Mesh tube devices offer new potential for treating brain aneurysms

UK engineers have developed advanced tiny metallic mesh tube devices as a means of treating brain aneurysms.

Oxford Endovascular, a spinout from Oxford University, has raised two million pounds in investment to take its innovative new device through to clinical testing, with the ultimate aim of bringing the advance to patients.

Created using a special laser-cut metal alloy with shape memory, the device can be posted into a catheter during surgery, inserted into the brain and opened up into a tiny mesh tube that fits into the natural shape of the blood vessel.

In doing so, blood can be diverted away from the aneurysm, allowing it to heal. It is also hoped that this method could be used to reach deeper brain blood vessels that are not accessible with existing devices.

Brian Howlett, chairman of Oxford Endovascular, said: "Physicians will be able to place the device more accurately and in a wider range of patients, ensuring treatment is safer and more effective."

Currently, one-third of people who develop cerebral aneurysms will die, while one-third of survivors will suffer permanent neurological damage if left untreated.