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SinuShunt technology
Present day shunts cannot deliver normal physiological flow
Since the invention and introduction of cerebral shunts in the 1950s, the two most important innovations have been the addition of an anti-gravitational valve plus a feature to adjust the valve setting magnetically. Despite these innovations the clinical outcome has not improved in any significant way, and shunts continue to have an unacceptable tendency to malfunction with revisions still commonplace (30% within 6 months). Moreover, shunts fail to provide normal and controlled drainage of CSF because the drainage profile of a shunt is very different from physiological drainage. With current shunts, too much or too little CSF can be drained depending on factors such as body position or the inconstant pressure within the absorption site (heart or abdomen). This lack of synchronisation can result in large variations in intracranial pressure preventing the patient from leading a normal life.
Standard of care shunt types: VP and VA
Standard-of-care shunts typically drain cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) into either the peritoneal cavity (ventriculoperitoneal or VP shunt) or the heart (ventriculoatrial or VA shunt). In both cases, a major drawback is the siphon effect, which occurs when a patient moves from a horizontal to a vertical position, often leading to overdrainage. In contrast, the SinuShunt drains CSF into the venous sinus (VS), effectively avoiding the problematic siphon effect. Moreover, the venous sinus is the body's natural drainage site for CSF, making the SinuShunt a more physiologically accurate alternative that closely mimics normal CSF outflow.
SinuShunt: Following the principle of physiological drainage
The SinuShunt mimics normal physiological absorption of CSF by draining into the intracranial sinus vein. There are three important advantages: (i) the differential pressure variation between the ventricles and the absorption site is minimised, (ii) the detrimental siphon effect is eliminated, and (iii) the unfavourable peritoneal cavity is avoided as a drainage site. The SinuShunt can therefore operate independently of any arbitrary physical forces which can affect standard VP (as well as VA) shunts.
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