How to pull a clot from the brain | Science News

The clot-retrieving device called Solitaire can extract clots from delicate, jammed-up brain arteries. In this video animation, a tubelike catheter and wire are inserted into a large artery in the groin and threaded up to the brain, directed by real-time imaging. The wire pokes through the obstructing blood clot as a guide for the catheter, which pokes through next. Then the wire is retracted and replaced by the clot-removing device. The catheter is pulled back, allowing the spring-loaded device to pop open and snatch the clot. The retriever and clot then get reeled back to the catheter, where the clot is suctioned into the tube. The whole device is then retracted, restoring blood flow. Read the full story on sciencenews.org: http://ow.ly/N9Dmn Credit: Medtronic