Blood Clot Busting Nanoparticles

Blood clots, while useful for stopping bleeding, are bad news for the brain and heart. Even if a clot can be located it is hard to get rid of, and the blood thinners prescribed to slow clotting can cause profuse bleeding, which is why biomedical engineer Donald Ingber of Harvard turned to nanoparticles for a solution. The results are blood platelet-esque particles, less than 100 nm wide, made of synthetic polymers stuck together like a ball of wet sand. “The most exciting thing that we are able to do is deliver a clot-busting drug directly to a site where a clot is, without knowing where it is," says Ingbar. The particles are drawn toward clots by changing blood flow, like platelets. And once at the clot, the particles break apart releasing the clot dissolving drug tissue plasminogen activator (tPA). The beauty of these nanoparticles is they deliver the drug only where needed, removing the guesswork from prescribing anti-clotting medication.