A trial to make brain surgery safer has been done at Queen’s Hospital, with three patients using a new device for neuro radiology treatment.

The intrasaccular device gives surgeons minimal invasive X-ray guidance for treating aneurysms, a spokesperson for Barking, Havering and Redbridge University Hospitals NHS Trust (BHRUT) said.

It reaches blood vessels through a tiny incision in the groin, using catheter tubes and wires to reach where there is a weakness in the wall of a blood vessel.

This avoids risk of rupture, the trust said, which can cause complications and even death in extreme cases.

“It allows better blood flow around an aneurysm,” consultant neuro-radiologist Tufail Patankar explained.

“There’s no damage to the patient and it’s less complicated and safer as there’s always a risk of rupture during surgery.”

The trial over two days at Queen’s was the first in London and only the second in the country, BHRUT - which runs the hospital - said.

The device uses mesh to fill the aneurysm from inside, then opens out like a basket to fill the entire volume of the aneurysm so there is less chance of movement.

Fewer than 100 such procedures have been carried out across Europe. Now surgeons from all over Britain and abroad have been visiting Queen’s to observe how the device works, according to the trust.