Fig. 4

Improved sonothrombolysis of obstructive blood clots mediated with microbubbles. a Shows a blood vessel obstruction caused by fibrin clots, platelets, and RBCs. Microbubbles are injected (e.g. by intravenous infusion) and collected near the clot. b The US is used and cavitates the microbubbles that dissolve the blood clot and restore the flow. The mechanical bioeffects of ultrasonic-based microbubbles are used to enhance thrombolytic medications diffuse into blood clots and/or mechanically break down them. The commonly recognized thrombolysis progression concept is that the US-based microbubbles can generate inertial cavitation, micro-streaming, acoustic radiation, and steady cavitation force to temporally “loosen” clots of fibrin and promote thrombolytic medication distribution/diffusion, leading to faster and more precise clot treatment. Also, using the US-based microbubbles strategy, the degree of force generated and, as a consequence, the degree of clot displacement is controlled by adjusting the transducer's acoustic intensity and center frequency