Filter Device Prevents Stroke

Left: The device designed by Dr. Dov Shimon prevents calcified pieces of artery from migrating to the brain. Right: Example of deployed deflector in place—providing protection for all three of the great vessels feeding the brainwww.smtmed.com “Studies of the last two years have shown significant incidence of stroke with this [TAVI] procedure,” SMT CEO Paul Zalesky tells ISRAEL21c. “These valves are so diseased that big chunks of calcium [break off] when they go in to do the procedure. Sometimes this material is knocked off, and breaks loose and goes into the brain.”

Foreseeing the risk years ago as TAVI was being developed, Israeli cardiologist Dr. Dov Shimon invented a novel way to prevent stroke. His innovation is a filter against these embolisms. Fitted onto the aortic arch, the medical device—now under development by the Israeli company SMT Research and Development—ensures that particles do not get into the blood flowing to the three main vessels leading from the heart. Inserted before the operation and removed shortly after, the SMT filter holds great promise for many patients because it is performed through an artery in the leg.

Dr. Pieter Stella of the University Medical Center in the Netherlands, got a sneak preview: “The SMT device is the first embolic protection device that I have seen that offers coverage of all three primary vessels feeding the brain.” For more information: www.smtmed.com; +972-9-950-8089.