The Clotild® Smart Guidewire System, created by Sensome, is aimed at large-vessel acute ischaemic stroke patients. This technology identifies the composition of the clot blocking the cerebral artery, thus allowing medical teams to decide on the strategy to adopt.
Evidence has been mounting that the biological clot composition should be considered when choosing the method to remove the clot. Currently, mechanical thrombectomy is the most effective way of re-opening the artery, often combined with chemical treatment. A stentriever and/or suction catheters remove the clot. These devices are guided from the groin or wrist to the brain along a guidewire. To improve the patient’s prognosis, limit the hospital stay and any after-effects, the clot needs to be removed as fast as possible. Doctors are only able to successfully perform this operation at the first attempt in one out of three cases. The deeptech company Sensome has therefore integrated its impedance sensor in the distal part of the guide. Using it, medical teams will see in real time whether they are facing a very red clot composed mainly of red blood cells or a white clot composed mainly of platelets and/or fibrin, which is considered more difficult to remove. “We bring colour to this situation to provide information to the interventional neuroradiologist,” says Franz Bozsak, CEO and Co-founder of Sensome.
“We provide relevant information to the doctor at the time he or she needs it and thus offer personalised care.” Franz Bozsak, CEO and Co-founder of Sensome.
A clinical trial is under way on this artificial intelligence device at Gold Coast University Hospital in Australia. The first patients in the Clot Out study have been recruited to evaluate the safety and performance of the connected guidewire. This prospective multi-centre trial will take place at major stroke treatment centres in Australia, Belgium and France and aims to recruit up to 100 patients. Data from the first cases were presented at this year’s LINNC International Conferences in Paris and at the Slice Worldwide interactive online stroke event.
Eventually, Sensome’s sensor technology will be extended to interventional cardiology and oncology.
