The authors have developed a liquid material for thrombosing aneurysms. This material is a mixture of cellulose acetate polymer and bismuth trioxide dissolved in dimethyl sulfoxide. On contact with blood, the dimethyl sulfoxide diffuses and cellulose acetate polymer forms, which balloons when slowly injected into the blood. The polymer solidifies from surface to core in 5 minutes. Cellulose acetate polymer was injected directly into experimental aneurysms created in 10 dogs; it rapidly hardened in the shape of the aneurysms, completely obliterating them but preserving the parent vessels in all cases. No distal migration of the polymer was seen. The good results of this experimental trial led to a clinical study using a cellulose acetate polymer, as described in Part II.