Novel Catheter Mimics Snake Teeth to Grab Blood Clots

By HospiMedica International staff writers
Posted on 19 Feb 2025

Image: Ángel Enríquez, CEO of Emboa Medical Inc., showing the novel microstructured catheter design (Photo courtesy of Vincent Walter/Purdue University)

Stroke is the second leading cause of death worldwide, claiming approximately 140,000 lives in the United States each year. Nearly 90% of stroke cases are ischemic strokes, caused by blockages in the arteries that supply blood to the brain. Stroke is a highly time-sensitive condition that demands rapid intervention for the best possible recovery. Traditional stent retrievers, which are used to remove clots, often cause higher rates of vessel perforation due to the interaction between the metal struts and the vessel walls. This can lead to intracranial hemorrhages, which occur at a higher rate than with aspiration catheters, which use suction through a tube. These hemorrhages can be asymptomatic or symptomatic, but no physician is comfortable causing any damage to the patient's blood vessels. To address this issue, researchers have developed a novel extraction device that mimics a snake’s evolutionary advantage to improve the retrieval of blood clots in the brain.

Emboa Medical (West Lafayette, IN, USA) has developed a novel microstructured catheter designed to improve outcomes for stroke patients. The company’s patent-pending platform, known as TRAP (thrombus retrieval aspiration platform), emulates the arrangement of a boa constrictor’s teeth in its biomimetic design, allowing it to grasp blood clots without damaging them. The TRAP catheter demonstrated over a 200% increase in the force used to remove blockages compared to traditional catheters. Additionally, it showed significant benefits in removing clots on the first attempt in a worst-case neurovascular model, achieving a 40% success rate compared to just 10% with conventional smooth inner diameter catheters.

Emboa has been working diligently to refine the design of the microstructures using physiologically relevant models to further distinguish its catheter from others currently available on the market. The company has conducted in vitro experiments that provide quantitative evidence of the advantages of TRAP catheters. Moreover, Emboa plans to carry out an in vivo porcine model study, aiming to preliminarily validate the safety and effectiveness of TRAP by the end of Q1 2025. The successful completion of this animal model study will pave the way for developing more functional and robust TRAP devices, facilitating the transition to larger-scale verification activities and eventual regulatory approval. Another key step in bringing TRAP to market is establishing a manufacturing process that will integrate these microscale structures into the distal tip of the catheters.

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Emboa Medical