Medical Design and Outsourcing

  • Home
  • Medical Device Business
    • Mergers & Acquisitions
    • Financial
    • Regulatory
  • Applications
    • Cardiovascular
    • Devices
    • Imaging
    • Implantables
    • Medical Equipment
    • Orthopedic
    • Surgical
  • Technologies
    • Supplies and Components Index
    • Contract Manufacturing
    • Components
    • Electronics
    • Extrusions
    • Materials
    • Motion Control
    • Prototyping
    • Pumps
    • Tubing
  • MedTech Resources
    • Medtech Events in 2025
    • The 2024 Medtech Big 100
    • Medical Device Handbook
    • MedTech 100 Index
    • Subscribe to Print Magazine
    • DeviceTalks
    • Digital Editions
    • eBooks
    • Educational Assets
    • Manufacturer Search
    • Podcasts
    • Print Subscription
    • Webinars / Digital Events
    • Whitepapers
    • Voices
    • Views
    • Video
  • 2025 Leadership
    • 2024 Winners
    • 2023 Winners
    • 2022 Winners
    • 2021 Winners
  • Women in Medtech
  • Advertise
  • Subscribe

Study Finds Risk of Pulmonary Embolism from Ultrasound

January 29, 2016 By Ziba Kashef, Yale University

Ultrasound is the most common technique for detecting a widespread cardiovascular condition: blood clots in the leg, otherwise known as deep vein thrombosis (DVT). But there’s a little known — yet serious — risk to using ultrasound to diagnose DVT, say Yale researchers in a new study published this week by Seminars in Thrombosis and Hemostasis.

Principal investigator and senior author Dr. Behnood Bikdeli and his colleagues suspected that the pressure from an ultrasound exam could cause a clot to break off and travel to the lungs where it could form a potentially fatal blockage, or embolism. To determine the extent of this deadly complication, the researchers conducted an exhaustive and highly sensitive review of more than 3,600 published articles. They not only found cases of pulmonary embolism resulting from ultrasound for DVT, but several separate reports that claimed to be the first to see the connection. While rare, it is an “under-recognized and underreported condition,” said Bikdeli.

Ultrasound is still the safest method of diagnosing DVT, but the study authors concluded that both clinicians and radiologists need to be more aware of the phenomenon and take precautions. For example, if a patient has a large clot or becomes short of breath after an exam, clinicians should check for the complication. “Be mindful of it,” he noted. “Otherwise, it can lead to a fatal event.”

Additionally, “our study also signifies the importance of the search strategy,” said Bikdeli. “A prior systematic review had erroneously claimed that no reports existed about this phenomenon. Clinicians and researchers who look for uncommon or rare clinical events should either develop advanced skills for highly sensitive searching or collaborate with medical librarians who have the expertise of building sophisticated search queries for such purposes.”

Other authors on this article include Dr. Ghazaleh Mehdipoor, Dr. Abbas Arjmand Shabestari, and Dr. Gregory Y.H. Lip.

Related Articles Read More >

An illustration of Embolization Inc.'s Nitinol Enhanced Device (NED).
This nitinol vascular embolization device has another shape memory material up its sleeve
July 2025 edition: The Surgical Robotics issue, featuring Capstan Medical, J&J and Zimmer Biomet
This Baylor marketing image shows Dr. Kenneth Liao at Baylor St. Luke's Medical Center using the same Intuitve da Vinci surgical robot that he used to perform the first successful, fully robotic heart transplant in the U.S.
Intuitive system used in first robotic heart transplant in US
A photo of Capstan Medical's mitral valve implant, which uses nitinol.
Capstan Medical’s R&D head discusses the heart valve and robotics startup’s tech, engineering challenges and solutions, advice for others in medtech and how to join his team
“mdo
EXPAND YOUR KNOWLEDGE AND STAY CONNECTED
Get the latest medical device business news, application and technology trends.

DeviceTalks Weekly

See More >

MDO Digital Edition

Digital Edition

Subscribe to Medical Design & Outsourcing. Bookmark, share and interact with the leading medical design engineering magazine today.

MEDTECH 100 INDEX

Medtech 100 logo
Market Summary > Current Price
The MedTech 100 is a financial index calculated using the BIG100 companies covered in Medical Design and Outsourcing.
DeviceTalks

DeviceTalks is a conversation among medical technology leaders. It's events, podcasts, webinars and one-on-one exchanges of ideas & insights.

DeviceTalks

New MedTech Resource

Medical Tubing

MassDevice

Mass Device

The Medical Device Business Journal. MassDevice is the leading medical device news business journal telling the stories of the devices that save lives.

Visit Website
MDO ad
Medical Design and Outsourcing
  • MassDevice
  • DeviceTalks
  • MedTech100 Index
  • Medical Tubing + Extrusion
  • Medical Design Sourcing
  • Drug Delivery Business News
  • Drug Discovery & Development
  • Pharmaceutical Processing World
  • R&D World
  • About Us/Contact
  • Advertise With Us
  • Subscribe to Print Magazine
  • Subscribe to our E-Newsletter
  • Listen to our Weekly Podcasts
  • Join our DeviceTalks Tuesdays Discussion

Copyright © 2025 WTWH Media, LLC. All Rights Reserved. The material on this site may not be reproduced, distributed, transmitted, cached or otherwise used, except with the prior written permission of WTWH Media LLC. Site Map | Privacy Policy | RSS

Search Medical Design & Outsourcing

  • Home
  • Medical Device Business
    • Mergers & Acquisitions
    • Financial
    • Regulatory
  • Applications
    • Cardiovascular
    • Devices
    • Imaging
    • Implantables
    • Medical Equipment
    • Orthopedic
    • Surgical
  • Technologies
    • Supplies and Components Index
    • Contract Manufacturing
    • Components
    • Electronics
    • Extrusions
    • Materials
    • Motion Control
    • Prototyping
    • Pumps
    • Tubing
  • MedTech Resources
    • Medtech Events in 2025
    • The 2024 Medtech Big 100
    • Medical Device Handbook
    • MedTech 100 Index
    • Subscribe to Print Magazine
    • DeviceTalks
    • Digital Editions
    • eBooks
    • Educational Assets
    • Manufacturer Search
    • Podcasts
    • Print Subscription
    • Webinars / Digital Events
    • Whitepapers
    • Voices
    • Views
    • Video
  • 2025 Leadership
    • 2024 Winners
    • 2023 Winners
    • 2022 Winners
    • 2021 Winners
  • Women in Medtech
  • Advertise
  • Subscribe