AMPLATZER® Septal Occluder

AMPLATZER® Septal Occluder for heart defect repair utilizes the shape memory of Nitinol, a wire made from an alloy of nickel and titanium. Each Occluder is made of a Nitinol wire mesh that is shaped into two flat discs and a middle or "waist" to fit the defect size with polyester fabric inserts designed to help close the hole and provide a foundation of growth of tissue over the occluder after placement.

The placement procedure typically takes place in a special room called a catechization laboratory (cath lab) where many minimally invasive, non-surgical procedures are performed. The Septal Occluder is delivered to the correct place in the heart through a catheter, a small plastic tube used by an interventional cardiologist to access the heart and place the occluder using x-ray and echocardiography. The physician deploys the occluder to expand each disc on either side of the defect, closing off the hole.

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