ASAHI Gladius® EX: The Middle-Weight Non-Tapered Polymer-Jacketed Wire That Broadens Coronary CTO Strategy
By Modern Medical Solutions Editorial Team
Gladius EX sets a new standard of middle-weight, non-tapered polymer-jacketed CTO guidewires — more directional authority than soft tapered polymer wires, controlled knuckle behaviour for subintimal tracking, and low-friction crossing through occlusion microchannels.
Where Gladius EX Sits in the Polymer-Jacketed Wire Spectrum
Polymer-jacketed CTO wires span a spectrum. At the soft end, tapered wires such as Fielder XT-A slip into microchannels but deflect at resistant tissue; at the stiff end, drilling wires penetrate but lose the low-friction tracking that makes polymer jackets valuable. ASAHI Gladius® EX occupies the deliberate middle: a middle-weight, non-tapered polymer-jacketed 0.014 in wire that keeps the jacket’s lubricity while adding the tip authority that soft tapered wires lack.
This positioning matters in antegrade CTO crossing when the occlusion body contains loose tissue planes and microchannels but the entry architecture is poorly defined — exactly the anatomy where a soft tapered wire wanders and a stiff wire risks false lumen creation.
The Non-Tapered Tip: Crossing and Knuckling With One Wire
The non-tapered tip geometry is central to the Gladius EX concept. When forward force exceeds what the tip can transmit, the wire forms a controlled loop — the knuckle — that tracks the vessel course through the subintimal space with substantially lower perforation risk than a penetrating tip. Operators deliberately exploit this behaviour in dissection–re-entry strategies, advancing the knuckle along the vessel architecture before re-entering the true lumen.
Because the same wire crosses microchannels when they exist and knuckles predictably when they do not, Gladius EX reduces wire exchanges during the exploratory phase of antegrade CTO work.
Practical CTO Strategy With Gladius EX
In a contemporary Asahi-based CTO algorithm, Gladius EX enters after a soft tapered polymer wire (Fielder XT-A) fails to progress, and before dedicated penetration wires (Gaia Next, Confianza Pro) are justified. Its sibling, Gladius MG, adds a prolapse-resistant core for resistant proximal caps where even the middle-weight tip folds back.
Gladius EX is used with microcatheter support (Corsair Pro, Caravel) on the standard 0.014 in platform, in both antegrade and retrograde strategies.
Ordering Through Modern Medical Solutions
Modern Medical Solutions is the authorised Asahi Intecc distributor for Tajikistan and Afghanistan. Gladius EX is available on request for coronary intervention centres in Tajikistan and Afghanistan.
Contact Modern Medical Solutions to confirm availability, discuss your caseload, and review the complete Asahi Intecc coronary portfolio for your catheter lab.
