Astra Tech reveals blood surgery product

Astra Tech, the medical devices subsidiary of AstraZeneca, has told of the benefits of its Fatcher device, designed to remove fat from recycled patient blood during heart surgery.

Pericardial suction blood recycled during heart surgery can make for more economical use of the patient’s own blood, but fat surrounding the wound can contaminate the blood, potentially leading to clots in the small blood vessels of the brain.

Astra Tech claims that this is demonstrated by the fact that around half of heart surgery patients experience cognitive dysfunction following their operation.

However, the Fatcher is designed to filter the fat from the blood in a “simple and accessible” device, designed to be more cost-effective than larger blood washing machines.

Karl Gunnar Engstrom, associate professor at the heart centre of Umea University in Swededn, who also invented the Fatcher, remarked: “Fatcher is a simple option to a complex problem.

Peter Selley, president and chief executive officer of Astra Tech, added: “Fatcher is only first in a series of new products developed to meet the unmet medical needs in the field of blood management.”

The launch of the Fatcher would “markedly” increase Astra’s position in the market, Mr Selley concluded.

Unlike AstraZeneca, Astra Tech is headquartered in Sweden, near Gothenburg. The company’s UK headquarters are in Stonehouse, Gloucestershire.