“The enzyme induces clot formation generally 100% of the time — but when we applied the particles, we only saw clot formation about 30% of the time,” Medina said. “We had to wonder: were the particles not only binding to the clots, but somehow breaking them down?”
The team tested its hypothesis, but the researchers would lose the bubble signal after 15 minutes of ultrasound every time.
“We think that once our particles start to decorate the clot, they saturate the surface and inhibit the mechanisms of further clot growth,” said Medina. “And under the ultrasound, the particles are disrupting the clot or inhibiting its mechanism to persist. While we don’t understand the underlying mechanism yet, it’s clear that these particles can image and help treat clots in real time.”
The researchers plan to continue investigating how the particles are disrupting the clots, as well as develop more control over how the particles behave.
Medina is also affiliated with the Materials Research Institute and the Huck Institutes of Life Sciences. Other contributors include Janna N. Sloand, Connor T. Watson, Michael A. Miller, Keefe B. Manning, all with the Department of Biomedical Engineering; Eric Rokni and Julianna C. Simon, both with the Graduate Program in Acoustics.
The National Science Foundation Faculty Early Career Development Program, a Penn State Multidisciplinary Seed Grant and a Penn State Graduate Research Fellowship supported this work in part.
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