Clipping Minutes Off Stroke Surgery

Surgeons use long, thin guidewires to thread catheters into the body’s vascular system to address problem areas. Photo courtesy NECTO student team

Four recent UW–Madison biomedical engineering graduates have invented a simple device that could shave minutes off stroke and aneurysm surgery — minutes that could be crucial in preserving neurological function.

Surgeons use long, thin guidewires to thread catheters into the body’s vascular system to address problem areas, such as a blood clot that’s causing a stroke. They currently rely on technicians to help them load a torque device at the end of the wire to help maneuver it.

The new device is a small plastic cylinder that allows surgeons to simply clip it on at any point along the guidewire without needing to wait on a technician and without needing to slide it off to change catheters or place another therapeutic device, such as a stent.

“The surgeon can just clip it on and get the catheter up to where you want it and then clip it off, deliver the catheter, deliver the therapy, and clip it on if you need it again,” says William Hayes ’23, who served as team lead on the project. “It’s just right there for you, rather than having to have another person six feet away fiddling with the end” of the guidewire.

The device has won two university awards, and the team hopes to license it for commercial use.

Published in the Summer 2024 issue