Photoacoustic flow cytometry will detect blood clots
Scientists have learned to look for blood clots using laser and ultrasound
Researchers from the USA and Russia has successfully detected blood clots in blood vessels using a new diagnostic method.
Thromboembolism is the movement of blood clots in the blood stream. Normally, clots form to stop bleeding, but a blood clot can break away from the vessel wall, float with the blood flow and clog the blood vessel, and this disrupts blood circulation and can lead to death.
Modern methods of diagnosing blood clots are not accurate, they do not detect small blood clots, and as a result, about 5-10% of patients die due to imperfect diagnostics. To detect blood clots, scientists decided to use a potentially more accurate method – photoacoustic flow cytometry.
The principle of photoacoustic flow cytometry is as follows: blood vessels are irradiated with a laser, the blood heats up and thermal expansion causes the appearance of ultrasound, which is picked up by the sensor. Then the computer analyzes the signal received by the acoustic sensor and draws a graph. An even blood flow "emits" an even background ultrasonic noise, and blood clots, that is, blood clots, sound different and look like peaks on the graph.
The developers believe that the method will allow tracking the dynamics of the appearance of blood clots during medical procedures and the postoperative period, and in the future it will help prevent fatal thromboembolic complications in the early stages.
The results of the study are published in the journal PLOS One (Juratli et al., Real-Time Label-Free Embolus Detection Using In VivoPhotoacoustic Flow Cytometry).
Earlier, Russian scientists suggested removing blood clots with a drug that is attracted to them by a magnet. According to the idea of the developers, their method can be used not only for treatment, but also for prevention.
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20.09.2016