The Stanford milli-spinner in action: a breakthrough device that crushes and removes brain clots in seconds, potentially transforming stroke treatment.
It happened without warning.
My father collapsed at home, his face slack, his words gone.
In Shakespeare’s Henry VI, they called it a sudden outrage:
“What sudden outrage hath struck thee down?”
But for us, it was something simpler.
A stroke.
And life was never the same.
My uncle survived his stroke, but lost half his body to paralysis.
But now, with all my training, stroke feels like an enemy we still haven’t defeated.
Until maybe now.
Doctors have a saying:
“Time is brain.”
For every minute your brain goes without blood flow, you lose almost 2 million neurons — and about a week of independent life.
Most strokes are ischemic — caused by a clot that blocks blood flow to the brain.
The clot may form in place (thrombotic stroke) or travel from elsewhere (embolic stroke).
Today, we treat them with two main tools:
But here’s the harsh truth:
Even today’s best devices fail on the first try about half the time.
And the longer it takes, the worse the outcome.
Now, something new.
At Stanford, engineers built a tiny device called the milli-spinner.
It’s smaller than a pencil tip but spins like a turbine.
Placed next to a clot, it crushes and shrinks the blockage by up to 95% — in seconds.
No more multiple passes — and far fewer complications.
No more dangerous fragments breaking free.
Just restored blood flow — fast.
In early animal tests, it worked almost every time.
Dr. Jeremy Heit called it “a sea change.”
Others called it something simpler:Â magic.
If it works in people as well as in animals, it could save tens of thousands of lives a year — and prevent countless families from facing what mine did.
The milli-spinner isn’t the only new advance reshaping stroke care:
AI That Spots Strokes in Seconds
New artificial intelligence tools can scan CT images instantly — alerting hospitals before a doctor even sees the scan.
Ambulances With Brain Scanners
Mobile stroke units bring the ER to your driveway — starting treatment minutes earlier than ever before.
Safer, Longer-Lasting Clot-Busters
Researchers are developing clot-busting drugs that last longer and work for more patients — even those who arrive late.
In the future, magnetic millirobots may be able to swim through your blood vessels, crushing clots before they cause damage.
It sounds like science fiction.
But it’s happening.
When my father had his stroke, we didn’t have these options.
We utilized the best tools available at the time.
But even the best tools weren’t enough.
That’s why this work matters.
That’s why I tell my patients — and you — about it.
Stroke breakthroughs are coming.
But your best defense is prevention — and fast action when a stroke strikes.
In medicine, there are no miracles.
But sometimes, there are tiny machines with spinning fins — small enough to dance inside your blood vessels — saving your brain before it’s too late.
I wish my father had lived to see this.
But maybe another family won’t have to say goodbye so soon.
Michael Hunter, MD, is a cancer doctor, health writer, and stroke prevention advocate who helps readers take charge of their well-being through science-backed habits.
The first time I suspected light could make people gain weight, I was not in…
Our body contains a built-in construction crew, which can perform repairs on almost every harmed…
Craig Martin is a strategic chameleon in health innovation. He is equally at home in…
I Ate More. I Weighed Less. In Malaysia, I ate like a poet unchained. Noodles…
I had never envisioned a computer responding to me and “telling” me that it had…
If you work in climate or environmental innovation, you’ve probably felt the shift: it’s getting…
This website uses cookies. Your continued use of the site is subject to the acceptance of these cookies. Please refer to our Privacy Policy for more information.
Read More