Q’Apel Medical announces first-in-human case with Wahoo.

Q’Apel Medical, a neurovascular medical device company, today announced it successfully completed the first-in-human case with the Wahoo access catheter, utilizing the next-generation SelectFlex technology. The procedure was performed by Raymond Turner, M.D., at Prisma Health in Greenville, South Carolina.

The Wahoo access catheter contains proprietary SelectFlex variable stiffness technology that allows the physician to control the level of flexibility or support that the catheter provides at any given moment during a clinical case. This advancement in catheter technology aims to simplify the neurovascular access platform in clinical cases, put more control in the hands of the treating physician and, in some cases, could minimize the number of catheters used.

The first patient was treated by Raymond Turner, M.D., Professor of Neurosurgery at Prisma Health, who commented, “Until Wahoo, we had to choose between catheters that either tracked well distally or provided great support. In many cases, we need to use two catheters, one inside another, to meet our access demands in more complex cases. Wahoo solves this paradox in a single catheter and in doing so, greatly simplifies our access requirements. Its physician-controlled ‘on the fly’ modulation allows us to easily transform Wahoo from a highly flexible mode catheter that permits distal access to a support mode that provides strong, trustworthy and reliable base of operations for our cases. It’s two catheters in one and it’s in a class by itself.”

The Wahoo access catheter joins the Walrus Balloon Guide Catheter, currently marketed in the U.S. and rapidly expanding Q’Apel Medical’s product and technology portfolio. Q’Apel has successfully focused on the neuro access segment and will continue to develop and expand the technology platforms and introduce innovative products in the near future.