Unmet Need
The Artery of Adamkewicz is the name of the dominant artery that supplies blood to the spinal cord. During thoracic aortic stent grafting, the artery can become occluded, leading to a multitude of complications, most commonly, paraplegia. When occlusion of the Artery of Adamkewicz occurs, the pathology is mediated by the covered stent exclusion of blood flow, which results in spinal cord infarction and loss of motor function. Cases with high risk of occlusion are often performed with neurometric monitoring and with the application of cerebral spinal fluid (CSF) data. Remedies of the occlusion are limited, but include either increasing intraoperative blood pressure pharmacologically or draining CSF. Unfortunately, both maneuvers have limited utility. Thus, there is a need in the field for a way to reverse occlusion of the Artery of Adamkewicz during graft procedures.
Technology Overview
The inventors have created a thoracic stent graft with an integrated balloon which allows reperfusion of the spinal artery in the circumstance of intraoperative spinal cord ischemia. The balloon is positioned along the length of a stent graft so that the water tight seal of the stent graft can be broken by inflating the balloon. The balloon inflation creates triangular cross sectional “gutters” to allow the flow of blood along their lengths. This will result in reperfusion of the locally situated side branches. Through this method, blood flows into the aneurysum, sparing the patient paraplegia. It also allows time to optimize conditions in order to augment spinal cord perfusion. Additionally, the balloon could potentially be repeatedly inflated and deflated, allowing for periods of perfusion that could allow the spinal cord to readapt. When balloon inflation is no longer required, the balloon is deflated and the detachable catheter is removed.
Stage of Development
The invention is in the prototyping and testing phase.
