Acute stroke provided the clinical setting to test the effect of continuous exposure to ultrasound energy in human subjects, goal less attainable in acute coronary syndromes. The CLOTBUST trial demonstrated the positive biological effect of low intensity 2 MHz pulsed wave transcranial Doppler on enhancement of tPA-induced ZD1839 early recanalization. It paved the road for subsequent studies that included combination of ultrasound with gaseous microspheres [23], [24], [25], [26], [27], [28] and [29] (Table 1). Detailed analysis of microspheres

data is beyond the scope of this update since at the moment the clinical developments in the field of sonothrombolysis are focused on the ultrasound device, i.e. drug–device combination. Testing tPA combination with such a device alone is necessary in the first place before more complex combination products (drug–drug–device or drug–device–device) can be tested in clinical trials of microspheres activated with ultrasound in the presence of tPA. The main limitation of TCD technology used in the CLOTBUST trial is its extreme operator dependency and the selleck chemicals llc need for a qualified sonographer to

be present at bedside to find, aim and deliver ultrasound beam to the thrombus residual flow interface. Our collaborative group first measured outputs of all devices used in the CLOTBUST trial [30], then designed multi-transducer assembly to cover conventional windows used for TCD examinations [31], and prospectively evaluated its safety in human volunteers [35] and ischemic stroke patients treated with intravenous tPA [36]. In these phase

I–II clinical studies, the novel operator-independent device showed no safety concerns, caused no disruption of the blood–brain barrier on sequential MRI imaging and yielded recanalization rates comparable to the CLOTBUST trial. Since this operator-independent MYO10 device can be quickly mounted by medical personnel with no prior experience in ultrasound, the device enables us to conduct large scale sonothrombolysis trials at all levels of emergency rooms capable of administering tPA as the standard of care. Thus, sonothrombolysis for acute ischemic stroke enters testing in the pivotal efficacy multi-national trial called CLOTBUSTER (Combined Lysis of ThromBus using 2 MHz pulsed wave Ultrasound and Systemic TPA for Emergent Revascularization, NCT01098981). Briefly, all patients will receive 0.9 mg/kg intravenous tPA therapy (10% bolus, 90% continuous infusion over 1 h, maximum dose 90 mg) as standard of care according to national labels (i.e. within 3 or 4.5 h from symptom onset). All patients with National Institutes of Health Stroke Scale (NIHSS) scores ≥ 10 points are eligible and after signing a written informed consent they will wear an operator-independent ultrasound emitting device for 2 h.