New In-Vitro Study Finds Millipede88 with Corrugated Technology Outperformed Cyclic and Conventional Aspiration

Perfuze®, a medical device company advancing stroke treatment through next-generation catheter technology, today announced the publication of a peer-reviewed study in Clinical Neuroradiology comparing three aspiration thrombectomy techniques for large vessel occlusion (LVO) stroke in a benchtop model.

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The published study evaluated super-bore aspiration using the Millipede88® Aspiration Catheter, cyclic aspiration through a 6F catheter, and conventional aspiration through the same catheter. The authors report it as the first study to evaluate the two emerging techniques against conventional aspiration.

“Two new aspiration techniques arrived at once, and neither had been compared against the other under identical conditions,” said Ameer Hassan, DO, Head of Neuroscience Department, Valley Baptist Medical Center, and first author of the study.† “In this model, getting more clot into the catheter only helped if the clot did not fragment on the way in. Super-bore aspiration gave the highest first pass effect and the highest final revascularization in both territories, and the fewest fragments escaping downstream in every clot type we tested.”

Key findings from the study include:

• Highest First Pass Effect: 88% in middle cerebral artery (MCA) occlusions with super-bore aspiration, compared with 71% for conventional aspiration with the 071” catheter and 62% for cyclic aspiration with 071” catheters.
• Highest Complete Clot Ingestion: 82% in MCA occlusions with super-bore aspiration, compared with 59% for conventional aspiration with the 071” catheter and 62% for cyclic aspiration with 071” catheters.
• Highest Final Complete Revascularization: 91% with super-bore aspiration in both the MCA and internal carotid artery (ICA), the highest rate of the three techniques in both territories.
• Least Distal Embolization: Super-bore aspiration produced the lowest distal embolus burden in both territories. Cyclic aspiration produced the highest overall, attributed in part to clot fragmentation under cyclic conditions.
• Procedural Complexity: Cyclic aspiration required a wet-to-wet fluid connection that prevented supported navigation to the clot face, and its waveform had to be tuned to each individual catheter. The cyclic portion of the waveform was activated in only a third of middle cerebral artery cases, as clots were frequently ingested beforehand.

“Achieving first pass effect depends on how much lumen and flow you can bring to the face of the clot, and on the clot staying intact on the way in,” said Wayne Allen, CEO of Perfuze. “That is why we engineered Millipede around corrugated™ technology from the start rather than adapting a conventional coiled or braided design. These findings are consistent with our clinical experience to date, and they capture something angiography does not show well, which is how much clot escapes downstream during retrieval.”

Stroke is a leading cause of death and disability worldwide.¹ In LVO stroke, achieving near-complete or complete revascularization on the first pass is associated with shorter procedure times, lower rates of symptomatic intracranial hemorrhage, and better functional outcomes at 90 days.² As leading stroke centers increasingly adopt aspiration-first as their default approach, super-bore aspiration has become the fastest-growing segment of the mechanical thrombectomy market.³

Cyclic aspiration applies a varying pressure waveform to a conventional 6F catheter with the aim of improving clot ingestion. The authors report that the waveform can move the catheter tip and fragment the clot, particularly softer red-cell-rich clots, contributing to the higher distal embolus burden they observed in the internal carotid artery. They also note that cyclic systems require sophisticated tube sets and vacuum pumps likely to increase device cost and call for adequately powered comparative trials.

Each technique was tested in 34 clot analogs per arm — soft, mixed, and stiff — in both the MCA and ICA locations. The model included silicone anatomical representations of the iliofemoral, aortic arch, and Circle of Willis anatomy, with pulsatile flow, blood mimicking fluid, and physiologically representative flow rates controlled at 37 °C. Endpoints were in-vitro surrogates for clinical angiographic measures, and unretrieved clot fragments were captured and quantified using gradient sieve analysis, a measure angiography cannot provide.

The Millipede88 Aspiration Catheter received FDA 510(k) clearance in March 2026 and is available in the United States through a limited market release in select comprehensive stroke centers, with broader commercialization to follow.

The paper, “In-Vitro Comparison of Cyclic Aspiration and Super-bore Aspiration Catheters to Conventional 6F Aspiration for LVO Stroke,” is available open access at https://rdcu.be/GDCUQdRiYDUa .

About Perfuze

Perfuze® is a medical device company headquartered in Galway, Ireland, dedicated to developing next-generation catheter-based aspiration technology for acute ischemic stroke. Its growing neurovascular portfolio, including the Millipede88® Aspiration Catheter, Millipede70® Aspiration Catheter, and Zipline® Access Catheter family reflects a commitment to meaningful innovation at the frontier of stroke intervention. For more information, visit www.perfuze.com.

References

† Dr. Hassan is an investigator and co-author of the study. He has not been compensated in connection with this press release.

1 https://doi.org/10.1016/S1474-4422(24)00369-7

2 https://doi.org/10.1161/STROKEAHA.117.020315

3 Perfuze market analysis, 2026 (ECRI Institute data).

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