Medtech titan Covidien (NYSE:COV) received FDA clearance for its visual Kangaroo feeding tube, equipped with an endoscopic camera that allows physicians to see into the procedure in a new way.
Covidien’s new Integrated Real-time Imaging System (IRIS) technology streams video back to the Kangaroo monitor in real time, helping clinicians to navigate the anatomy, capture images and make notes.
"Prior to availability of the Kangaroo feeding tube with IRIS technology, feeding tube placement was often done blindly," according to a Covidien press release. "The risk associated with blind placement is the misplacement of the feeding tube into the patient’s airway, which can potentially cause a punctured lung or even death. The Kangaroo feeding tube with IRIS technology now gives sight where medical professionals were previously blind."
The Kangaroo system with IRIS is also available in Europe, Japan,Canada and Australia, and is available in 7 languages, the company noted.
Ireland-based Covidien has had some ups and downs in the news lately, including the $100 million acquisition of New Wave Surgical and its surgical instrument de-fogging technologies and the recall of Covidien’s Pipeline and Alligator devices, designed to treat brain aneurysms.