Breathing Easy

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.

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