In recent years, one of the most important breakthrough for the immediate treatment of stroke is a tissue plasminogen activator (tPA).
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Administered intravenously, tPA acts as a powerful clot-buster that when given up to the first 4.5 hours after the onset of symptoms can significantly improve the patient's outcome over the long term.
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The sooner tPA is started, the better the outcome, so time is of the essence.
Digi-Lite and Digi-One Transcranial Doppler devices (TCDs) are among the most used tools to determine cerebral arterial occlusion and for continuous monitoring of recanalization during thrombolysis treatment.
TCD has a sensitivity of 91% and a specificity of 93% in determining complete recanalization of the middle cerebral artery (MCA) in tPA-treated patients. Further, continuous clot exposure to the ultrasound Doppler signal enhances tPA activity, and clot degradation with ultrasound irradiation is 1.8 times greater than with tPA alone.
In the future, TCD will act as a therapeutic tool during sonotrombolysis in addition to a diagnostic and monitoring tool.
