The next generation of brain aneurysm interventions has a name: FRED.
Short for flow re-direction endoluminal device, FRED is a double-layer metal wire mesh tube made of nickel titanium that is designed to divert blood flow past an aneurysm in the brain.
Cerebral aneurysms occur when a weak part of the artery wall balloons—forming a bulge filled with blood. Without treatment, a leaking or ruptured aneurysm is like a ticking time bomb that can lead to stroke, brain damage, coma and death.
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Stryker announced today that it has received U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approval for an expanded indication of its Neuroform Atlas Stent System, becoming the first and only adjunctive stent approved for use in the posterior (back of the brain) circulation. Aneurysms in the posterior circulation rupture more frequently and are generally more difficult to treat. With the approval of the Neuroform Atlas adjunctive stent for the posterior circulation, long term treatment is more feasible.
Stryker’s Neuroform Atlas® Stent System, which was granted an expanded indication, providing a new option for patients with aneurysms in the back of the brain.
Already approved for use in the anterior circulation, the expanded indication was granted based on robust clinical trial evidence proving the safety and efficacy of the device. The combined patients from both the anterior and posterior cohorts totaled 298 patients, making it the largest study of its kind.
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KALAMAZOO, Michigan, USA, Aug. 3, 2020 /PRNewswire
Prescreening options to detect brain aneurysms are limited and expensive. With the help of a research grant from the Brain Aneurysm Foundation, CEO Vincent Tutino, Ph.D., from Neurovascular Diagnostics is developing a low-cost blood test to detect unruptured brain aneurysms.
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Brain aneurysm. It’s a diagnosis that stirs fears of a “ticking time bomb in the head,” and risk for a catastrophic blood vessel rupture and sudden death.
As board-certified neurosurgeons with extensive expertise and experience in treating brain aneurysms, Ciro G. Randazzo, MD, MPH, FAANS, and Anil Nair, MD, FAANS, explain that while the potential dangers of an aneurysm are, indeed, grave, there also is considerable cause for reassurance and hope — including new minimally invasive surgical approaches for managing the condition.
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by IGEA Brain, Spine & Orthopedics
A balloon catheter, or angioplasty balloon, is a small tube which has a neurovascular remodelling balloon mounted at the distal end. The neurovascular remodelling balloonis used to dilate the lesion so as to enlarge the site, to improve stent apposition or to achieve full stent expansion. Diagnostic temporary arterial occlusion known as balloon test occlusion (BTO) is the most common application of neurovascular remodelling balloons.
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By Yogesh Sengar
When a longtime patient developed worrisome neurological symptoms in March, W. David Freeman, MD, FAAN, a neurointensivist at Mayo Clinic in Jacksonville, FL, interfaced with him via telemedicine. The virtual visit averted a trip to a hospital emergency room teeming with potentially contagious patients during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Dr. Freeman’s patient, who had had a brain aneurysm before age 40 several years ago, had slurred speech and numbness and weakness on one side of his body. To arrange a virtual consultation, Mayo Clinic’s Connected care team guided the patient, a former Florida resident who now lives in another state, in how to access telehealth software on his home computer and connect with Dr. Freeman.
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By Susan Kreimer
A new technology that can completely fill and heal an aneurysm is being developed by Aneuvas Technologies, Inc. (ATI) called NeuroCURE. ATI’s CTO, Tim Becker, describes this metal-free material as compatible with the body, can stop the aneurysm from growing and is a quick, three-minute procedure.
The Brain Aneurysm Foundation awarded Tim Becker a research grant in 2018 when this technology was still a preliminary idea. Listen to Tim Becker describe NeuroCURE and how it has advanced with the help of a BAFound research grant into a treatment that could start changing lives in just about a year or two.
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Canadian doctors who conducted the first robotic surgery to treat a brain aneurysm say the approach could boost the availability and precision of lifesaving stroke care.
Use of the technology could also be a first step toward remote robotic surgery for stroke and other conditions affecting brain blood vessels.
“In the future, perhaps, a patient could end up in a small center somewhere, and the staff there could put the patient into the appropriate suite where the procedure can be done,” explained American Heart Association president-elect Dr. Mitchell Elkind. “And then, an expert at another site, perhaps hundreds or even thousands of miles away, could perform the procedure remotely. It’s really like science fiction stuff. It sounds really exciting and it has great potential.”
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HealthDay News
In the current scenario, chronic medical ailments like cardiovascular issues, infections, generic medical conditions, and other disorders are becoming increasingly prevalent. This in turn is necessitating the development of advanced pharmaceutical devices and sophisticated medical treatments.
One of the most commonly utilised materials for medical applications is polymers. Natural polymers like hair, horn and cellulose have been used for many years by humans for a multitude of purposes including medical, for instance – suture materials.
The modern, man-made or synthetic medical polymers used today, began to develop somewhere around the Second World War period, and have demonstrated a robust potential in the pharmaceutical industry. This potential is attributed to their many beneficial chemical and physical properties including permeability, flexibility and mechanical self-reinforcement, among others.
The global medical polymers market is witnessing strong growth in current years and it is expected that these materials will replace the conventional ceramic, glass and metal-based equipment and implants in the years ahead.
Proliferating cases of cerebral aneurysms
The Brain Aneurysm Foundation has estimated that nearly 6.5 million people in the United States have cerebral aneurysms that are unruptured. It is expected that around 30,000 individuals will face an aneurysm rupture each year, with nearly 15% patients succumbing before they receive medical care, 25% deaths occurring despite medical attention and only one in four expected to make a full recovery.
In light of these alarming statistics, a team at the Department of Mechanical Engineering in North Arizona University is working on developing a new polymer designed to restrict the growth and rupture of aneurysms. The polypropylene glycol-based biomaterial, dubbed PPODA-QT is very similar to body tissue, and is built to restrict the growth of aneurysms in the brain, in turn enhancing patient outcomes in stroke and potential stroke patients.
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by Hrishikesh Kadam
Diagnosing aneurysms before they rupture is critical for the prognosis of patients. When aneurysms rupture, they can lead to life-threatening subarachnoid hemorrhages, a type of stroke.
Current techniques used to diagnose unruptured aneurysms include CT scans, however, interpreting these scans are difficult even for the most trained radiologists and there is low interrater agreement among experts.
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