Stroke Retriever

Stroke is one of the leading causes of death in the U.S with approximately one death occurring every four minutes; it is also the leading cause of disability in the country. Until recently, administering blood-thinners (anticoagulants) was the only way to treat stroke – a treatment that was often associated with modest outcomes and bleeding complications. In the last decade, retriever devices have shown promising results in removing the blood clot from the brain vasculature in patients with acute ischemic stroke. However, stroke retrievers currently on the market still have issues such as device detachment (device material breaking away from the catheter, where the device is introduced to the brain), brain hemorrhage and possibly life threatening vasospasms due to mechanical trauma especially when clot removal requires several attempts, and fragmentation of the target clot. The stroke team is exploring novel approaches to improve blood clot retrieval from the brain and design a new, improved stroke retriever.

Graduate student: Kaitlyn Elmer

Research collaborator: Professor Ranil Wickramasinghe, Chemical Engineering, University of Arkansas, Fayetteville, AR

Clinical collaborator: Dr. James Meek, M.D., Interventional Radiology, University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences Cardiology, Little Rock, AR