NIH Gives $3 Million Grant for New Ultrasound System

The National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI) of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) recently awarded John Hopkins University-based medical device company Perceptive Navigation $3 million to continue product and clinical development work for their Vu-Path ultrasound system, a miniature ultrasound probe with interventional components such as needles and guide wires.

The Vu-Path’s objective is to improve needle guidance in the ultrasound plane with “forward-viewing ultrasound imaging technology.” The device comes with an intuitive image orientation feature allowing both experienced and inexperienced users to accurately, safely, and efficiently guide the needle into the jugular, subclavian, or femoral vasculature. Its needle and ultrasound probe are always in a fixed position, which makes it easy to visualize needle entrance. The device also produces high resolution images of complex areas in the body, and comes with a laptop so that practitioners can expedite and streamline procedures.

"I am delighted that Vu-Path is progressing to commercialization and look forward to seeing Vu-Path in the hands of clinicians," said Theodore Abraham, MD, Perceptive Navigation’s founder and now clinical chief of cardiology at the University of California San Francisco. "Vu-Path addresses a significant unmet need by reducing complication rates and increasing efficiency."