FDA grants clearance for wand device for testing blood vessel functions

SAN DIEGO The Food and Drug Administration has given clearance to access Scientific for its MicroAccess WAND, a device that allows clinicians to insert a sheath or catheter into peripheral blood vessels, Access announced Tuesday.

The San Diego-based company said the device, the first of several planned WAND devices, combines all the components of the modified Seldinger technique into one.

“The MicroAccess WAND is the first device to enable clinicians to perform the accelerated Seldinger technique, which we believe is the ultimate refinement in vascular access technology,” Access Scientific chief executive officer Steve Bierman said in a statement. “FDA clearance of the first version of the WAND marks a major step forward in making the accelerated Seldinger technique available to clinicians.”

Access Scientific said it primarily intends for the WAND to be used in interventional radiology suites and cardiac catheterization labs.