# Electrohydraulic impactor for peripheral arterial occlusion management

> **NIH NIH R43** · PHYSICAL SCIENCES, INC · 2021 · $263,080

## Abstract

Project Summary/Abstract
 The primary goal of this research project is to develop and pre-clinically validate a novel electrohydraulic
impact (EHI) device that will aid clinicians in treating patients with peripheral artery chronic total occlusions
(CTOs). CTOs represent the complete blockage of the blood vessels and are difficult to recanalize using
traditional percutaneous transluminal angioplasty (PTA) techniques and apparatus. The presence of
calcifications and fibrotic tissues within CTOs, together with the vessel size and tortuosity, are the causes of
multiple complications during treatment. Therefore, a significant number of CTOs are treated using an invasive
bypass surgery, which has significant morbidity and requires extensive recovery time. The central challenge to
catheter based nonsurgical percutaneous CTO treatment is that it often is incredibly difficult to cross the
calcified and resistant chronic blockage with an angioplasty wire. Although efforts have been made to use
excimer lasers or rotational atherectomy devices (rotablator), these plaque modification devices require a wire
to cross the CTO, which limits their utility if no wire crossing is established. To address this clinically important
problem of difficult CTO crossing, Physical Sciences Inc. (PSI) in collaboration with Brigham and Women's
Hospital (BWH) and Impact Vascular (IVAS) proposes to develop and pre-clinically evaluate a novel and safer
method and device for CTO management. The proposed device uses an electrohydraulic impactor that creates
a directed impact pressure of several hundred bar to penetrate the CTO plaque without damaging normal elastic
arterial tissue. Therefore, EHI will facilitate CTO crossing and distal guide-wire passage to enable definitive
treatment with balloons and stents.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10256269
- **Project number:** 1R43HL156359-01A1
- **Recipient organization:** PHYSICAL SCIENCES, INC
- **Principal Investigator:** NICUSOR IFTIMIA
- **Activity code:** R43 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2021
- **Award amount:** $263,080
- **Award type:** 1
- **Project period:** 2021-04-01 → 2024-03-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10256269

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10256269, Electrohydraulic impactor for peripheral arterial occlusion management (1R43HL156359-01A1). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-25 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10256269. Licensed CC0.

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