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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.](/news/mmg/media/images/blood_clot1_f.jpg)
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.](/news/mmg/media/images/blood_clot4_f.jpg)
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.](/news/mmg/media/images/blood_clot5_f.jpg)
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.](/news/mmg/media/images/blood_clot6_f.jpg)
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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