A2SP​Lab

Researchers have developed a new tool and technique that uses “vortex ultrasound” – a sort of ultrasonic tornado – to break down blood clots in the brain. The new approach worked more quickly than existing techniques to eliminate clots formed in an in vitro model of cerebral venous sinus thrombosis (CVST). The new tool consists of a single transducer that is specifically designed to produce the swirling, vortex effect. The transducer is small enough to be incorporated into a catheter, which is then fed through the circulatory system to the site of the blood clot. ​The paper, “A Model of High-Speed Endovascular Sonothrombolysis with Vortex Ultrasound-Induced Shear Stress to Treat Cerebral Venous Sinus Thrombosis,” is published in the open-access journal Research, which is a Science Partner Journal. Co-lead authors of the paper are Bohua Zhang, a Ph.D. student at NC State; Huaiyu Wu, a postdoctoral researcher at NC State; and Howuk Kim, a former Ph.D. student at NC State who is now on faculty at Inha University.