Neurovascular Intervention

Aviceanna.AI has announced that its medical imaging artificial intelligence (AI) tool, CINA Head, has qualified for the new technology add-on payment (NTAP) recently approved by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS).

A new case study reveals a link between COVID-19 and clotting in blood vessels in the brain that results in an increased risk of ischemic stroke. Five of the six cases included in the study suffered an ischemic stroke within 8-24 days of the onset of coronavirus symptoms. Early use of anticoagulants might help reduce the risk of blood clotting and stroke in patients with COVID-19.

After diabetes, Medtronic is looking to leverage AI through a distribution agreement with Viz.ai, which uses the technology to streamline stroke care.

All in One Suit for Stroke Rehabilitation covering upper body, lower body, hand eye coordination and body posture

Synchron has been awarded nearly AUD$1M ($990,000) in funding from the Medical Research Future Fund (MRFF), through MTPConnect, the Australian Government’s BioMedTech Horizons (BMTH) programme, to advance the commercialisation of Synchron’s Stentrode. Stentrode is a minimally-invasive brain-computer interface being designed to restore functional independence, including the ability to text message, for people with paralysis by facilitating control of external personal devices through thought alone, and without the need for open brain surgery.

Cerus Endovascular has announced that it has received CE mark approval for its CerusEndo MC 021 microcatheter, designed to allow physicians to access tortuous neurovasculature and deliver therapeutic devices to intended targets.

A novel tandem stent thrombectomy technique “seems to be a safe and effective” rescue treatment for acute large vessel occlusion (LVO) that is resistant to conventional attempts, concludes a study recently published in the Journal of NeuroInterventional Surgery.

From acute interventions to endovascular therapy indication expansion, Sunil Sheth from McGovern Medical School at UTHealth, Houston, USA, kick-started the Society of NeuroInterventional Surgery’s (SNIS) annual meeting (4–7 August) by outlining an array of recently completed, and ongoing stroke trials.

Non-internal carotid artery (non-ICA) site of occlusion, the use of a balloon-guided catheter, and better collateral grade were all independent predictors of the first-pass effect, concluded Ashutosh Jadhav from the University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, USA, at the recent Society of NeuroInterventional Surgery’s (SNIS) annual meeting (22–25 July, Miami, USA).

The paper: “Mechanical thrombectomy with a novel stent retriever with multifunctional zones: Initial clinical experience with the NeVa thrombectomy device,” was recently published in the Journal of Neuroradiology. The data demonstrated that NeVa achieved a high rate of first pass success and overall reperfusion scores with no device related complications.

In patients with suspected acute stroke, MethinksLVO software can rapidly and reliably predict LVO. MethinksLVO could reduce the need to perform CTA, generate alarms, and increase the efficiency of patient transfers in stroke networks.

Recent data have suggested that performing recanalizing therapies in ischemic stroke might lead to an increased risk of acute symptomatic seizures. This applies to both intravenous thrombolysis and mechanical thrombectomy. We therefore determined the frequency of acute symptomatic seizures attributable to these two recanalization therapies using a large, population-based stroke registry in Central Europe. We performed two matched 1:1 case–control analyses. In both analyses, patients were matched for age, stroke severity on admission and pre-stroke functional status.

Stryker Corporation announced today that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has approved the Neuroform Atlas™ Stent System for marketing under a humanitarian device exemption (HDE). The device is to be utilized in conjunction with neurovascular embolic coils for the treatment of wide neck, intracranial, saccular aneurysms and allows the company to begin U.S. commercialization efforts immediately.

Thrombectomy was found to be safe in children with ischemic stroke and a mismatch between clinical deficit and infarct size up to 24 hours after symptom onset, according to a study results published in Neurology. Results indicated the procedure demonstrated generally good neurological outcomes when patients were selected by this mismatch as well.

The minimally invasive brain surgery is the technique by which health workers safely remove brain and skull-base tumours through smaller and more precise openings that minimise collateral damage; that is, injury or other damage inflicted on an unintended target such as blood vessels and nerves.

A low Alberta stroke program early CT score (ASPECTS) of 4–5 has been deemed the threshold for mechanical thrombectomy, with no benefit elicited in those with ASPECTS 0-3. Moreover, the clinical outcome in low ASPECTS may be age dependent, with negligible benefit achieved in those above 75 years of age. These conclusions, presented by Osama Zaidat (Mercy Health, St Vincent Medical Center, Toledo, USA) at the Society of NeuroInterventional Surgery’s (SNIS) annual meeting (22–25 July, Miami, USA), are indicative of the low ASPECTS subgroup identified through the STRATIS registry.