ClotBust-ER, An Ultrasound Device to Aid Stroke Thrombolysis
A company called Cerevast Therapeutics Inc , from Redmond, Washington, has received CE mark approval in Europe for a product aptly named ClotBust ER - an operator independent device worn as a headframe, which uses multiple transducers to deliver therapeutic ultrasound energy to the region of an occluded cerebral blood vessel, as an adjunct to patients receiving intravenous thrombolysis. Some clinical studies have suggested that when ultrasound energy is applied during conventional intravenous tPA thrombolysis, the process of clot lysis is augmented, allowing more rapid resolution of blood flow to the ischaemic brain. This process is termed Sonothrombolysis.
The hope is that in the future, IV thrombolysis maybe superseded by use of cavitating microspheres in conjunction with sonothrombolysis, which may hopefully enhance clot dissolution further. Their small size (1.2 microns) allow them to penetrate and pass through the fibrin matrix of the blood clot.
This technology has also been demonstrated (in a small study) in patients who have had acute intracranial bleeds. Rapid drainage and reduction in mass effect was achieved by utilising sonothrombolysis with sterotactically delivered drainage and ultrasound catheters via a bur hole.
This is yet another exciting novel application of ultrasound, however, I suspect it will be some time before this device will see mainstream use.
Thrombolysis, Ultrasound, stroke | in Neurology, Neurosurgery, Tech, Ultrasound Posted on Thursday, January 5, 2012 at 2:25AM Email Article
Reader Comments (2)
Hi Amit. I saw a presentation on this at AirMed conf last year. Exciting stuff. The presenter had taught a few paramedics how to do a transcranial USS assessment of the major cerebral arteries and proposed the ideal of prehospital sonolysis. Essentially if you can image the thrombus, demonstrate, no distal flow in the vessel, then applying sonolysis using USS and injected microspheres was safer than IV thromboytics. There have been a handful of case reports of successful sonolysis . There has even been a report of attempted sonolysis from Mt Everest base camp! http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/m/pubmed/21377120/
Hi Minh. I saw something similar to this from a company called ImaRx Therapeutics a few years back, but I think the company disappeared in the GFC. I think Cerevast bought the patents, and are now developing this again. I have to admit, it's one of the coolest things I have seen in a long time! For some reason, I'd be a lot more comfortable with this, than I am with tPA...