Electrical impedance measurements can identify red blood cell-rich content in acute ischemic stroke clots associated with first-pass successful recanalization.

Background: Electrochemical impedance spectroscopy can determine characteristics such as cell density, size, and shape. The development of an electrical impedance-based medical device to estimate acute ischemic stroke (AIS) clot characteristics could improve stroke patient outcomes by informing clinical decision making.

Objectives: To assess how well electrical impedance combined with machine learning identified red blood cell (RBC)-rich composition of AIS clots , which is associated with a successfully modified first-pass effect.

Impedance-based sensors discriminate among different types of blood thrombi with very high specificity and sensitivity.

Background: Intracranial occlusion recanalization fails in 20% of endovascular thrombectomy procedures, and thrombus composition is likely to be an important factor. In this study, we demonstrate that the combination of electrical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) and machine learning constitutes a novel and highly accurate method for the identification of different human thrombus types.

Methods: 134 samples, subdivided into four categories, were analyzed by EIS: 29 'White', 26 'Mixed', 12 'Red' thrombi, and 67 liquid 'Blood' samples.

Characterising acute ischaemic stroke thrombi: insights from histology, imaging and emerging impedance-based technologies.

Treatment of acute ischaemic stroke (AIS) focuses on rapid recanalisation of the occluded artery. In recent years, advent of mechanical thrombectomy devices and new procedures have accelerated the analysis of thrombi retrieved during the endovascular thrombectomy procedure. Despite ongoing developments and progress in AIS imaging techniques, it is not yet possible to conclude definitively regarding thrombus characteristics that could advise on the probable efficacy of thrombolysis or thrombectomy in advance of treatment.

Optimization of Drug Delivery by Drug-Eluting Stents.

Drug-eluting stents (DES), which release anti-proliferative drugs into the arterial wall in a controlled manner, have drastically reduced the rate of in-stent restenosis and revolutionized the treatment of atherosclerosis. However, late stent thrombosis remains a safety concern in DES, mainly due to delayed healing of the endothelial wound inflicted during DES implantation. We present a framework to optimize DES design such that restenosis is inhibited without affecting the endothelial healing process.

Modeling the transport of drugs eluted from stents: physical phenomena driving drug distribution in the arterial wall.

Despite recent data that suggest that the overall performance of drug-eluting stents (DES) is superior to that of bare-metal stents, the long-term safety and efficacy of DES remain controversial. The risk of late stent thrombosis associated with the use of DES has also motivated the development of a new and promising treatment option in recent years, namely drug-coated balloons (DCB). Contrary to DES where the drug of choice is typically sirolimus and its derivatives, DCB use paclitaxel since the use of sirolimus does not appear to lead to satisfactory results.