A Safety and Performance Study of the Use of EmboBio for the Intra-arterial Treatment of Abdominopelvic Bleeding

Overview

This research conducted by EMBOBIO SAS is intended for patients with bleeding or at risk of bleeding in the abdominal-pelvic region requiring embolization. The EmboBio device (embolization implant) is a Class IIb medical device that is not CE marked (meaning that it is not yet commercially available on the European market). The objective of the study is to demonstrate the safety and performance of the EmboBio medical embolization device in humans in order to obtain CE marking, the European authorization required for the commercialization of medical devices. Safety will be assessed by collecting data on events that may be related to the device, and the device will be considered effective if the target arteries are completely occluded (blocked) at the end of the operation. The plan is to include 45 patients (men and women aged 18 or over who have given their consent to participate in the study) requiring embolization in the abdominal-pelvic region in French hospitals over a period of 12 months. The patient's full participation is requested for a period of approximately 6 months.

Abdominopelvic bleeding may occur in different and various circumstances, in a spontaneous way, after a trauma, in a neoplasic context, after a visceral aneurysm's rupture, during or after a surgical treatment. They require fast and effective treatment, as they can be rapidly life-threatening, and that's where embolization steps in. Embolization is a recent interventional radiology technique whose objective is the occlusion of arterial or venous vessels. Unlike so-called conventional surgical techniques, it is a minimally invasive treatment consisting in endovascular navigation using catheters and microcatheters to reach target vessels where the embolic agent is delivered. The choice of the embolic agent is guided by the indication of the procedure as well as the embolization site. Available permanent embolic agents include calibrated microparticles, metallic implants (coils, plugs) and bioglue. Although the ideal embolic agent does not exist, the choice of material remains a fundamental step in embolization procedures, and the development of new agents is an important avenue of research. The choice of the embolic agent for bleeding control is based on the site of bleeding, the size of the artery, how fast the bleeding can be controlled but also the time required for embolic agent preparation, its price and the physician's preference. In this indication, the most often used permanent embolic agents are coils. Known adverse device effects of coils are risks of migration, non-target embolization, infection and damage to the wall vessels. With the urgency of climate change and the demand for natural products in reaction to the overconsumption of chemicals for decades, both food and health industries have experienced a very strong demand for products with a biological process, both respectful of the environment in its design, and of the organism in its distribution. In this context, it seems appealing and important to develop new agents designed from new materials. Indeed, the use of organic materials is a game-changer that is both innovative and promising. More than these aspects, the development of organic embolic material seems necessary to improve the biocompatibility of implantable medical devices with the organism. To conclude, the best embolic agent for abdominopelvic bleeding should provide a fast and effective long-term occlusion of the bleeding arteries, be safe, prepared speedily, easy to use, cheap and ecofriendly. Embobio has been designed and developed to meet all these expectations. Embobio is the first organic agent designed for permanent embolization. We demonstrated in a preclinical study that this new agar-agar embolization implant is easy to use and effective in stopping bleeding in a hemorrhagic shock model, making it well-suited for emergency interventional radiology procedures.