April 6, 2007 — Spectranetics Corp., Colorado Springs, CO, has announced the commercial availability of the TURBO elite product line for excimer laser ablation to treat peripheral artery disease (PAD). The TURBO elite product line features an enhanced outer jacket and inner guide wire lumen with optimized ablation efficiency and energy output that enables increased penetration rates.
The system vaporizes lipid-based, calcified and fibrotic plaque as well as neointimal hyperplasia. And the company says that the TURBO elite incorporates all of the features of the TURBO product line, including 80 hertz laser repetition rates, “continuous on” lasing and a hydrophilic coating. TURBO elite catheters are available in a variety of sizes.
“Laser ablation is an extremely safe and effective minimally invasive peripheral intervention treatment option,” said Dr. Craig Walker of The Cardiovascular Institute of the South, and a member of the editorial board of Diagnostic & Invasive Cardiology. “It is successful in removing plaque and clot from blocked arteries to establish blood flow to the limbs. It requires less time and seems to have a lower risk than many other procedures that restore blood flow. Multiple publications have reported greater than 90 percent limb salvage rates without the need for open surgery in patients presenting with critical limb ischemia.
“The excimer laser ablation procedure usually takes only minutes. Patients remain awake during the entire procedure and typically experience no discomfort,” Dr. Walker continued. Spectranetics’ TURBO elite product line received FDA market clearance in October 2006 and launched a limited market release in the fourth quarter of 2006.
The full product line is currently commercially available. For more information visit www.spectranetics.com
June 15, 2026 
