Next Generation Flow Diverter for the Treatment of Intracranial Aneurysms

Annually 6,600 UK citizens suffer a subarachnoid haemorrhage (SAH) resulting from the rupture of an intracranial aneurysm (IA), of whom 40% will die and 40% will suffer severe disabilities. However, SAH's are entirely avoidable through early intervention.

Over the last decades clinical interventions have increasingly moved from invasive, risky, and expensive open surgeries (clipping) to less risky and cheaper minimally invasive endovascular coiling. Here coils are used to fill the aneurysm and prevent growth/rupture. However, for wide necked aneurysms, coils can dislodge and migrate into the parent artery leading to risk of thrombosis and stroke. To address this challenge stents are placed over the aneurysm neck. However, this is expensive, has limited efficacy and introduces new risks (clot formation).

Flow diverters (FDs) are an emerging endovascular device (mesh structure) that is placed over the aneurysm to divert blood flow away, thereby prevent growth/rupture and enabling natural healing. By their nature, FD have the potential to effectively treat complex and wide-necked aneurysms.

However, existing FDs have failed to live up to expectations, reporting performance inferior to coiling. Limitations are inherent to the FD mesh design that drives weak and non-uniform radial forces, resulting in incomplete opening, poor vessel apposition, variable porosity and device coning, and leading to suboptimal IA occlusion, FD migration and risk of thrombosis/stroke.

OE seek to overcome these challenges through development of a novel 'origami inspired' engineered FD.