He saw firsthand the need for a safe, effective delivery instrument. He also observed the quantum growth of regenerative medicine as the population ages. So, he invented and is bringing to market a revolutionary multifunctional injection catheter. The Viper™Catheter can be used for the diagnosis and treatment of cardiovascular and other pathologies, and for the delivery of cutting-edge regenerative therapies.
BTT will leverage the technological innovations and ground-breaking discoveries of the 21st century, and apply those to the field of medicine.
Unlike conventional catheters, injection catheters can penetrate tissue with a needle inside the catheter. The Viper™Catheter is one of the only models on the market of this next-generation technology.
The Viper™Catheter goes beyond injection, though. It combines patented design elements with safety, reliability, steerability, ease of use and unique multifunctionality.
BTT’s Viper™Catheter has proven safe in pre-clinical trials in the injection of agents into the coronary arteries and cardiac wall. In cardiac applications alone, it eliminates the need for invasive procedures, which reduces the risk of complications, improves patient outcomes and lowers costs. BTT’s technology enhances treatment where traditional interventions fail.
The Viper™Catheter is the only injection catheter that can be used to treat both solid and hollow organs where the organ wall is the focus for pathology (like ischemia, infarction, ulcers, tumors, and others).
The Viper™Catheter can be used as a:
Stand-alone therapeutic and diagnostic catheter.
Delivery device for therapeutic agents.
Auxiliary device for therapeutic or diagnostic interventions.
Examples of Applications:
Cardiac ablation, to seal leaky heart valves or perforated walls, for embolization, general angiography, left or right coronary angiography, ventriculography, and others.
Stem cells, drugs, hydrogels, gene therapy, and others.
During interventions, catheter can be used to perform additional procedures with minimal invasion, including valve repair, stenting, various diagnostics, and others.
BTT’s revolutionary new Viper™Catheter - Safe, Reliable, Accurate, Robust - Game-Changing.
Lower cost, higher value.
Unprecedented situational awareness.
Transformational technology with superior capability.
Easy to learn, easy to use.
BTT is based in Boston, Massachusetts, a world hub for technology and entrepreneurship.
BTT is actively seeking productive collaborations with investors and strategic partners.
BTT was founded by inventor, cardiac surgeon and scientist Tengiz Tkebuchava, MD, PhD.
A ski injury abruptly ended his surgical career and catapulted him into a new opportunity: the development of pioneering applications within medicine and beyond.
Before he moved to Boston, his experience in prominent cardiac surgery centers (after graduating from medical school in Tbilisi, Georgia) in Moscow, Zurich, and London made him uniquely suited to this, as he had already developed improvements for surgical techniques, and had been exploring ways to enhance various conventional medical devices.
He graduated summa cum laude and earned his PhD in cardiac surgery. For his achievement, he was granted US citizenship on the base of "Alien of Extraordinary Ability."
Inventor and author of worldwide publications.
Dr. Tkebuchava decided to specialize in cardiac surgery because he wanted to help save critically ill patients. Over many operations, however, he realized that even after technically successful open-heart surgery, patients experienced long and painful recoveries.
He experimented with genes and stem cells and their combinations on infarcted myocardium and was impressed by the results. He saw clearly that simple, non-invasive interventions could save lives.
He also saw that although many therapeutic agents are available today, and more are being discovered, there is currently no effective mechanism for delivering them safely and efficiently into the target tissue.
For example, for cardiac treatments the agent should be injected directly into the myocardial wall; this ensures that the agent will remain in place where it can begin taking effect. If instead it is injected into the coronary arteries, the agent can wash out and not remain in the myocardium.
He committed to design a novel catheter. For this, he drew not only on his experience working in global centers on pediatric and adult cardiac surgeries, heart transplants, and various device implantations, but also on having invented other devices, and on his research into regenerative therapeutics.
He determined that the critical characteristics of this catheter had to be safety, reliability, and multifunctionality. It had to integrate several important features, be easy and fast to use (to lower patient stress and risk), safe for a sensitive and constantly beating heart, and applicable for the needs of other organs. It had to address the crucial need to ensure that the task was accomplished: injectates are often invisible, so it is difficult to determine whether they have been successfully implanted or have leaked back out of the myocardium.
After experimenting with various designs, GE Healthcare constructed the first working proof-of-concept prototypes. These exceeded expectations during multiple pre-clinical tests conducted at the University of Pennsylvania, Columbia University and Harvard Medical School.
Dr. Tkebuchava holds two patents for the Viper™Catheter, and he continues to improve and test the design.
Today, the Viper™Catheter possesses all the design elements Dr. Tkebuchava initially envisioned. The next step is to take it to market. He wants to treat and teach, share his experience and technology with others, and collaborate with doctors and researchers worldwide.
BTT is working to bring this revolutionary new therapeutic device to clinics and teaching hospitals around the world. We invite you to join us!
