Arterial Everter

Jeffrey Plott, Adeyiza Momoh, Ian Sando, Brendan McCracken, Mohammed Tiba, Kevin Ward, Jeffrey Kozlow, and Paul Cederna
University of Michigan
Ann Arbor, MI

Microvascular anastomosis is the surgical joining, or coaptation, of small (sub-centimeter) veins and arteries with the aid of loupe or microscope magnifcation,This is accomplished using a microanas-tomotic coupling device (Synovis GEM Coupler) that reduces complication rates, improves patency rates, and substantially reduces the time necessary to complete the coaptation compared to manual suturing.

Arterial microvascular anastomoses are currently accomplished with standard manual suturing techniques — the thick wall of the artery prevents them from being stretched over the rings of a coupler As a result, arterial microanastomoses performed by manual suturing takes about 25 minutes in the operating room, versus about 5 minutes using a coupling device (for veins).

The Arterial Everter is used in conjunction with the coupler to replace traditional vessel suturing, and enable rapid anastomosis of arteries ranging from 1.5 to 4 mm in diameter. The average time to perform the anastomosis was significantly less when using the evert-er/coupler compared to manual suturing (6:35 minutes vs. 25:09 minutes, p < 0.00l).

“It is very exciting to be recognized as the Medical Category winner. This device is just one example of the strong collaboration between engineering and medicine at the University of Michigan, along with the great support of the Coulter Translational Research Partnership Program. It took the efforts of many different people and groups to get the Arterial Everter to where it is today. Our goal has always been to create something that will ultimately improve the lives of patients, and I am thrilled to see it moving rapidly in that direction.”

The Arterial Everter consists of a stainless steel rod over-molded with medical-grade silicone using traditional injection/compression molding. It will reduce leak rate, risk of vessel injury, vessel kinking, and time under anesthesia for the patient, along with being technically easier and faster for the doctor. The use of the coupler rings for arteries also adds significant clinical value because the blood flow through the anastomosis can be monitored using the Flow Coupler system.

Target users are surgeons, ENTs, and others who perform micro-surgery and reconstruction. By analyzing the cost savings of sutures and the drastic reduction in operating time, a hospital could expect to save about $1,000 per anastomosis using the Arterial Everter:

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