Cerebral cure

Searching for a safer, more efficient alternative to today’s imprecise, time-intensive methods for treating cerebral aneurysms, a group of University-Wisconsin-Madison biomedical engineers and physicians has developed a system that not only shaves hours from the current procedure time, but also plays an active role in healing the area.

Essentially, a cerebral aneurysm is a 'balloon' or bulge that forms along a weak wall of an artery or vein in the brain; about 40 per cent of patients whose aneurysm ruptures die within 24 hours.

All cerebral aneurysms have the potential to rupture and cause bleeding within the brain — though most go unnoticed until they rupture or are detected on brain images for another condition.

Coil embolisation is one common method for treating a cerebral aneurysm. The process requires surgeons to feed wire coils into the bulged-out area via a catheter until the aneurysm is full and the coil 'ball' blocks blood flow to the aneurysm.