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News Release 10-094

Getting a Grip on Stroke Treatment

New device may provide safer way to treat the third leading cause of death in the U.S.

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Medical illustration revealing how the SHELTER device traps and removes blood clots in the brain.

This medical illustration reveals how the SHELTERTM device traps and removes blood clots in the brain.

Credit: Zina Deretsky, NSF


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Learn how the SHELTERTM device works and see it in action, removing a gummi bear "clot" from a model of blood vessels in the brain.

Credit: Amanda Castroverde, National Science Foundation

 

On May 27, 2010, NSF hosted a webcast featuring the SHELTERTM technology and its developers Vikram and Vallabh Janardhan. View the device, its cadaver-model testing environment, and a discussion of its features.

Credit: National Science Foundation

 

Photo showing SHELTER device grabbing a simulated blood clot from within a silicone blood vessel.

During testing, the SHELTERTM device grabs a simulated blood clot (a moistened gummi bear) from within a silicone "blood vessel." The water-filled, silicone test-bed was modeled from human-cadaver brain vessels, and contains added aneurysms, atherosclerosis and "plaque" to provide the device an even more challenging testing environment. 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.

Credit: Insera Therapeutics


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Photo of the Insera SHELTER device, which is small enough to fit into tiny blood vessels in brain.

The Insera SHELTERTM device is minuscule so that it can fit into even tiny blood vessels in the brain. The framework holding open the clot-capturing mesh compresses down to fit within a catheter, only opening when it is pushed past the blood clot, when the heat of the body causes the memory metal device to spring into this shape.

Credit: Insera Therapeutics


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Photo of silicone copies of human cadaver blood vessels with aneurisms, atherosclerosis, plaque.

By using silicone copies of human cadaver blood vessels--further modified with aneurisms, atherosclerosis and "plaque"--Insera researchers are able to recreate a model environment for testing their blood-clot removal device. The cadaver model approach could potentially replace some animal testing experiments.

Credit: Insera Therapeutics


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