A novel fiber-optic based 0.014″ pressure wire: Designs of the OptoWire™, development phases, and the O 2 first-in-man results

To review the technical limitations of available pressure-wires, present the design evolution of a nitinol fiber-optic pressure wire and to summarize the First-in-Man (FIM) O pilot study results. Despite increasing use of physiology assessment of coronary lesions, several technical limitations persist. We present technical details, design evolution and early clinical results with a novel 0.014" nitinol fiber-optic based pressure-wire. The 0.014' OptoWire™ (Opsens Medical, Quebec, Canada) was designed to combine improved handling properties compared to standard pressure-wires and to offer extremely reliable pressure recording and transmission due to fiber-optic properties compared to piezo-electric sensors and electrical wires. In vitro assessment showed that OptoWire™ steerability, pushability and torquability properties were closer to regular PCI wires than standard electrical pressure wires. In the First-in-Man O study, 60 patients were recruited at 2 centers in Canada. A total of 103 lesions were assessed with the OptoWire™ and OptoMonitor™, 75 lesions at baseline and 28 lesions post-PCI (without disconnection). In all crossed lesions (n = 100, 97%), mean Pd/Pa and FFR could be adequately measured. In 11 cases assessed successively with OptoWire™ and Aegis™ (Abbott Vascular, USA) bland-Altman analysis showed a mean difference of 0.002 ± 0.052 mmHg (p = .91) for Pd/Pa and 0.01 ± 0.06 for FFR calculation (p = .45). There was no device-related complication. Upon these initial results, several design changes aimed to improve overall performance including torquability, stiffness, resistance to kink and pressure drift were completed. The novel 0.014" fiber-optic OptoWire™ provides superior wire handling with reduced risk of pressure drift allowing reliable pre- and post-PCI physiology assessment.