New tool uses ultrasound 'tornado' to break down blood clots

January 23, 2023

by Matt Shipman, North Carolina State University

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).

"Our previous work looked at various techniques that use ultrasound to eliminate blood clots using what are essentially forward-facing waves," says Xiaoning Jiang, co-corresponding author of a paper on the work. "Our new work uses vortex ultrasound, where the ultrasound waves have a helical wavefront.

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