SIL Technologies LLC — Department of Health and Human Services SBIR Phase I: NHLBI

Description

PROJECT SUMMARY There are aroundemergency room admissions annually in the US due to scuba injuriesFrom thosearoundrelate to Decompression SicknessDCSa condition developed when nitrogen dissolved in blood and tissues at high pressure forms bubbles as pressure decreasesTreatment for DCS is recompression in hyperbaric chambersfollowing slow and controlled normalization of pressure conditionsEarly intervention is crucial once the onset of DCS symptoms are detectedhoweverit is limited to management of symptoms while quick evacuation to specialized medical facilities is arrangedSIL Technologies is proposing to open a new avenue for early treatment that will be initiated in the field by emergency respondersThe treatment will use innovative technology able to disturb the bubbles in the bloodstream splitting them into smaller ones that will dissolve expeditiouslyThanks to the proposed technologyit would be possible to prevent the worst damages created by DCS which are related to the presence of the largest bubblesMoreoverthe recovery of the patient will be drastically acceleratedThe long term objective of the research is to normalize the presence of bubbles afterminutes of treatment without further secondary effectsThe specific aims of this research effort are ito demonstrate the capability of the technology to disturb bubbles in the blood stream dividing them into smaller onesiito determine the operating requirements of the intended medical deviceiiito demonstrate hematologic integrity after treatmentand ivto estimate the duration of the treatment required for complete dissolution of Ndepending on the severity of the initial conditionsThe technology herein proposed evolves from years of basic research conducted to detect bubbles in bloodstream and tissuesIt consists of a piezoelectric transducer shaped like a ringor an array of transducers that will be placed belting the patient thighPiezoelectrics will be set to operate at its resonance frequencythereforecreating a standing acoustic wave inside the thighThe bubbles will be fragmented into smaller ones at sufficiently high amplitude of the resonant waveThe gas will then dissolve quicklysince the gas liquid surface interface is multipliedThis research combines experimental and numerical efforts in a test section consisting of fresh swine thighs where iliac and femoral vessels will be dissected and isolatedA stabilized blood circuit will be prepared using plastic infusion cords with arteries as inflow side and veins as outflowBubbles of controlled size and in a controlled number will be inserted in the blood stream and samples will be collected for analysis after passing along the tightwhere the piezoelectric transducers will be placed and set to operateExperiments will be conducted within five hours after death of the swineThe size and amount of bubbles crossing the piezoelectric will be determined following well established methods relying on terminal velocity form buoyant effectsHematological integrity will be monitored using a chemistry analyzer paying special attention to the following parametersWBCLYMPHMONOGRANHCTMCVRDWHGBMCHCMCHRBCPLTMPV and PLT size distribution histogramsDepending on the analytical resultsmicroscopy studies may be conducted to determine the existence of blood clots Project Narrative PROJECT NARRATIVE A new avenue for treatment of decompression sicknessDCSis proposedit is based on innovative acoustic research that targets the elimination of damaging nitrogen bubbles in the bloodstream using an approach different to recompression on hyperbaric chambersThe technology is expected to avoid long term effects caused by bubbles in DCS patients during their evacuation to medical providers with hyperbaric facilitiessince it can be applied by first medical respondersThe accelerated recovery provided by the technology will significantly reduce costs and hospital stay