A Quiet Revolution Inside the Brain |
Hundreds of thousands of brain hemorrhages occur worldwide every year. Many of these are caused by aneurysms, which are estimated to affect about 1 in 20 people worldwide. Aneurysms can rupture without warning, leading to death or severe disability in roughly half of all cases, and even when patients reach the hospital in time, more than half face lengthy rehabilitation processes, significant risk of complications, and suboptimal long-term outcomes. Hundreds of these cases are recorded in Israel annually, and many patients don’t have time to wait for the right specialist to be available at the right moment.
Founded by Nitzan Hirsh and Amir Arthur, LuSeed Vascular is developing a solution specifically designed to address this complex challenge. Instead of relying on highly intricate brain surgery or implants, which are typically performed by only a handful of experts, the company offers a flexible nitinol-based implant delivered through a microcatheter that self-expands directly inside the aneurysm and prevents or stops bleeding. All of this is achieved through a minimally invasive procedure, enabling a quick, safe, and effective response that can be performed by any interventional or neurologist, thanks to the device’s built-in safety and short learning curve.
With ongoing support from the Israel Innovation Authority, the company aims to make a highly complex procedure accessible globally, bringing hope to both patients and physicians.
Seven years have passed since Hirsh and Arthur, then biomedical engineering master’s students, were first introduced to Biodesign, a structured approach to developing medical technologies that begins not with a product, but with a clearly defined clinical need. The method involves field observations, in-depth conversations with physicians, and a complete understanding of the clinical environment before attempting to design a solution.
An encounter with an interventional neurosurgeon towards the end of their studies exposed the two to the intricate world of brain aneurysms. Their curiosity evolved into a project, which eventually became a full-fledged startup. “We asked what the biggest challenge in the catheter lab was,” Hirsh recalls, “and discovered that life-saving interventions are often hindered by small operational obstacles, rather than theoretical problems. The challenges weren’t conceptual; they were practical and required simple, precise solutions, but ones that were technically sophisticated to execute.”
Their initial hypothesis led to a successful laboratory........