in radial access cardiac procedures.
Abstract:
A new dedicated cardiac ventriculography catheter was specifically designed for radial and upper arm arterial access approach. Two catheter configurations have been developed to facilitate retrograde crossing of the aortic valve and to conform to various subclavian, ascending aortic and left ventricular anatomies. The "short" dedicated radial ventriculography catheter is suited for horizontal ascending aortas, obese body habitus, short stature and small ventricular cavities. The "long" dedicated radial ventriculography catheter is suited for vertical ascending aortas, thin body habitus, tall stature and larger ventricular cavities. This new design allows for improved performance, faster and simpler insertion in the left ventricle which can reduce procedure time, radiation exposure and propensity for radial artery spasm due to excessive catheter manipulation. Two different catheter configurations allow for optimal catheter selection in a broad range of patient anatomies. The catheter is exceptionally stable during contrast power injection and provides equivalent cavity opacification to traditional femoral ventriculography catheter designs.
