A paper titled «Ultrastructural analysis of volumetric histotripsy bio-effects in large human hematomas» was published in a top-rated Ultrasound in Medicine and Biology journal (Q1, IF 2.998) co-authored by LIMU research fellows, graduate and undergraduate students, and alumni E.M. Ponomarchuk, P.B. Rosnitskiy, S.V. Buravkov, S.A. Tsysar, M.M. Karzova, K.D. Tumanova, A.V. Kunturova, O.A. Sapozhnikov, and V.A. Khokhlova.

The paper presents the results of a joint study of LIMU, MREC MSU and Dmitry Rogachev National Research Center on the application of histotripsy approaches for treatment of large human hematomas. Potential clinical use of histotripsy supposes liquefaction of the hematoma volume by pulsed focused ultrasound with subsequent fine-needle aspiration (i.e., evacuation) of the liquid lysate. The investigated approach is intended to serve as a minimally-invasive (i.e., gentler) alternative for conventional open methods and drainage which require surgical intervention.

In the study, volumetric lesions were experimentally produced in large human blood clots served as a human hematoma model in vitro using various histotripsy approaches. Cytological and ultrastructural analysis of the liquefied contents of the lesions revealed mechanical destruction of the hematomas with residual clot fragments up to 150 µm in length, which is less than the needle opening typically used in clinical practice. Overall, the published study confirms feasibility of non-invasive histotripsy liquefaction of large human hematomas for subsequent fine-needle aspiration of the liquid lysate.