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The MERCI Retriever is a medical device designed to treat Ischemic Strokes. The name is an acronym for Mechanical Embolus Removal in Cerebral Ischemia. Designed by University of California, Los Angeles in 2001, MERCI was the first device approved in the U.S. to remove blood clots in patients suffering from acute brain Ischemia.〔 (【引用サイトリンク】title=The MERCI retriever story )〕 ==History== The MERCI Retriever obtained U.S. FDA clearance in August 2004 for re-canalization of cerebral arteries in acute stroke.〔 Previously, the only available treatment to acute brain strokes was through the use of a protein that breaks down blood clots called tPA. The treatment process itself is termed the r-tPA method (Recombinant Tissue Plasminogen Activator). The success of the r-tPA is strongly dependent on short onset of stroke symptoms, which had to be less than 3 hours. Hemorrhagic complications were also highly likely to occur using the r-tPA method, especially in older brain-stroke patients, which in turn resulted in high mortality rates after the treatment. According to Dr. Y. Pierre Gobin, one of the inventors of the MERCI device at UCLA, the idea of the MERCI device arose in 1995 during the treatment of a particularly difficult stroke incident. Failing to treat the blockage chemically, Gobin and his Fellow, Dr. J.P. Wensel, concluded that a mechanical device was needed to remove blood clots faster, and with less risk of hemorrhage. Gobin and Wensel designed several different shapes, and finally settled on a helical configuration. They began animal studies with the device at UCLA in 1996. The project was successful in the animal studies, and eventually found sufficient investors to form the company Concentric Medical to develop the device for human use. After two years, in 2001, clinical lab safety studies began, leading to success. The first two patients treated at UCLA with the MERCI retriever (called the Concentric Retriever at the time) showed normal blood flow as a result of the successful procedure. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「MERCI Retriever」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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