Global Hospital & Healthcare Management

Medtronic, Inc. announced plans to introduce two of its next-generation cardiovascular devices in Japan, the world’s second largest market for advanced medical technology: the Integrity® Coronary Stent System for the treatment of narrowed heart arteries due to atherosclerosis and the Endurant® AAA Stent Graft System for the treatment of abdominal aortic aneurysms.

Reimbursement for the Integrity Coronary Stent took effect Sept. 1; reimbursement for the Endurant AAA Stent Graft takes effect Nov. 1. Both devices were approved over the summer by Japan’s Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare (MHLW). Each device is the global market leader in its product category.

Integrity Coronary Stent System

The Integrity Coronary Stent introduces an engineering advance called continuous sinusoid technology, which contributes to the device’s excellent deliverability –– even through especially tight and tortuous heart arteries –– without compromising other important device features, such as radial strength and radiopacity.

“The new platform is very deliverable and enables easy access to distal and tortuous anatomies; it also provides excellent strut apposition to the vessel wall,” said Dr. Sinsuke Nanto, a professor in the Department of Advanced Cardiovascular Therapeutics at Osaka University. "As a result, the Integrity stent will be a welcome addition to our daily clinical practice in Japan.”