A Closed-Loop Nanosystem Based on Piezoelectric Sensor and Pd-Nanoshell Photothermal Ablation for Renal Denervation to Treat Hypertension.

Abstract

Renal sympathetic nerves play a crucial role in the pathogenesis of hypertension, and renal denervation (RDN) is a new solution for patients with refractory hypertension. However, current RDN techniques show inconsistent results in clinical application probably owing to incomplete endovascular ablation of the sympathetic nerves and a lack of measures to localize and assess efficacy. In this study, a closed-loop RDN system consisting of a sensing unit with a piezoelectric thin-film sensor (PTFS) and a treatment unit with a hollow Pd nanoparticle shell (PdNPS) with a diameter of 202.0 nm for photothermal neural ablation is constructed. The PTFS can monitor and collect arterial pulsation and blood pressure (BP) and direct PdNPS to maximize RDN. PdNPS maintains a local temperature of 58-62 °C under near-infrared-II irradiation (1,064 nm) to achieve effective RDN within a range of 90-120 s treatment window. Photothermal ablation significantly inhibits the activities of renal sympathetic nerves post-procedure and after one month and reduces the elevation of BP by > 50%. The novel closed-loop system enables safe and efficient targeting, dynamic monitoring, and ablation of the renal sympathetic nerves. This closed-loop system provides a new strategy for RDN technology and even for treating sympathetic nerve-related chronic diseases.