Pulmonary embolism has a number of preventative and acute treatment options, but a product already cleared in Europe for three years is finally coming back to American shores. EKOS Corporation out of Bothell, Washington received FDA clearance for its EkoSonic endovascular system for treating pulmonary embolism.

The system includes a catheter with ultrasound transducers embedded along its length. The catheter can deliver a liquid thrombolysis medication, such as tPA, to dissolve the clot, but unlike other thrombolytic devices the EkoSonic stirs up the drug and pushes it into the thrombus using ultrasound. This is intended to focus more of the drug on the target and speed up the dissolution of the clot.

Here’s a company video describing more details about how the device works:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ufPmm6BupqY

Source:EKOS Corporation