LONDON & REDWOOD CITY, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Pulmonx® Corporation today announced the commercial availability of the StratX™ Lung Analysis Platform in countries requiring CE Mark. The StratX Platform is designed to help physicians quickly and reliably identify patients for treatment with Zephyr® Endobronchial Valves (EBV). The Zephyr EBV is the most studied minimally invasive treatment for severe emphysema and is proven to improve patients’ breathing function, exercise capacity and quality of life when patients are properly selected.
Previously, physicians ruled out many patients for EBV treatment based on a subjective review of their lung fissures (the divisions between the lobes) on computed tomography (CT) scans. This subjectivity left many patients untreated who might have benefited. In fact, up to 50 percent of emphysema patients who are eligible for some form of intervention may benefit from EBV treatment. Furthermore, before the StratX system, all potential patients had to undergo an additional procedure to evaluate their eligibility.
The StratX service now enables physicians to reliably and efficiently identify patients with complete fissures (above 95 percent complete) who will likely benefit from EBV treatment, and those with incomplete fissures (below 80 percent) who will likely not benefit, reserving additional diagnostic procedures for patients with ambiguous fissure completeness (between 80 to 95 percent complete).
“The Zephyr EBV should be considered a first-line treatment for properly selected patients with severe emphysema based on its robust clinical evidence, minimally invasive approach and reversibility. However, despite its proven effectiveness, it has been time intensive to identify the right patients for treatment,” said Professor Felix Herth, MD, of the Thoraxklinik at the University of Heidelberg. “The StratX service provides measurements that will make it easier to identify the patients most likely to benefit from EBV treatment.”
To use the StratX service to pre-screen patients, a physician uses a web browser to securely upload an anonymized CT scan to the cloud. The StratX service then uses validated algorithms to produce a user-friendly report identifying patients as likely responders for EBV treatment and likely non-responders. For patients with partially complete fissures, the CT scan is considered inconclusive and a screening procedure using the Chartis System is recommended.
A study recently published in Respiration showed an accuracy of 90 percent in determining likely responders and non-responders using StratX as a pre-screen and selectively using Chartis for patients with partially complete fissures. This is more accurate than using the StratX technology or Chartis system alone. The retrospective study of 217 U.S. and European EBV-treated patients is the largest study to date using quantitative CT analysis to estimate the expected outcomes of EBV treatment.
“Emphysema patients with few therapeutic options who could benefit from EBV are unnecessarily excluded from treatment due to the imprecision of visual CT review or QCT-only screening,” said Pulmonx Chief Executive Officer Glen French. “A combined approach using StratX and Chartis will enable more patients to benefit from what has been shown to be the best minimally invasive treatment available today.”
The Zephyr EBV is a tiny, one-way valve placed in the lungs to block airflow to diseased regions in order to achieve lung volume reduction. The Chartis System is a proprietary assessment system utilized immediately prior to the Zephyr EBV procedure to identify those patients with low or no collateral ventilation, who are the most likely to respond to the treatment. Zephyr EBVs have been implanted globally in more than 12,000 patients. To view a video of the Zephyr EBV procedure, click here.
About Pulmonx
Based in Redwood City, California, and Neuchâtel, Switzerland, Pulmonx is an interventional pulmonology company focused on developing life-changing, cost-effective technologies that improve the lives of patients suffering from lung disease worldwide. For more information, visit www.pulmonx.com.
StratX™ and the Zephyr® EBV are available for sale in the European Union. The Zephyr® EBV is an investigational device in the United States and limited by U.S. law to investigational use.
