Development of Detachable Platinum Coil Technology
With the emergence of microcatheter and micro-coil technologies during the late 1980s, physician-inventor Guido Guglielmi, M.D. saw the potential for the endovascular deployment of micro-coils in brain aneurysms. Within two years, this pioneer helped develop the first detachable platinum coil, called the Guglielmi Detachable Coil, more commonly referred to as the GDC® Coil.
The FDA approved an Investigational Device Exemption in 1991 for the GDC Coil and clinical trials began. In 1995, the FDA cleared the GDC Coil for commercial sale in the United States, and the GDC Coil has been commercially available in Europe since 1992.
Today more than 140 GDC Coils are available in a wide range of sizes in different delivery platforms to accommodate case-by-case variation. GDC Coils have been selected by physicians around the world to treat more than 125,000 patients.
What is a detachable platinum coil?
Detachable platinum coils are used to occlude (fill) intracranial aneurysms, significantly reducing the incidence of aneurysm rupture or re-rupture. The coils are made of platinum so that they can be visible via X-ray and be flexible enough to conform to the aneurysm shape. The coil is attached to a delivery wire and fed through a microcatheter into the aneurysm. The delivery wire allows the physician to reposition or withdraw the coil to ensure ideal placement. Once properly positioned within the aneurysm, the coil is detached from the delivery wire using an electrolytic detachment process.