Murr weaves a terrific story about what an interventional radiologist can do for a stroke patient. Each development in the treatment of stroke has been built on the work and ideas of those who came before. Murr mentions my procedure and stent along with the work of another physician inventor, Dr. Pierre Gobin. Getting FDA approval in 2004, Gobin’s MERCI retriever (mechanical embolus removal in cerebral ischemia) consists of a nickel-titanium coil that straightens out in the catheter, then springs back to shape to capture the clot.
(excerpt from the article) At Johns Hopkins, interventional radiologist Dr. Kieran Murphy is attacking a deadly form of stroke (vertebrobasilar) with a combination of tPA and stents. Using a catheter, he inserts a tubular stent to widen the blocked artery, restoring blood flow to the affected brain region. “Then we chase the clot with tPA,” says Murphy. Vertebro-basilar stroke normally kills nine out of 10 patients, but in a recent study four of the six patients who got Murphy’s two-hit treatment survived.
The Essence of Invention 