Shape memory polymer therapeutic devices for stroke

Shape memory polymers (SMPs) are attracting a great deal of interest in the scientific community for their use in applications ranging from light weight structures in space to micro-actuators in MEMS devices. These relatively new materials can be formed into a primary shape, reformed into a stable secondary shape, and then controllably actuated to recover their primary shape. The first part of this presentation will be a brief review of the types of polymeric structures which give rise to shape memory behavior in the context of new shape memory polymers with highly regular network structures recently developed at LLNL for biomedical devices. These new urethane SMPs have improved optical and physical properties relative to commercial SMPs, including improved clarity, high actuation force, and sharper actuation transition. In the second part of the presentation we discuss the development of SMP based devices for mechanically removing neurovascular occlusions which result in ischemic stroke. These devices are delivered to the site of the occlusion in compressed form, are pushed through the occlusion, actuated (usually optically) to take on an expanded conformation, and then used to dislodge and grip the thrombus while it is withdrawn through the catheter.