Fraunhofer Institute for Production Technology IPTResearch project "MR-Clip"
The treatment of intracranial aneurysms (local vascular dilations) by using so-called aneurysm-clips is a common procedure in neurosurgery. With those clips the aneurysms get clamped off in order to exclude them from bloodstream and thereby avoid life-threatening cerebral bleedings.
Materials in conventional clips (e.g. titanium) cause artifacts (image interference) in MRI. Those artifacts considerably exacerbate diagnosis of the aneurysm and surrounding tissue. Therefore, in postoperative diagnosis one has to resort on invasive examinations with catheters or on examinations which go along with radiation exposure as in CT.
In order to allow for an artifact-free imaging and at the same time meet mechanical requirements, an aneurysm-clip made of fiber-reinforced plastic shall be developed in this project. The biggest challenge and obstacle up to now is the development and manufacturing of miniaturized fiber-reinforced profiles at the level of complexity necessary as well as the development of suitable plastic-components.
In this project an appropriate design of the clip, the development of a manufacturing technology for the fiber-reinforced profile by modification of existing technologies as well as the examination in phantom and animal testing shall be implemented. As a result, invasive or radiation exposing postoperative examinations of the aneurysm can be avoided.
Project partners
- Fraunhofer Institute for Production Technology IPT, Aachen
- Peter Lazic GmbH Mikrochirurgische Instrumente, Tuttlingen
- Werner Grathwohl Werkzeugbau, Renquishausen
- M.TEC Ingenieurgesellschaft für kunststofftechnische Produktentwicklung mbH, Herzogenrath
- Universitätsklinikum des Saarlandes, Klinik für Neurochirurgie, Homburg/Saar