Paris, September 21 (QNA) - A thin wire equipped with electrical sensors has made its human debut, enabling researchers to identify the characteristics of a stroke clot and map its composition in real time as it is being removed.
The so-called Clotild was developed by medical technology company Sensome. The wire enters the blood vessels through a catheter, while tiny sensors mounted at its tip measure the electrical properties of the surrounding tissue as it passes through the clot.
The electrical properties of red blood cells, platelets and the arterial wall differ, enabling the device to distinguish among them in vivo during the procedure and provide immediate information about the nature, location and size of the clot.
The trial involved approximately 41 patients who suffered a stroke caused by a large-vessel occlusion at hospitals in Australia and France, with the aim of assessing the device's safety and performance.
The trial recorded no cases of vessel perforation or dissection, while the device achieved an AUC of 0.97 in identifying red-blood-cell-rich clots and 0.94 in identifying platelet-rich clots, on a scale in which 1.0 represents perfect discrimination.
The device was also able to identify the arterial wall and the distal end of the clot, which could help doctors estimate its length without the need to inject a contrast agent.
The researchers were also able to map the clot's composition based on readings recorded by the device as it passed through the clot, with the results consistent with microscopic analysis of clot fragments after removal.
Such technology is significant because the approaches used to treat red-blood-cell-rich clots differ from those used for platelet-rich clots, while doctors are generally unable to determine a clot's composition before treatment begins. (QNA)