Thrombosis is the condition of clot formation in an otherwise healthy blood vessel that obstructs circulation1,2. Venous thromboembolism has an annual healthcare cost of $7-10 billion, with 375,000-425,000 cases in the United States3. Pulmonary embolism is the obstruction of the pulmonary artery and is the most serious consequence of venous thromboembolism. The primary source of pulmonary obstruction is deep vein thrombi, primarily from iliofemoral venous segments4,5,6. Deep vein thrombosis (DVT) has inherent sequela besides pulmonary obstructions, with long term complications that result in pain, swelling, leg ulcerations, and limb amputations7,8,9. For critical obstructions, catheter directed thrombolytics (CDT) are the frontline approach for vessel recanalization10. The outcome of CDT depends on a number of factors, including thrombus age, location, size, composition, etiology, and patient risk category11. Moreover, CDT is associated with vascular damage, infections, bleeding complications, and long treatment time10. Next generation devices aim to combine mechanical thrombectomy with thrombolytics (i.e., pharmacomechanical thrombectomy)12,13. Use of these devices lower the lytic dosage leading to reduced bleeding complications, and shortened treatment time12,13,14 as compared to CDT. These devices still retain issues of hemorrhagic side-effects and incomplete removal of chronic thrombi15. An adjuvant strategy is thus needed that can remove the thrombus completely with lower bleeding complications.
One potential approach is histotripsy-aided thrombolytic treatment, referred to as lysotripsy. Histotripsy is a non-invasive treatment modality that uses focused ultrasound to nucleate bubble clouds in tissues16. Bubble activity is generated not via exogenous nuclei, but by the application of ultrasound pulses with sufficient tension to activate nuclei intrinsic to tissues, including clot17,18. The mechanical oscillation of the bubble cloud imparts strain to the clot, disintegrating the structure into acellular debris19. Histotripsy bubble activity provides effective degradation of retracted and unretracted blood clots both in vivo and in vitro20,21,22. Prior studies have23,24 demonstrated that the combination of histotripsy and the lytic recombinant tissue-type plasminogen activator (rt-PA) significantly increases treatment efficacy compared to lytic alone or histotripsy alone. It is hypothesized that two primary mechanisms associated with histotripsy bubble activity are responsible for the improved treatment efficacy: 1) increased fibrinolysis due to enhanced lytic delivery, and 2) hemolysis of red blood cells within the clot. The bulk of the clot mass is comprised of red blood cells24, and, therefore, tracking erythrocyte degradation is a good surrogate for ablation of the sample. Other formed clot elements are also likely disintegrated under histotripsy bubble activity but are not considered in this protocol.
Here, a benchtop approach to treat DVT in vitro with lysotripsy is outlined. The protocol describes critical operating parameters of the histotripsy source, assessment of treatment efficacy, and image guidance. The protocol includes designing a flow channel to mimic an iliofemoral venous segment and manufacturing human whole blood clots. The experimental procedure outlines the positioning of the histotripsy source and imaging array to achieve histotripsy exposure along the clot placed in the flow channel. Relevant insonation parameters to attain clot disruption and minimize off-target bubble activity are defined. The use of ultrasound imaging for guidance and assessment of bubble activity is illustrated24. Metrics to quantify treatment efficacy such as clot mass loss, D-dimer (fibrinolysis), and hemoglobin (hemolysis) are outlined23,24,25,26,27. Overall, the study provides an effective means for executing and assessing the efficacy of lysotripsy to treat DVT.