Microplastics are everywhere—in our water, food, and even the air we breathe. A new scientific review highlights a growing concern: microplastics and nanoplastics are accumulating in human brain tissue. Researchers are now investigating what this could mean for brain health and how we can reduce our exposure.

Robeauté, the medtech startup developing neurosurgical microrobots, is announcing it has raised 28 million USD led by Plural, Cherry Ventures and Kindred Ventures. Other investors including LocalGlobe, Think.Health and previous investors APEX Ventures participated, along with strategic investment from Brainlab. The new funding will be used to continue developing the technology, starting human trials in 2026 and setting up US operations ahead of FDA approval and full go-to-market.

Silk Road is known as the developer of TCAR, for transcarotid artery revascularization. In patients that need a stent to help clear a path through a plaque-filled vessel, the company’s Enroute hardware temporarily reverses the flow of blood, to redirect any potentially dangerous loose clots away from the brain.

Theoretically, not only would there be no need for a DES to have antiproliferative medication towards the vessel lumen, but also any strategy aiming to facilitate endothelial coverage of stent struts might speculatively support a shortened duration of dual antiplatelet therapy. Thus, the idea to coat the luminal surface of the stent with a compound favoring endothelization and the abluminal surface with an antiproliferative drug appears appropriate.

The cellular and molecular processes that control vascular injury responses after percutaneous coronary intervention involve a complex interplay among vascular cells and progenitor cells that control arterial remodeling, neointimal proliferation, and re-endothelialization. Drug-eluting stents (DES) improve the efficacy of percutaneous coronary intervention by modulating vascular inflammation and preventing neointimal proliferation and restenosis. Although positive effects of DES reduce inflammation and restenosis, negative effects delay re-endothelialization and impair endothelial function.

Two scores widely used to determine whether patients are at high risk for bleeding after coronary stenting disagreed in 22% of patients, and one score underestimated the risk, warned investigators comparing the approaches.

MIS shows potential as an alternative to conventional management strategies for ICH, offering encouraging evidence for improved functional outcomes and reduced mortality in selected studies. However, these findings remain limited by gaps in the literature, including the need for external validation, significant methodological heterogeneity, and economic challenges.

A thin-film FD that overcomes braided FDs limitations while offering similar performance has been developed. The proposed framework is a pilot study for fabricating on-demand patient-specific thin-film FD stents.

Removing a clot blocking a medium- or small-sized artery in the brain mechanically is a safe treatment for a common type of stroke; however, it did not lessen disability more than best medical treatment (including clot-busting medication if indicated) alone, according to preliminary late-breaking science presented today at the American Stroke Association's International Stroke Conference 2025. The conference, in Los Angeles, Feb. 5-7, 2025, is a world premier meeting for researchers and clinicians dedicated to the science of stroke and brain health.

In-stent restenosis (ISR) is the primary cause of stroke recurrence after intracranial stenting. Drug-eluting stents (DES) have recently shown great potential for reducing restenosis. This systematic review aimed to evaluate the efficacy and safety of DES compared with bare-metal stents (BMS) for intracranial atherosclerotic stenosis (ICAS).

This study indicated a favorable midterm clinical outcome of the novel intracranial DES NOVA stent, with a low rate of ISR and without increasing the incidence of periprocedural complications in highly selected patients. The NOVA stent represents a promising new therapy to treat ICAS. However, the clinical results need to be further verified by larger sample size controlled studies with longer follow-up periods.

The question of whether aneurysms under 5mm should undergo treatment at all, and whether it is safe to do it, has been lingering in the minds of researchers and clinicians for at least the past two decades. The COAST study has made an important step towards a better understanding of the consequences of such a treatment. In order to better put these results in perspective, however, we should take into consideration the natural history of intracranial aneurysms, look at ruptured and unruptured aneurysms separately, and discuss blood blister-like aneurysms as well. One of the most often-heard arguments in favour of treatment when discussing small aneurysms is the discrepancy between natural history studies, showing a low longitudinal risk of haemorrhage from small aneurysms, on one hand, and retrospective analyses showing a preponderance of small aneurysms in large subarachnoid haemorrhage (SAH) series on the other.

While intracranial atherosclerotic disease (ICAD) is often cited in the context of its greater prevalence among patients in China and other parts of Asia, discussions at the recent BRAIN conference (2–4 December, London, UK) emphasised its relevance as an underlying—and also under-addressed—cause of ischaemic stroke across many global regions.

Q’Apel Medical has announced that it has received CE-mark certification for its Armadillo SelectFlex neurovascular access system. As noted in a company press release, this “first-of-its-kind” 7Fr system features the patented SelectFlex technology and is indicated for the introduction of interventional devices into the neurovasculature.

While stroke treatment has dramatically changed in recent years, still around 795,000 people experience a new or recurrent stroke each year and, of all strokes, 87% are ischaemic.1 A high variability in accessing stroke treatments exists across different countries or different regions within the same nation, even if, at present, guidelines are quite definitive in indicating endovenous thrombolysis and mechanical thrombectomy (MT) in selected cases as key treatment points. However, treatment indications are continuously evolving and so the vascular surgery world should be prepared to evolve accordingly.

Measuring less than 5 mm in size, microplastics are formed over time as plastic materials break down but don’t biodegrade. Exposure to these substances can come through food, air, and skin absorption. While scientists are learning more about how these substances are absorbed by the body, questions remain about how much exposure is safe, what effect — if any — microplastics could have on brain function, and what clinicians should tell their patients.

While much research has been conducted on Glu’s role in MDD and other neurological diseases, the study of post-neurological depression (such as PSD, post-TBI, and epilepsy-associated depression) remains limited. We hypothesize that Glu plays a significant role in these sequelae and targeting this pathway could lead to strategies for preventing and treating these debilitating disorders, thereby reducing the burden of these diseases and improving quality of life after major neurological insults. This review has focused on three conditions, but future studies should explore additional avenues where Glu’s role can be applied to reduce depression incidence after other neurological disorders.

Young people may feel invincible but that alone isn't enough to prevent a stroke. The number of younger people having strokes has risen, with the CDC reporting a 15 percent increase in stroke risk among Americans under 65 over the past decade. Stroke prevalence has risen by 14.6 percent in those aged 18–44 and 15.7 percent in those aged 45–64. Strokes are characterized by sudden numbness or weakness on one side of the body, trouble speaking or understanding, confusion, loss of balance, vision problems, or severe headaches with no clear cause. Obesity and high blood pressure are cited as key risk factors.

Both bare and PLLA-coated MgBRFDs had excellent biocompatibility. The PLLA-coated MgBRFD has greater clinical feasibility because of its delayed bioresorption.

Endovascular treatment of intracranial wide-necked and bifurcation aneurysms (WNBA) is technically challenging. The Nautilus Intrasaccular System is designed to provide a mechanical barrier at the aneurysm neck to support coil embolization. We report the results of a single-center series of patients treated for intracranial aneurysms with the Nautilus.