Japan Approves St. Jude Vascular Closure Device

St. Jude Medical announced Japanese regulatory approval, as well as reimbursement approval, for its Angio-Seal STS Plus Vascular Closure device.

The Angio-Seal STS Plus offers “a significant advantage” over the Angio-Seal Millennium vascular closure platform, which has been used in Japan since 2004, the company said. With the addition of a self-tightening suture, the device allows vascular closure to be completed entirely in the catheterization lab, saving labor and reducing the length of time required to complete the procedure.

The device is approved for both percutaneous peripheral and cardiac interventional catheterization procedures, and enables physicians to quickly seal femoral artery punctures made during those procedures, St. Jude said. And, unlike many other vascular closure devices, all components of the Angio-Seal STS Plus device are fully absorbed with 60 to 90 days, so no foreign material permanently remains in the body, it added.