Ultrasound-enhanced systemic thrombolysis

Ultrasound-Enhanced Systemic Thrombolysis is a medical technology that utilizes transcranial doppler ultrasonography to treat stroke-causing blood clots. It is thought that transcranial doppler ultrasonography aimed at residual obstructive intracranial blood flow may help expose thrombi to tissue plasminogen activator or other thrombolytic drugs.

Studies have shown that complete recanalisation or dramatic clinical recovery can be increased by more than 19% when using transcranial doppler ultrasonography.

Ultrasound-Accelerated Thrombolysis (Catheter-based)
A recent multicenter randomized trial (DUET ) compared standard catheter-directed thrombolysis (CDT) versus ultrasound-accelerated thrombolysis (USAT, EKOS Corporation) for the treatment of acute peripheral arterial thrombotic occlusions. Results showed that, on average, patients treated with USAT were completed 12 hours sooner than those treated with standard CDT with no increase in "serious adverse events." Plans are underway to commence the DUET II study, which will be a non-randomized trial using the EKOS system with an even lower hourly drug dose with an expectation of further reducing bleeding complications.