Friday, Jan. 25, 2008. Rush Medical Center, Chicago - neurosurgeon, Demetrius Lopes, holds up a Penumbra stroke vacuum system.

This is a tiny vacuum cleaner for the brain, and is the newest treatment for stroke victims, promising to literally suction out clogged arteries to get blood flowing again.

Now the question is how to tell which patients are good candidates for the proceedure? As illogical as it may sound, unclogging isn’t always the best option to treat strokes, due to systolic and diastolic pressure and so bloodflow in sensitive areas. Strokes remain the No. 3 killer in the US and the UK.

(AP Photo/Jerry Lai)