KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 24 -- As COVID-19 vaccination has raised the issue of thrombosis, Dr Chih-Kuang Yeh, Distinguished Professor of the Department of Biomedical Engineering and Environmental Sciences, has led a research team to develop the world's first ultrasonic vortex thrombolytic device and treat thrombosis quickly and safely.
The research has been published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS) in 2021. Moreover, US and EU patents are granted, with more applications on the way, according to a statement.
The device is developed to solve two common thrombosis called pulmonary embolism (PE) and deep vein thrombosis (DVT), which have global prevalence of 10 million new cases annually.
Yeh explained the current treatment options included drug delivery catheter and thrombectomy devices, but they were not effective enough or might bring up hemorrhage risks.
Working with industrial partners, his team has developed a 0.2-mm ultrasonic device, which can generate tornado-like ultrasonic vortex and create a strong turbulent around the thrombus, therefore increasing penetration of thrombolytic drugs and resulting in very effective thrombolysis. The residue of the dissolved thrombus is just 0.001 cm.
He said animal studies had shown results of 60 per cent thrombus shrinkage in the mice brain after applying ultrasonic vortex for 10 minutes, demonstrating the potential of fast treatment. What’s more, the feedback property of ultrasound can be used for real-time treatment monitoring.
Yeh added his team was also working on using ultrasonic vortex for non-invasive thrombolysis, providing potential to treat embolisms in the brain.
In addition, while combining with microbubbles for controlled drug release, treatment for neurological disorders such as Parkinson's disease and epilepsy, will become possible.
Yeh’s team is named VorteSonic, a combination of vortex and sonic waves. Core team members include Ph.D. students Wei-Chen Lo and Zong-Han Hsieh, who are in charge of ultrasonic transducers and the driving system; and Dr Chun-Yen Lai, who will be leading the team after spinning off a startup from the university.
-- BERNAMA
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