Vacuum Cleaner For The Brain

http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/174151.php

"Bobbie Laird was suffering a life-threatening stroke triggered by a blood clot in her brain that was nearly half an inch long.

But Dr. John Whapham of Loyola University Health System was able to stop the stroke in its tracks by using a cathether device that busted up the clot and suctioned the debris.

...

Whapham inserted a catheter device called Penumbra® in an artery in the groin. Whapham guided the device up through the heart and carotid artery into the brain. He deployed a tiny agitator, which broke up the clot, then suctioned the debris through a thin tube. Blood flow was restored to the right side of the brain, which controls the left side of the body. Among those assisting in the procedure was clinical nurse Diane Broadley.

Whapham has done similar procedures on hundreds of stroke patients. He has to work fast, because each passing minute increases the chance of permanent damage. But he also has to be careful not to perforate a vessel in the brain, which could be fatal. "It is a very high stakes procedure," he said.

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Another step in the process...

A very daring procedure!

and ran into serious trouble because the debris formed smaller obstructions as the coronary arteries branched out. The damage was nearly as bad as having the larger artery completely occluded.

Heart muscle dies more quickly than brain tissue in the absence of blood.

It's good they've resurrected the technology, but it has to be considered an extremely high risk procedure.

Many strokes are caused from plaque in the carotid arteries. Go through the carotid artery walls could knock plaque of into the bloodstream and cause more strokes.

They don't have to go through all the chambers of the heart to reach the carotid arteries.

Going up through you, if your innards can feel.