Habib™ EndoHPB Probe helping patients living with pancreatic and biliary cancer
The Habib™ EndoHPB probe, a bipolar radiofrequency (RF) catheter, is now part of Boston Scientific’s comprehensive offering of innovative endoscopic technologies. The probe is used to ablate tissue in the gastrointestinal (GI) tract and can be used by physicians in the treatment and palliative care of patients living with pancreatico-biliary cancers. The Habib™ EndoHPB probe was developed by EMcision Limited, a privately held company located in the United Kingdom and Canada, which was acquired by Boston Scientific in March 2018.
“I am pleased this device is now with Boston Scientific. The company brings leadership, vision, resources and capabilities to ensure that this important technology is available to physicians and their patients who are suffering with this terrible disease,” said Professor Nagy Habib, Head of Surgery at the Hammersmith Hospital Campus of Imperial College London.
Professor Habib, with colleagues and funding from Imperial College London Innovations, developed the device to help patients diagnosed with liver and pancreatic cancers who were not surgical candidates. Professor Habib was often confronted with this issue in his practice at the hepato-pancreatico-biliary unit at Hammersmith Hospital in west London.
The Habib™ EndoHPB is a RF catheter which provides bipolar energy used to perform partial or complete ablation of tissue in the pancreatic and biliary tracts. It is also intended for use to ablate malignant or benign tissue, notably to perform endoscopic biliary drainage or decompression, prior to stent placement or afterwards, to clear occluded stent.
Professor Nagy Habib is Head of Surgery at the Hammersmith Campus of Imperial College London and also a serial founder and entrepreneur of life sciences ventures. He formed EMcision in 2001 as a spin out company from Imperial College London Innovations to address the problem of palliation of patients with pancreatic cancer and provide options for patients who do not meet the criteria for surgery. He was the inventor and co-author on the first publication to describe the use of RF energy in devices for liver surgery (Habib 4X)1, and interventional endoscopy (Habib™ EndoHPB2 and Habib™ EUS-RFA3).
Patients with pancreaticobiliary cancers often develop jaundice as a result of tissue ingrowth that blocks ducts that enable bile to drain out of the GI tract. The Habib EndoHPB probe coagulates this tissue to help ensure that the fluids are able to drain. In addition to ablating tissue, physicians will frequently place stents to ensure that the GI tract remains open during palliative care.
While an early diagnosis improves the likelihood that a patient can meet the criteria for surgical removal of a tumor,4 currently 60 percent of patients with cholangiocarcinoma and 80 percent of patients with pancreatic cancer are not candidates for surgery at the time of presentation.5,6
