In this episode of the Back Table Innovation Podcast, host Dr. Diana Velazquez-Pimentel, a radiologist and biomedical engineer, chats with Dr. Alim Mitha about the novel idea of biodegradable flow diverters and the future of interventional neuroradiology. Dr. Mitha is a cerebrovascular, endovascular, and skull base neurosurgeon and biomedical engineer at the University of Calgary.

During his neurosurgery residency, Dr. Mitha also completed a master’s degree in biomedical engineering. Afterwards, he pursued additional fellowships in cerebrovascular and skull base surgery, as well as endovascular neurosurgery. Since then, he has started a research lab focused on tissue engineering and biomedical device development. He explains the role of flow diverters and how they are used to guide blood flow away from the intracranial aneurysms.

While flow diverters have been applied to treatment of many different types of aneurysms, Dr. Mitha notes that these devices carry thrombogenic risks. During his training, he saw that it was not preferable to deploy a flow diverter in a young patient who would have to remain on antiplatelet therapy for the rest of their life. As a result, Dr. Mitha began to develop a polymer-based biodegradable flow diverter that could be absorbed by the body after the aneurysm had been occluded, in addition to being visible on non-invasive imaging. He explains the process of building a prototype, incorporating a company, joining a start-up incubator, and now performing first in-human-clinical trials.

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SHOW NOTES

00:00 Introduction
03:05 Understanding the Role of Flow Diverters
08:17 The Conception of a Biodegradable Flow Diverter
11:35 The Challenges and Successes in Prototyping
13:53 A Path Towards Commercialization
16:10 Considerations for Clinical Adoption
24:00 Developing Skills for Engineering and Entrepreneurship
27:29 First-In-Human Trials and Early Feedback
30:36 Innovating Within the University of Calgary

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RESOURCES

University of Calgary Creative Destruction Lab:
https://creativedestructionlab.com/locations/calgary/

The Brain Conferences:
https://www.fens.org/meetings/the-brain-conferences