Insera Therapeutics of Sacramento, California has developed a new device for clearing brain thrombus during a stroke. Named SHELTER (Stroke Help using an Endo-Luminal Transcatheter Embolus Retrieval), the device features a 5mm wide nickel-titanium mesh that grabs the distal end of the thrombus, and an outer sheath to contain it. There’s also a soft tip on the front to prevent accidental rupturing of the vessel.
From the National Science Foundation:
The technology recently completed rigorous testing in a unique, water-filled test bed that was modeled in silicone from human-cadaver brain vessels. Complete with aneurysms, atherosclerosis and "plaque", the new test-bed is more accurate than certain animal tests, and has helped speed the device’s development. Potentially, the test-bed could present a new approach to late-stage evaluation of certain medical technologies.
SHELTER is the first platform to both filter and remove clots, the first to entrap the clot from both its near and far ends, and the first capable of accessing small vessels in the brain. Critically, the technology can be custom-fit for the specific length and diameter of a patient’s clot, a personalized approach that may improve treatment success.
In emergency use, a interventional neurologist would deploy SHELTER using an approach similar to other catheter-based treatments, guiding a catheter from a blood vessel in the leg to the site of the clot.
The catheter would travel through the blockage–unlike blood flow, the metal device has no trouble penetrating clots–to its far side, where the net deploys. The interventional neurologist then carefully pulls the debris into a cylindrical trap that caps the outer length of the catheter.
Demo of the SHELTER device:
NSF webcast featuring SHELTER technology:
Press release: Getting a Grip on Stroke Treatment…
Link: Insera Therapeutics…