38 GHP / Q1 2021 , Sep20387 A stroke can be one of the most devastating things to happen to an individual and their family, often resulting in drastic life changes that canmake or break a family. Medical innovation in the treatment and prevention of these strokes is absolutely imperative. Very important breakthroughs were achieved in the last years. Anaconda Biomed S.L. is the recipient of the 2020 Award for Excellence in Innovation – Spain, so join us on a journey of discovery and wonder as we reveal more about this medically innovative company. Medical Marvel In Mitigating Strokes Since it was founded in Barcelona back in 2015, Anaconda Biomed has been on a single mission: to provide the best thrombectomy system to healthcare professionals in Spain and across the wider world. What the firm is truly about is envisaging a world where stroke-caused and strokerelated deaths and disabilities are reduced to an absolute minimum, thereby enhancing the quality of life that patients and their families can expect in the aftermath of a stroke. Driven by a deep-rooted passion for innovation, quality, and excellence within the world of medical innovation to help combat stroke-related deaths and disabilities, Anaconda Biomed commits itself entirely to the furthering of understanding and knowledge within the community. One of the areas that the firm has approached with no small amount of innovation and endeavour is that of taking a strong stance against blood clots and stroke thrombectomy procedures. A thrombectomy, or mechanical thrombectomy as it is sometimes known, is a medical procedure that functions as an intervention to remove a blood clot from a vessel where there is a serious clot. When performed in the cerebral arteries, thrombectomies serve as a good defence against ischemic strokes, but there is always more to do, and that is where Anaconda Biomed comes in. Within the medical communities at present, there are existing thrombectomy instruments that can only allow for clots to be broken up and thereby removed in pieces. Whilst this is a good thing, there are risks associated with this medical procedure that Anaconda Biomed has worked tirelessly to mitigate using new technology and medical methods. For instance, one of the risks associated with thrombectomies is that embolic material may be left behind during the procedure of breaking up and removing a clot, and that will then require the need for multiple catheter passes to successfully reperfuse the vessel. Yet, the solution that Anaconda Biomed has presented is as exceptional as the problem is prevalent. The firm is tackling this issue with its awardwinning and next-generational neurothrombectomy system. The way this system is so unique is that it features a distal tip that expands to accommodate the vessel’s full diameter in question, thereby enabling medical professionals to remove the entirety of a clot in one go. To put it in medical terms, Anaconda Biomed has developed a dual coaxial distal access catheter system dubbed the ANA Advanced Neurovascular AccessTM. It has been designed to extract an entire clot with minimal fragmentation, thereby facilitating complete recanalization with fewer catheter passes. There are several key aspects to the system to make it work in such a way that it changes the game for thrombectomy procedures. Firstly, there is a proprietary funnel catheter with a siliconcoated, self-expanding braided nitinol tip. When the tip is utilised and deployed in the vessel itself, the top automatically takes on the shape of a funnel that resembles a snake’s mouth, thus contributing to the Anaconda name of the firm. With the tip’s expansion, the distal part of the funnel conforms to the vessel wall up to a maximum of a five millimetre diameter. Thanks to the tip’s expansion, the clot building in a vessel can be removed in its entirety with the powerful suction force that is also implemented as part of the Anaconda Biomed system the team has designed. One of the other very important features of the device is the aforementioned silicon coating on the funnel itself, which is imperative for stopping distal blood flow at the procedure’s site. Not only does stopping distal blood flow ensure that the clot remains stable in its extraction, but that stability means greater prevention of any embolic particles travelling downstream and causing a clot elsewhere. Though the work of Anaconda Biomed is not yet available to be used in medical procedures around the world, the firm did recently announce the launch of its first in-human clinical study of its neurothrombectomy system in conjunction with a Solitaire (Medtronic) stent retriever. As an ongoing clinical study using human patients, Anaconda Biomed has been hard at work across several sites in Spain, ensuring that the system’s innovative nature works to its fullest potential. From this clinical study, Anaconda Biomed hoped to complete enrolment by the second half of 2021. Meanwhile, the firm’s work continues on its next system and medical innovation to further enhance the ease of thrombectomies across the world. Armed with the knowledge that the firm’s current neurothrombectomy system requires something to mobilize the clot within a patient’s artery, that is exactly where Anaconda Biomed is going next. Work continues on the firm’s next offering; clinical studies of that clot mobilizer were due to begin soon. Once again, the firm will ensure that the proper regulatory measures are taken, and the proper approvals are gained.
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