How does the proprietary funnel design of the ANA5 catheter enhance clot retrieval efficiency compared to conventional thrombectomy systems currently in use?

The ANA Funnel Catheter is unique because it is the only catheter with an expandable and collapsible funnel that adapts to the diameter of intracranial arteries. Distal aspiration catheters have been a major advancement because their flexibility allows them to directly face the clot and aspirate. However, they remain fixed-diameter, straw-like solid objects,which imposes limitations. You can increase t heir diameter to make them “more efficient,” but you cannot force these catheters into vessels aggressively, as this raises the risk of vessel trauma or secondary vasospasm due to friction forces. Therefore, there is only so much you can expand and only so much clot volume you can engage. ANA5’s advantages are twofold. First, the distal end of the catheter is a funnel that conforms to the full circumference of the artery where it is deployed. This means that even large clots, hypothetically, with diameters as big as the artery, can potentially be captured entirely by the funnel. Additionally, because the braided nitinol funnel has a coating, it is water-tight. When expanded in the artery, it stops antegrade flow. Then, as you aspirate through it, you reverse the flow direction. This retrograde flow now aligns with the path a stent retriever-engaged clot must travel to be captured. This feature increases the likelihood of capturing the clot, along with microemboli or fragments, during the recovery phase of a stent retriever mechanical thrombectomy procedure.