On the webpage of the Department of Engineering Science | University of Oxford has been published the news:

> Computer simulations may assist surgeons in stroke treatment decisions

on the research of INSIST that suggests how computer simulations could be used to develop more efficient treatments for stroke patients.

INSIST (IN Silico clinical trials for acute Ischemic Stroke) is a H2020 project where the Department of Chemistry, Materials and Chemical Engineering “Giulio Natta” - with Gabriele Dubini, Francesco Migliavacca, Giancarlo Pennati, José Félix Rodriguez Matas, Giulia Luraghi (Temporary Research Fellow, LaBS - CompBiomech) and Sara Bridio (PhD, LaBS - CompBiomech) - is a partner.

The goal of INSIST project is to realize in silico clinical trials, i.e. “virtual” trials, to test the safety and efficacy of procedures and devices used to treat acute ischemic stroke. This pathology happens when a blood clot (thrombus) obstructs a cerebral artery, preventing blood perfusion of the brain tissues downstream. The most effective treatment, recently introduced, is intra-arterial thrombectomy: a minimally-invasive procedure consisting in reaching the occlusion site with a stent-retriever, which entraps the thrombus, retrieves it out of the occluded artery and restores the perfusion of cerebral tissues.

To launch on the market new devices or to introduce new procedures in the clinical practice, long and expensive clinical trials are needed. The creation of in silico clinical trials allows to support or substitute clinical trials on real patients, thus reducing time, costs and adverse effects on patients. The INSIST project aims at creating a registry of virtual patients and at creating computational models of the treatments for acute ischemic stroke and of the patients’ response to them.