An artificial blood vessel created by researchers, can be used for the study of medical devices used in life threatening blood clot extraction in brain. In future, this artificial blood vessel will reduce the need of animal testing for new devices and will have significant implications for the development of endovascular technologies. “The live-cell artificial vessel enabled us to conduct detailed studies of the endothelium after thrombectomy, which may contribute to future device design. Animal studies confirmed the relevance of the platform, which suggests the artificial model could represent a practical, scalable and physiological alternative to existing technologies” said Alexander Khalessi, MD, director of endovascular neurosurgery and surgical director of neurocritical care at UC San Diego Health System.

“The number of endovascular thrombectomies is increasing, and the conventional approach of inserting a catheter to site the blockage and remove the clot by one of the marketed medical device can be improved. After various tests for clot-retrieval devices and examination of post-removal effects, we found that the in vitro platform permitted high-resolution quantification and characterisation of the pattern and timing of EC injury with various thrombectomy devices and vessel diameters. The devices each displayed different effects.” he added.