Intravascular Sonothrombolysis with Nanobubbles: in-vitro Study

Thrombosis-related morbidity and mortality pose a significant global health challenge. Existing approaches for thrombolysis, such as administering fibrinolytic agents or performing mechanical thrombectomy, come with prolonged treatment duration and risks of complications. Recent research proposes a more effective and safer alternative with contrast agents mediated ultrasound thrombolysis. Nonetheless, effectively treating retracted clots remains problematic due to their dense structure. To tackle this issue, we introduce an innovative method utilizing a stacked transducer for intravascular sonothrombolysis for higher lysis efficiency, employing a mixture of nanobubbles (NB) and microbubbles (MB). The inclusion of nanobubbles serves to enhance cavitation and improve the breakdown of clot structures. In our study, we employed a 470 kHz transducer with an aperture size of
$1.4\times 1.4$
mm
²
integrated in a 9-Fr catheter. Preliminary results indicate that NB- and MB/NB-mediated sonothrombolysis led to a 31% and 65% higher lysis rate, respectively, compared to MB-mediated sonothrombolysis in the case of retracted clots. These findings demonstrate the significant potential of nanobubbles in the field of sonothrombolysis applications.