Novel Ultrasonic Technique for the Treatment of Hemorrhagic Stroke

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Project Summary Intracerebral hemorrhage (ICH) is the most common type of hemorrhagic stroke with 4 million annual cases worldwide. Evacuation of the ICH leads to reduction in intracranial pressure (ICP) as well as prevention of secondary cerebral injuries. Current strategy for removing ICH requires an invasive craniotomy and the need for traversing normal brain. Minimally invasive methods include: 1) craniopuncture/tPA method which requires days for evacuation of ICH and risk of rehemorrhage; 2) endoscopic ultrasonic aspiration has the force to injure cerebral tissue as well as the need for learning endoscopic techniques. There is a clear unmet clinical need for a minimally invasive method that can safely, effectively, and rapidly reduce the ICH volume without using thrombolytic drugs and be applied with the simplest methodology. We propose histotripsy as a novel ultrasonic technique that can fully address this unmet clinical need. Histotripsy uses microsecond duration, high-pressure ultrasound pulses applied from outside the skull and focused inside the ICH to produce cavitation to liquefy the ICH without causing brain injury. The liquefied ICH can be immediately drained via a small bore catheter. We have used histotripsy with electronic focal steering to achieve rapid transcranial ICH liquefaction (~40 mL in 10 min) and drainage through excised human skulls. We have developed a miniature hydrophone integrated within the catheter to precisely focus the ultrasound through excised human skulls and the catheter can also be used for drainage of the liquefied ICH. We have also demonstrated the in vivo feasibility and safety in a porcine ICH model. We propose three specific aims toward developing Histotripsy as a novel technique for safely evacuating ICH and improving outcomes. 1) Design and construct a portable histotripsy ICH system with real- time 3D feedback that can transcranially liquefy and drain ICH with high precision and efficacy. 2) Validate the targeting precision, treatment location profile, and efficacy of the transcranial histotripsy ICH system in human ICH phantom and fresh human cadaver. 3) Validate the safety and efficacy of the transcranial histotripsy ICH system in an established in vivo porcine ICH model. If these aims are successfully completed, we will establish a portable histotripsy ICH system suitable for clinical use and proceed towards a clinical trial.