Pittsburgh, January 13, 2003 -- A next-generation bioabsorbable copolymer coated coil, shown in preclinical animal trials to improve brain aneurysm treatment, is now being deployed by neurosurgeons at the Center for Endovascular Therapy at the University of Pittsburgh.

The Matrix™ detachable coil, developed by Boston Scientific Corporation of Fremont, CA, is an enhancement over the traditional bare platinum coil widely utilized in a coiling technique for filling aneurysms, bulges in the cerebral arterial wall that, if left untreated, can burst and lead to stroke. Endovascular coiling is a minimally invasive technique for treating aneurysms and a proven alternative to aneurysm clipping accomplished via craniotomy.

Compared to bare platinum coils in pre-clinical animal studies, Matrix detachable coils accelerated the formation of intra-aneurysmal connective tissue, increased aneurysm neck tissue thickness, and reduced aneurysm size.

A much less-invasive technique than major surgery, coiling is a viable alternative for many patients whose aneurysms might otherwise go untreated.

In an endovascular coiling procedure, a microcatheter is inserted into the femoral artery in a patient's groin area. The microcatheter is tracked through the patient's blood vessels (arteries), from the femoral artery up into the brain and to the site of the brain aneurysm. Matrix coils are fed through the catheter and into the aneurysm, filling it and sealing it off from the artery. In animal studies, the coils were found to promote the development of connective (scar) tissue inside the aneurysm. The connective tissue excluded the aneurysm from arterial blood flow. An aneurysm occluded from blood circulation may have a decreased risk of rupture.

Matrix coils have received 510(k) clearance from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for endovascular treatment of cerebral aneurysms and were recently granted the CE Mark in Europe. Boston Scientific Corporation is sponsoring the ACTIVE™ (Acceleration of Connective Tissue Formation in Endovascular Aneurysm Repair) post-market clinical study, further evaluating the Matrix technology in 100 patients at 12 international neuroendovascular centers including the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center.

Matrix coils leverage technology from the clinically proven Guglielmi Detachable Coil (GDC©). Since first being introduced in 1991 GDC coils have been selected by physicians around the world to treat more than 125,000 patients.