Corindus to Participate With Mayo Clinic's Preclinical Study of Remote Control Robotics for PCI

January 5, 2018—Corindus Vascular Robotics, Inc. announced that it is working with Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota, in a preclinical study of telestenting, which is the remote robotic treatment for percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI). The company's CorPath GRX system is currently cleared by the US Food and Drug Administration for robotic-assisted PCI in the cardiac catheterization lab.

The multiphase study will be led by Primary Investigator Mackram F. Eleid, MD, an interventional cardiologist with the Mayo Clinic Department of Cardiovascular Medicine and Associate Professor of Medicine at Mayo Clinic College of Medicine.

According to the company, telestenting may enable physicians to conduct procedures from virtually any location, opening opportunities for more patients globally to benefit from this procedure. Corindus noted that the global shortage of PCI-capable operators is significant and continues to be a growing problem.

Mayo Clinic is working with Corindus to explore telestenting as a solution to the geographic and workforce barriers that exist to provide needed PCI therapy to rural and underserved populations across the globe. Studies will help determine if robotic-assisted PCI can be performed safely and effectively using an off-site remote-controlled system. Mayo Clinic received a $3.3 million grant from The Leona M. and Harry B. Helmsley Charitable Trust to support the first step of a multiphase, multiyear development program.

Although PCI is the initial focus for this development program, the company's long-term goal is to extend this capability to the remote treatment of endovascular disease and stroke, stated Corindus.