WDEF News 12: New Tech from Cagent Vascular brings Serrated Edge to Vascular Care

CHATTANOOGA, TN  – This week on Tech Byte we travel to the Vascular Institute of Chattanooga for Dr. Will Harris to show us a new tech they have to help treat Peripheral Arterial Disease (PAD) that is new to this end of the country.

Cagent Vascular has developed a new technology called the Seranator Balloon that Dr. Harris is using in appropriate treatments.

“Classically, when we treat peripheral arterial disease, we blow up a balloon in an artery and the artery simply, it oftentimes recoils. And so we’ll blow up the balloon and try and relieve a blockage. But classically, with just a classic balloon, the artery will recoil and require us to put in a stent. This balloon has little blades along the side of it to dig into the calcium and the plaque, and prevents the recoil,” says Harris. “It’s kind of similar to something we use for pizza dough, and so if you’ve ever made pizza dough, the pizza dough classically when you flatten it out, it will contract back. And so you use this roller into the pizza dough to prevent recoil. The same technique and the same thought process goes behind this balloon. It’s pretty neat.”

How do you know if you have PAD or what are the signs?  According to dr. Harris, leg pain, wounds in the legs and feet that won’t heal, or pain that wakes you and keeps you up at night.  Typically those things present when blockages and PAD are present. Simple studies like arterial scans can determine the best course of action, but across the country this new balloon is yielding great results without the use of stents.

“A long term lasting and the patient keeps their leg, is able to walk better, is out of pain. Wounds heal, things like that. It’s pretty exciting,” says Dr. Haris. “The patient walks in and walks out here for a couple hours, goes home and they save their leg and they hopefully have a better life. 100%. I want them to go run a marathon afterwards if they can.”

According to Dr. Harris this evolution in tech is moving vascular care forward by leaps and bounds and in the right case negates the needs for stents and promotes faster healing.  For more information about the Vascular Institute and the amazing surgeons they have there, you can visit them at one of their locations or https://vascularinstituteofchattanooga.com/