Breathing Easy

Spiration is fighting emphysema with technology instead of drugs or therapy.

By Steve Reno | June 2010 | FROM THE PRINT EDITION

The IBV Valve System: When used to
treat emphysema, the small umbrella-shaped valves are deployed into the most
diseased upper lobes of the lungs, where they expand, self-seal and contract
with the patient’s breathing. Air can then be redirected to healthier tissue.

A Redmond company has become the
first in America to win regulatory approval for a medical valve implanted in
the lungs. The IBV (intrabronchial valve) system, developed by Spiration Inc.,
may be a breakthrough in treating emphysema.

Patients with emphysema have
difficulty breathing because parts of their lungs are enlarged and do not
absorb enough oxygen into the blood. The IBV valve solves this problem by
redirecting air from damaged passageways to healthier parts of the lung. The tiny,
umbrella-shaped device is placed in the airway using a flexible catheter
inserted through the mouth or nose.

“The patients we’re treating now
are on all the drugs they can be on,” Spiration CEO Rick Shea says. “A lot of
them are on supplemental oxygen, and there’s really nothing more that can be
done for them.

“We’re in it to help these
patients,” he says.

While the device is already
approved for treating emphysema in Europe, it is still undergoing clinical
trials in the United States and Japan. Currently, it is approved in America for
the treatment of air leaks. When patients have a portion of their lung removed
to treat lung cancer, surgeons staple the tissue shut. In some cases, the lung
tissue doesn’t heal properly, and patients develop an air leak, which causes
difficulty breathing. In these cases, the IBV system can prevent air from
escaping through the leak.

Shea says he hopes to see the
device approved for emphysema by 2012. In the meantime, Spiration is expanding
its market in Europe. The company has received about $97 million from
investors, has been issued 26 patents and can market the IBV system in 43
countries. Spiration manufactures, packages and ships the device from the same
building in Redmond, so no labor is outsourced.