Study Finds Magellan(TM) Robotic System From Hansen Medical Reduces Radiation to Operator by Over 80% in Transarterial Chemoembolization (TACE) Procedures

MOUNTAIN VIEW, CA--(Marketwired - Feb 3, 2015) - Hansen Medical, Inc. (NASDAQ: HNSN) -- An abstract accepted for presentation at the 40th Annual Society of Interventional Radiology (SIR) Meeting (February 28 - March 5, 2015, Atlanta, GA), found the use of the Magellan™ Robotic System in transarterial chemoembolization (TACE) procedures is feasible, and that remote robotic catheter navigation with Magellan leads to over 80% reduction in radiation dose to the operating physician when compared with a bedside control. Lead investigator Dr. Sandeep Rao, MD, MBA authored the abstract, which reviewed the results of seven patients treated with robot-assisted TACE using the Magellan 6Fr Robotic Catheter over a 5 month period at Sierra Medical Center in El Paso, Texas.

Technical success of TACE with drug eluting beads was 100%. No major or access site complications were encountered. Average radiation exposure to the operator, as measured by RaySafe radiation monitoring, was reduced by over 80% using remote, robotic catheter navigation with Magellan when compared with the control site at the patient's bedside. Dr. Rao concluded that "The Magellan Robotic System is safe and feasible for routine use in transarterial chemoembolization." Dr. Rao will present his findings on Monday, March 2, 2015 at 5:10pm during the "Emerging Concepts" session at SIR 2015. 

"Radiation exposure during complex embolization procedures is a serious occupational hazard for interventionalists, and physician societies such as SIR are increasingly focusing on efforts to educate their members and reduce exposure," said Cary Vance, President and CEO of Hansen Medical. "We applaud the work done by Dr. Rao to demonstrate the potential benefits of Magellan in TACE, which is the most common embolization procedure performed by Interventional Radiologists worldwide."

TACE is a minimally-invasive procedure involving catheter-based delivery of small embolic materials into selected, small arteries to deliver targeted chemotherapy and cut off the blood supply feeding a tumor in the liver. Approximately 175,000 TACE procedures are performed worldwide each year.¹ TACE is most often performed in patients with Hepatocellular Carcinoma (HCC), which is the 5^th most common cancer and the 3^rd leading cause of cancer deaths in the US. The expected radiation dose rate to the operator in TACE procedures is approximately 4x higher than that in cardiac intervention, due to the larger imaging field size.² Interventional Radiologists at several centers in the US and Europe are performing TACE procedures with the Magellan Robotic System.