KEEN | Spring 2019

Treatment of Acute Upper Gastrointestinal Clots Through Histotripsy

Acute upper gastrointestinal bleeding results in 20,000 deaths annually in the United States. The current issue is in locating and removing an excessive amount of blood clots obstructing the location and visualization of the wound resulting in invasive procedures and multiple blood transfusions. This device is composed of a focused transducer that emits high-intensity focused ultrasound in a method know as histotripsy to induce cavitation to break blood clots in a controlled and localized manner. The device would allow for direct access to the wound without removal of the surrounding clots thus saving time and expense. Future work would include introducing a cooling unit and a control arm.