What does a Simon Nitinol Filter do?
The Simon nitinol filter for percutaneous interruption of the vena cava to prevent pulmonary embolism is currently undergoing a multicenter clinical trial. Implanted in the main vein of the body, the vena cava, to prevent emboli (fragments of a blood clot) from travelling through the heart and becoming trapped in the small capillary spaces of the lungs (pulmonary emboli). The preferred treatment for the prevention of pulmonary emboli is the vena cava filter. The fact that there are many competing filters indicates the difficulty in developing a suitable device that prevents such complications as migration, insertion difficulty, and clotting of the vena cava with the possibility of occlusion (complete closure of the vessel by a clot).
