Evidence map›Paper›PMID 32366318›Full record

ArticleCardiovascular ultrasound2020

In-vitro sonothrombolysis using thick-shelled polymer microbubbles - a comparison with thin-shelled microbubbles.

Jovana Janjic, Malin K Larsson, Anna Bjällmark

Open access · goldAbstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Cardiovascular ultrasound, 2020. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 4 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
4citing papers in PubMed
0.3field-weighted citation impact, top 50% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

4 citing papers in PubMed, 4 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Assessment of Cavitation From DEFINITY and DEFINITY RT.Ultrasound in medicine & biology · 2026
    Article
  2. Review
  3. Review
  4. AnJournal of medical ultrasound
    Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

3 authors at 3 institutions in 2 countries.

Jovana JanjicBiosense Webster, Johnson & Johnson Medical, Via del Mare 56, 00071 Pomezia, Rome, Italy.
Malin K LarssonKarolinska University Hospital, Eugeniavägen 3, SE-171 76, Stockholm, Sweden.
Anna BjällmarkDepartment of Natural Science and Biomedicine, School of Health and Welfare, Jönköping University, Gjuterigatan 5, SE-553 18, Jönköping, Sweden. anna.bjallmark@ju.se.
Johnson & Johnson (Italy) · ITJönköping University · SEKarolinska University Hospital · SE

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundVascular thrombosis can be treated pharmacologically, however, serious shortcomings such as bleeding may occur. Several studies suggest that sonothrombolysis can induce lysis of the clots using ultrasound. Moreover, intravenously injected thin-shelled microbubbles (MBs) combined with ultrasound can further improve clot lysis. Thick-shelled MBs have been used for drug delivery, targeting and multimodal imaging. However, their capability to enhance sonothrombolysis is unknown. In this study, using an in-vitro set-up, the enhancement of clot lysis using ultrasound and thick-shelled MBs was investigated. Thin-shelled MBs was used for comparison.

methodThe main components in the in-vitro set-up was a vessel mimicking phantom, a pressure mearing system and programmable ultrasound machine. Blood clots were injected and entrapped on a pore mesh in the vessel phantom. Four different protocols for ultrasound transmission and MB exposure (7 blood clots/protocol) were considered together with a control test were no MBs and ultrasound were used. For each protocol, ultrasound exposure of 20 min was used. The upstream pressure of the partially occluded mesh was continuously measured to assess clot burden. At the end of each protocol blood clots were removed from the phantom and the clot mass loss was computed.

resultsFor the thick-shelled MBs no difference in clot mass loss compared with the control tests was found. A 10% increase in the clot mass loss compared with the control tests was found when using thin-shelled MBs and low pressure/long pulses ultrasound exposure. Similarly, in terms of upstream pressure over exposure time, no differences were found when using the thick-shelled MBs, whereas thin-shelled MBs showed a 15% decrease achieved within the first 4 min of ultrasound exposure.

conclusionNo increase in clot lysis was achieved using thick-shelled MBs as demonstrated by no significant change in clot mass or upstream pressure. Although thick-shelled MBs are promising for targeting and drug delivery, they do not enhance clot lysis when considering the ultrasound sequences used in this study. On the other hand, ultrasound in combination with thin-shelled MBs can facilitate thrombolysis when applying long ultrasound pulses with low pressure.

Indexed as

HumansMechanical ThrombolysisMicrobubblesModels, CardiovascularPolymersThrombosisUltrasonic TherapyPolymersCavitationContrast agentHuman blood clotMicrobubbleSonothrombolysisUltrasound

Identifiers

PMID32366318
PMCPMC7197129
OpenAlexW3021402514

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.