NIMBLE Diagnostics

Stents are one of the most implanted devices in the world, and are used to restore the correct flow of blood or other fluids. They are especially useful to prevent heart attacks or to treat its lasting symptoms, but once implanted can become blocked or damaged, which occur in almost a third of the cases. This progression occurs gradually, but symptoms appear only after the stent is already 90% occluded, which is too late to prevent worsening conditions. Then, in most cases, clinicians need to perform an invasive procedure called angiography, which consists in inserting a catheter into the artery to directly inspect the stent. Obviously, this is a very complex and invasive procedure, where the patient needs anesthesia, lots of X-ray exposure and a 24h hospitalization recovery. Moreover, this is very expensive, as you need highly trained staff, bedding care and expensive reagents. All of this leads to a situation where clinicians cannot act upon the problem until it has already mani...