Volcano Explodes in Therapy Guidance

In the world of medical devices, there are companies that begin by developing one thing and wind up doing something altogether different. But few have taken the kind of path that Volcano has. Once a high-flying dynamo with dreams of striking it big in vulnerable plaque, Volcano has seen those dreams all but disappear. But instead of crashing to earth Icarus-like, Volcano is soaring, this time on the back of the unlikeliest of technologies, intravascular ultrasound (IVUS), and a business built on a number of opportunistic commercial moves made while still forging ahead in vulnerable plaque. Volcano's new vision: that of a therapy-guidance leader, a "theranostic company," that helps physicians understand whom, how, and when best to treat.