When Every Second Counts: Advancing Understanding and Treatment of Stroke

A stroke, or "brain attack,” can happen to anyone at any time. Stroke is a devastating disease, robbing millions of their independence and quality of life.¹  A stroke can occur when a clot forms in a blood vessel or when material breaks off from cardiac valves or damaged blood vessels elsewhere and lodges in brain arteries, preventing oxygen and nutrients from reaching the brain.² This type, an ischemic stroke, accounts for 90 percent of stroke cases worldwide.¹ A blood vessel that ruptures or bursts causes a hemorrhagic stroke, accounting for 10 percent of stroke cases worldwide.¹  With either type, part of the brain cannot get the blood and oxygen it needs, causing brain cells to die.²  Without prompt treatment, a part of brain the size of a pea dies every 12 minutes following a stroke.³

CERENOVUS, part of the Johnson & Johnson Medical Devices Companies, was created with the purpose of advancing understanding and treatment of stroke.  A global leader in neurointerventional care, CERENOVUS has pioneered groundbreaking research that has led to the development and commercialization of a broad portfolio of devices used to treat both hemorrhagic and ischemic stroke.

With every second critical in stroke treatment, the CERENOVUS innovation strategy is designed to address critical unmet needs in restoring oxygen to the brain.

• For hemorrhagic stroke, where treatment is primarily preventative, the CERENOVUS portfolio includes stents, coils and other devices designed to prevent blood vessel rupture.
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  • Our coils are specially designed, randomly shaped tiny metal pieces resembling minute springs inserted into a blood vessel that facilitate clot formation within an aneurysm, which occurs when part of an artery wall weakens, allowing it to widen abnormally or balloon out.⁴ During a coiling procedure, tiny coils are deployed directly into the aneurysm in a minimally invasive interventional procedure in which a microcatheter is used to induce clotting and prevent rupture.  The coils may be configured in various shapes and sizes to match the anatomy of the aneurysm.
  • Our stents act as a scaffold to provide structure for a blood vessel.  In a wide neck aneurysm, a stent is placed across the opening or neck of the aneurysm to secure the placement of coils and maintain blood flow through the artery. 
  • The PulseRider^® Device⁵ is a minimally invasive device intended for use with embolic coils in the treatment of unruptured wide-neck intracranial aneurysms originating on or near a bifurcation. There is a significant unmet clinical need in the treatment of unruptured wide-neck bifurcation aneurysms, and this innovative device will complement CERENOVUS’s comprehensive therapeutic portfolio.

• For ischemic stroke, we’re focused on developing solutions designed to extract clots quickly and safely from the brain. 
  • Our latest innovation recently cleared by the FDA, EMBOTRAP^® II, is a next-generation stent retriever for thrombectomy procedures in treating ischemic stroke.
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  • Our innovation is based on decades of extensive research on blood clots and occlusions that cause stroke.  Through our investment in the Neuravi Thromboembolic Initiative (NTI), we support collaboration between engineers and clinicians to deepen our understanding of clots and occlusion dynamics – what causes blood clots to form – to improve patient outcomes in stroke.
  • We are also developing solutions to reduce embolic stroke in atrial fibrillation (AFib), in patients who can’t tolerate chronic anticoagulation (blood thinning) therapy.  An embolic stroke occurs when a blood clot that forms elsewhere in the body breaks loose and travels to the brain through the bloodstream, eventually lodging in a blood vessel and blocking blood flow to the brain.⁶ According to the American Stroke Association, stroke risk is five times higher in individuals with AFib.⁷

CERENOVUS is investing in many other areas to advance treatment and care of patients with or at risk for stroke, including prospective patient registries, post-market studies, investigator-initiated studies, real-world evidence, and professional and patient education and training.