Needless to say, if a blood clot forms in the brain, it should be removed as soon as possible. Experimental new transducers may be useful because they use swirling waves of ultrasound to break up thrombi much faster than existing methods.
Developed by scientists at North Carolina State University and Georgia Tech, the device is specifically designed for use in what is known as a cerebral sinus thrombosis (CVST) thrombus. These are usually formed in veins that allow blood to drain from the brain. Blockage of these veins can increase blood pressure in the brain, causing bleeding that can be fatal or incapacitating.
Most existing CVST treatments use drugs to dissolve clots. But, according to the team behind the new study, it takes on average about 29 hours for such drugs to take effect, and no more than 15 hours. In contrast, the new transducer breaks he clot within 30 minutes.
The device is housed in a catheter, which is surgically inserted into a vein and sent to the site of the clot. When it reaches its destination, it emits an ultrasonic pulse that spirals like a tornado. The shear stress generated by these ‘vortex-ultrasonic’ waves is sufficient to quickly and completely break up the clot.
This effect is consistent with the findings of previous Johns Hopkins medical studies, which showed that blood clots were less likely to form in the heart when it formed a spiral vortex as it flowed through the muscles. .
So far, the transducer has been successfully tested on thrombi in 3D-printed models of the cerebral sinus region of the brain filled with bovine blood. Furthermore, the waves were found to be harmless to the vein wall when used on animal vein samples. The wave did no substantial damage to red blood cells either.
“The next step is to conduct trials using animal models to better establish the feasibility of this technology in treating CVST,” said Xiaoning Jiang of North Carolina, who led the study with Asst of Georgia Tech. the professor said. Professor Chengzhi Shi. “If these tests are successful, we hope to proceed with clinical trials.”
The technique is described in a paper recently published in the journal. research.
Source: North Carolina State University
