During the Young Stroke Physicians and Researchers (YSPR) session at ESO-WSO 2020 virtual conference, four early career stroke physicians and researchers will present their planned or ongoing projects and receive feedback from two renowned stroke experts.
The session will be held on Saturday November 7th at 09.45 in Hall C.
In these series of interviews, we are going to meet them and hear about their story.
Now we are meeting with Christopher Chautems.
Christopher is a robotic engineer from Switzerland and he is going to present “Targeted delivery of rtPA with an untethered steerable microdevice”. Please stay tuned!
Something about myself
I am a robotic engineer with a strong interest in translating new technology to clinical applications. My field of expertise is in remote magnetic navigation where we use a magnetic field to navigate precisely catheter, guidewire or untethered microdevice.
How did you get involved in stroke research?
There is still a large potential to improve the care for patient affected by stroke. Stroke patient could benefit from new method to navigate a thrombectomy device in the tortuous neurovasculature or for the target delivery of therapeutic directly at the stroke location.
Why did you choose this topic?
The opportunity to partner with clinician to improve the tools and method to improve the treatment of stroke.
What have been the most difficult challenges regarding your research career so far?
The large gap existing between the academic research in medical robotic, the industry developing and commercializing medical devices, and the clinician using those medical device.
How do you balance work life and free time/home life?
By taking time offline to go in the nature hiking, running, camping, canoeing and coming back to the office with new inspiration.
What do you think a mentor should do to support the projects and the career of a mentee and, conversely, what should a mentee expect from a mentor?
A mentor should give a mentee the freedom to explore his own idea and support him in building the right network to move his project forward. The mentor is one of the first person supporting a new project and the support of an experienced mentor give credibility to a project. This is extremely important to secure resource for a project.
