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Introduction With the advent of smaller stent retrievers (SR) and aspiration catheters (AC) capable of accessing more distal locations, distal and medium vessel occlusions (DMVO) are emerging as promising targets for endovascular thrombectomy (EVT). However, considering the vulnerability of distal vessels to injury, it is imperative to understand the safety of various frontline techniques in these challenging scenarios. Using a vascular flow model, we sought to investigate the optimal size, strategy, and positioning of a stent retriever and aspiration catheter to minimize the pulling force exerted on the M2 vasculature. Methods We used a silicone vascular flow model with moderate tortuosity that replicated the left‐sided anterior circulation, including middle cerebral artery (MCA) branches in the M2 territory. An 8 French Cook Shuttle guide sheath was inserted coaxially with a Catalyst 7‐132 cm aspiration catheter and TrevoTrak 21 microcatheter. To measure pulling force, an Imada force gauge DST‐1A was placed at the M2 and a DST‐11A at the proximal end of the microcatheter. The Solitaire 4x20 mm Solitaire stent‐retriever was pulled at 4 mm/sec with the AC in the proximal cavernous carotid segment (NoAsp), proximal M1 (M1P), and distal M1 (M1D), a total of 8 times per AC position, using the ingestion technique. The pinching technique was also examined using the 4x20mm stent. Results The average pulling force measured on M2 using the 4x20mm stent was 169.1mN with the AC docked in the proximal NoAsp position, 26.5mN with the AC at M1P, and 23.0mN at M1D (p |