SBIR Phase I: Technology development and pre-clinical testing of a novel minimally invasive catheter-based blood clot-retrieval and clot-filtering device

This Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase I project aims to develop the industry's first catheter-based stroke treatment device that serves both as a blood clot-retrieval as well as a clot-filtering device. Stroke is a major economic burden on the tax payer costing $65.5 billion/year. The mean lifetime healthcare cost for a stroke patient is $140,048. The first step in the treatment of acute stroke is the removal of the blood clot to restore vital blood supply to the brain. However, existing catheter-based therapies have only shown modest success in removing clots and are effective in less than two-thirds of stroke patients. In addition, these therapies can release debris into the blood stream causing further strokes. The research objective of this project is to perform pre-clinical testing of a more effective clot-retrieval device and a clot-filtering device that can make existing stroke therapies safer. The broader impacts of this research are far-reaching as the global stroke burden is staggering. Each year 780,000 strokes occur in the US and nearly 20.5 million strokes occur worldwide. This project is projected to yield important outcomes. First, the efficacy of this clot-retrieval device in removing blood clots will be confirmed. Second, the efficacy of this clot-filtering device will be confirmed in preventing release of debris during catheter-based stroke treatments thereby making these procedures safer. This public-private partnership is expected to have an important positive impact on the community by saving lives, creating jobs, and decreasing the economic burden of stroke on the tax payer.