Stroke, the medical term for acute cerebrovascular disease, has become more and more well-known and valued by the public in recent years. According to the "China Stroke Prevention and Control Report (2019)", the number of strokes aged 40 and above in mainland China reached 13.18 million, and 2.4 million new stroke patients appeared every year and showed a younger trend, about 2 out of 5 people suffered from stroke, and at least 1 in every 5 deaths died of stroke. The continent has become one of the countries with the highest lifetime risk of stroke and the heaviest burden of disease.
Our fight against stroke never stops. Thanks to the development and popularization of neurointerventional therapy and technology. Twenty years ago, it was unimaginable: without surgery or radiation therapy, only minimally invasive methods can rescue patients with cerebrovascular malformations and dural arteriovenous fistulas; some intracranial aneurysms that were once considered "incurable" can be overcome by reconstructing some arterial vessels and "overtaking in curves"; patients with acute ischemic strokes with more than 4.5 hours of onset can obtain good prognosis results...
In the past two decades of innovative development of neurointervention in China, grassroots clinicians can obtain standardized training synchronized with the world, and patients in remote areas can receive high-level neurointerventional diagnosis and treatment services. Growing together with China's neural intervention, Medtronic continues to innovate, and the "dual engine" drive helps China's stroke treatment capacity building and improves the medical accessibility of stroke patients in China.
Continuous innovation for 20 years, and continuously improve the diagnosis and treatment effect of stroke patients
In the 21st century, China's neurointerventional undertakings have gradually developed, and compared with craniotomy, minimally invasive and easy-to-operate endovascular interventional therapy is increasingly used in clinical practice.
In 2003, ev3, which focuses on interventional therapy, came to China with a series of cutting-edge therapies and medical devices such as the revolutionary new liquid embolic agent Onyx™, which began the process of common development with China's neurointerventional industry. In the following 20 years, ev3 first joined Kehui Medical, and then merged with Kehui Medical into Medtronic, becoming today's Medtronic Neurointerventional Operation Department, deeply cultivating the field of neurointervention for 20 years, and has been committed to continuously bringing comprehensive, innovative and high-quality neurointerventional solutions to millions of Stroke patients in China, bringing them better prognosis possibilities and new life.
In the past 20 years, Medtronic has introduced a variety of cutting-edge medical technologies and products including liquid embolization system, spring coil, intracranial vascular stent, intracranial embolic stent, blood flow guidance dense mesh stent, intracranial support catheter, balloon, microcatheter, micro-guide wire, etc., to achieve full therapy coverage for hemorrhagic stroke and ischemic stroke to meet the multi-level medical needs of Stroke patients in China.
As a global leader in medical technology and a leader in the global neurointerventional industry, Medtronic attaches great importance to promoting the integration of China's neurointerventional technology level with the world and providing The world's leading cutting-edge innovative treatment for Chinese patients. Over the past two decades, Medtronic, together with Chinese medical workers, has continuously promoted the development of China's neurointerventional industry, promoted the popularization of stroke disease education and technology, and contributed to strengthening the capacity building of basic stroke treatment in China.
Before Medtronic (EV3) introduced the revolutionary new liquid embolic agent OnyxTM in 2003, cerebrovascular malformations (AVM) could be operated almost exclusively or with gamma knives; dural arteriovenous fistula (DAVF) had little clinical solution. After the liquid embolization therapy represented by OnyxTM, doctors can treat and even hope to cure AVM/DAVF patients through minimally invasive means, this subversive therapy has greatly promoted the progress of neurointerventional technology, and under the efforts of Chinese clinicians, the therapy has been explored, innovated and expanded for a long time, and since 2005, it has brought positive treatment effects to many patients.
Treating stroke patients is a race against death. In particular, in ischemic stroke, the golden time window for intravenous thrombolysis with traditional drugs is 4.5 hours, while the golden time window for mechanical thrombolytic therapy is 6 hours, and the time window for thrombolysis can be extended to 24 hours depending on the patient's situation (which requires comprehensive imaging evaluation). In 2013, Medtronic (Ke Hui) officially introduced mechanical embolic therapy and ace bolt extraction stent SolaraireTM FR, providing a divine weapon for mechanical embolic therapy.
In 2015, Medtronic (Ke Hui), together with well-known experts in the field of neurointerventional intervention in China, promoted the formulation of China's "China Guidelines for endovascular treatment of acute ischemic stroke 2015", which recommended stent embolic therapy with "Class I recommendation, Class A evidence" [1]. The American Heart Association/American Stroke Association also jointly issued the Guidelines for the Intravascular Treatment of Acute Ischemic Stroke, which recommended stent embolic therapy with "Class I recommendation, Class A evidence" [2], making mechanical embolic therapy gradually become the mainstream of acute macrovascular occlusive ischemic stroke. Since then, China's neurointerventional field has taken a big step forward and achieved synchronization with internationally leading technologies and therapies.
In 2014, Medtronic introduced the first generation of Pipeline products, pioneering the therapy for blood flow-oriented therapy. For the clinical diagnosis and treatment of large, wide-necked and fusiform aneurysms, the traditional craniotomy and endovascular treatment are more difficult, and the emergence of blood flow-oriented therapy has made these aneurysms that were previously incurable, refractory, or ineffective to be treated and even expected to be cured. In 2017, the milestone second-generation Pipeline product, Pipeline™ Flex Blood Flow Directed Dense Mesh Stent, entered China, marking the shift of the concept of endovascular treatment for intracranial aneurysms from intra-sac tamponade to vascular wall reconstruction, benefiting more patients with poor traditional treatments.
In addition to the continuous iterative upgrading of products and therapies, Medtronic has established a professional clinical support team and a high-quality after-sales service team to continuously serve the clinic under the premise of ensuring product quality, and provide stable supporting services for the clinical team and patients. Over the past two decades, Medtronic has continuously responded to China's medical needs, continued to innovate, grown with Chinese medical workers in the field of neurointerventional intervention, and made unremitting efforts to expand access to high-quality medical resources for serving patients.
Driven by "dual engines", it promotes the upgrading and iteration of China's neurointerventional medical field
The introduction of innovation is the first step in the long march, so that innovation can really land, exert its due value to patients and the industry, and it is a cause that requires long-term investment. Medtronic is well aware of this, and has always been committed to promoting the capacity building of stroke treatment in China and improving the medical accessibility of stroke patients in China, and has long focused on the standardized training of clinicians and the sinking "dual engine" of stroke health management therapy, so that more patients can benefit.
In order to promote the capacity building of stroke treatment in China, Medtronic focuses on helping clinicians improve their technical level. In the past 20 years, from the earliest small-scale clinical training in the ev3 period, to the establishment of a special PACE education team in the Kehui period, and then to the gradual establishment of a customized, systematic and multi-level clinical training system in the Medtronic period to help improve the level of stroke disease prevention and treatment in China, Medtronic has never stopped.
Medtronic's clinical education and training system takes the two "Medtronic Innovation Centers" in Shanghai and Chengdu as the core, takes a number of "high-quality stroke centers" distributed throughout the country as the fulcrum, expands the strategic cooperation projects with authoritative organizations in the Chinese industry, and takes "Medtronic Shenjie University" and "Medtronic Neurointerventional Weapon Spectrum" as the carrier and platform to meet the actual needs of clinicians at different levels, different foundations and different regions, and to create different models and customized series of training courses; From theory to practice, a rich multi-level training.
Among them, the two Medtronic Innovation Centers have created a simulated operating room environment, equipped with first-class catheterization rooms, and industry-leading simulation training facilities, so that doctors can get a more realistic, one-stop simulated surgical scene training experience, build an innovative and open academic communication platform for medical professionals in the field of neurointerventional, and help improve clinical professional skills.
With the further increase of the aging population in the Chinese market, in order to allow the wider number of stroke patients to be treated in time, it is an inevitable trend to promote the sinking of therapy and the technical specifications of diagnosis and treatment, and it will also be a long-term battle.
In order to improve the medical accessibility of stroke patients in China, Medtronic cooperated with the Stroke Prevention and Control Engineering Committee of the National Health and Family Planning Commission as early as 2016, and jointly launched the "China Stroke Prevention and Control Three-Year Strategic Cooperation Plan" in 2018 to help China's stroke treatment and million disability reduction projects; in 2021, Medtronic reached a consensus with the China Cerebrovascular Disease Specialist Alliance and the Beijing Cerebrovascular Disease Industry Technology Innovation Strategic Alliance to manage the whole process of stroke health in prevention, treatment, rehabilitation, Long-term cooperation in health promotion and informatization training is expected to hold 80 training activities on key technologies for disability reduction (aneurysm treatment/arterial embolization) within 3 years, and train 5,000 medical professionals. At the same time, Medtronic is also actively promoting the production and manufacture of localized products to help upgrade China's medical industry and benefit more Stroke patients in China.
Life is extraordinary because of technology. In the past two decades of Chinese neurointervention, behind the increasingly well-known medical term of stroke, there is the innovation and leap of neurointerventional medical technology, the unremitting efforts of thousands of front-line clinical workers and the god of death, and the hope and infinite future that millions of stroke patients and families strive for.
Looking forward to the future of stroke treatment in China, we also believe that industry technology pioneers and leaders like Medtronic will continue to work hand in hand with medical professionals in the field of neurointerventional to promote innovation and breakthroughs in cutting-edge therapies, promote the improvement of medical service quality and expand medical accessibility, so that more patients can alleviate pain, restore health, prolong life, and contribute to the realization of healthy China 2030 strategic goals!
bibliography:
Chinese guidelines for endovascular treatment of acute ischemic stroke 2018. China J Stoke.2018.13(7):706-729.
[2] Powers et al. 2018 Guidelines for the Early Management of Patients With Acute Ischemic Stroke. Stroke. 2018;49:e46–e99.