Blood clots formed in blood vessels pose a serious threat to human health and often lead to death. The fight against blood clots is based on the use of medications, the result of which is often manifested only after a while, which is unacceptable in some cases of thrombosis. Scientists from the United States have developed a technique to remove blood clots using nanotechnology.
The idea of using nanodrops to destroy the already formed blood clots arose back in 2017, when the Americans created an ultrasound transducer inserted into a vein. The ultrasonic impulses arising during the operation of the new technology destroy the thrombus, but at the same time do not damage the patient’s circulatory system.
For three years, scientists have been introducing new technologies into the device and have now come to use nanodroplets formed from lipid spheres and filled with liquid perfluorocarbons (PFCs – a substance that allows liquid respiration) to be used as a “thrombus breaker”.
Penetrating into blood clots, nanodrops destroy them from the inside. The technology uses the property of PFCs, which have a low boiling point, to generate vapor from nanodroplets under the action of ultrasound, the particles of which, when vibrating, destroy a thrombus.
The developers of the method of ultrasonic destruction of blood clots using nanodrops stated that one of the additional positive effects of the technology is an increase in the effectiveness of drugs that affect the rate of blood coagulation. In test trials, scientists were able to reduce the size of a blood clot by 40% in 30 minutes, while reducing its weight by 30%. The next step will be testing the technique on animals.
