Abbott Launches Next-Generation StarClose(R) SE Vascular Clos...( New Device Designed to Provide Fa...)

New Device Designed to Provide Fast, Safe and Secure Vessel Closure

Following Catheterization Procedures

ABBOTT PARK, Ill., May 16 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Abbott today announced the launch of the StarClose(R) SE Vascular Closure System, a next-generation vessel closure device engineered to enable fast, safe and secure closure of the femoral artery access site following a catheterization procedure. StarClose SE is available in the United States and Europe.

StarClose SE, which stands for "Safe and Extravascular," builds upon the premium design of its predecessor, StarClose, with more ergonomically-friendly design features. StarClose SE advancements include:

-- Improved ease of use, with an intuitive, numbered system, providing

visual guidance and audible "clicks" for each step leading to clip

deployment

-- Immediate vessel closure with deployment of a shape-memory clip onto

the surface of an artery, allowing patients to recover and be

discharged sooner than with manual compression

-- Added device stability for the operator during clip deployment

"With a more ergonomic stabilizer and simpler, numbered-step deployment, StarClose SE offers users the ability to close an artery in a fast, safe and effective manner following a catheterization procedure," said David Lee, M.D., assistant professor of Medicine and director of Cardiac Catheterization and Coronary Intervention Laboratories at the Stanford School of Medicine. "With its definitive mechanical closure, StarClose SE enables an operator to confirm a reliable closure immediately, which offers important benefits for physicians and patients in reducing patient time to mobility following these procedures."

StarClose SE utilizes the same nitinol (nickel and titanium) clip technology as StarClose to close the femoral artery access site after a catheterization procedure. When deployed, the small nitinol cl
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