I just read an interesting story about a new treatment for occlusive strokes.
The device is known as Penumbra and is being put out by the company of the same name Penumbra, Inc.
From the story I read, and from my brief visit to the company website, it looks like it might have promise to treat some stroke victims who otherwise would be sort of out of luck.
Basically, from the description, this is a catheter type device that is threaded into the femoral artery (The great big artery in your groin that feeds blood to your leg), and is worked in retrograde fashion up the aorta and then into the appropriate arteries (carotid, etc.) until reaching the site of the blocked artery inside the skull. It then acts basically like a vacuum cleaner and sucks out the blood clot that is blocking the artery and causing the stroke.
