Periprosthetic Joint Infection Bubble Study (PJI)

July 29, 2026 updated by: Thomas Jefferson University

Using Ultrasound and Microbubbles to Augment Antibiotic Efficiency Against Periprosthetic Joint Infections

Patients with an infected knee replacement will receive their standard of care surgical treatment of the infection, with and without additional ultrasound microbubble treatment (randomly divided 50/50 in the active and control groups). Subjects in the active group will receive a local bolus injection of antibiotics and ultrasound-active microbubbles within 24 hours of their revision surgery. The fundamental hypothesis is that a decrease in re-infection rates of at least 24% can be achieved in the active group relative to controls.

Study Overview

Status

Status

Indicates the current recruitment status or the expanded access status.
Recruiting

Conditions

Conditions

The disease, disorder, syndrome, illness, or injury that is being studied. On ClinicalTrials.gov, conditions may also include other health-related issues, such as lifespan, quality of life, and health risks.

Intervention / Treatment

Intervention / Treatment

A process or action that is the focus of a clinical study. Interventions include drugs, medical devices, procedures, vaccines, and other products that are either investigational or already available. Interventions can also include noninvasive approaches, such as education or modifying diet and exercise.

Study Type

Study Type

Describes the nature of a clinical study. Study types include interventional studies (also called clinical trials), observational studies (including patient registries), and expanded access.
Interventional

Enrollment (Estimated)

Enrollment

The number of participants in a clinical study. The "anticipated" enrollment is the target number of participants that the researchers need for the study.
100

Phase

Phase

The stage of a clinical trial studying a drug or biological product, based on definitions developed by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). The phase is based on the study's objective, the number of participants, and other characteristics. There are five phases: Early Phase 1 (formerly listed as Phase 0), Phase 1, Phase 2, Phase 3, and Phase 4. Not Applicable is used to describe trials without FDA-defined phases, including trials of devices or behavioral interventions.
  • Phase 2

Contacts and Locations

This section provides the contact details for those conducting the study, and information on where this study is being conducted.

Study Locations

  • United States
    • Pennsylvania
      • Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States, 19107
        • Recruiting
        • Thomas Jefferson University/Rothman Institute
        • Contact:
        • Principal Investigator:
          • Lauren Delaney, PhD
      • Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States, 15213
        • Not yet recruiting
        • University of Pittsburgh Medical Center (UPMC)
        • Principal Investigator:
          • Kenneth Urish, MD, PhD
        • Contact:
    • Texas
      • Dallas, Texas, United States, 75390
        • Not yet recruiting
        • UT Southwestern Medical Center
        • Contact:
        • Principal Investigator:
          • Antonia Chen, MD

Participation Criteria

Researchers look for people who fit a certain description, called eligibility criteria. Some examples of these criteria are a person's general health condition or prior treatments.

Eligibility Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

The key requirements that people who want to participate in a clinical study must meet or the characteristics they must have. Eligibility criteria consist of both inclusion criteria (which are required for a person to participate in the study) and exclusion criteria (which prevent a person from participating). Types of eligibility criteria include whether a study accepts healthy volunteers, has age or age group requirements, or is limited by sex.

Ages Eligible for Study

  • Adult
  • Older Adult

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

No

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

  • Be at least 18 years of age
  • Be medically stable
  • If female of child-bearing potential, must have a negative pregnancy test
  • Be conscious and able to comply with study procedures
  • Have read and signed the IRB-approved Informed Consent form for participating in the study
  • For Cohort 1, be scheduled for one- or two-stage exchange arthroplasty revision surgery for PJI of the knee
  • For Cohort 2, be scheduled for DAIR revision surgery for PJI of the knee

Exclusion Criteria:

  • Females who are pregnant or nursing
  • Patients currently on chemotherapy requiring systemic infusion treatment
  • Patients who are medically unstable, patients who are seriously or terminally ill, and patients whose clinical course is unpredictable
  • Patients with a history of anaphylactic allergy to perflutren or any other components of Definity
  • Patients with a history of failed one- or two-stage revision for infection
  • Patients for which placement of a surgical drain is contraindicated
  • Patients in protected classes (e.g., prisoners)

Study Plan

This section provides details of the study plan, including how the study is designed and what the study is measuring.

How is the study designed?

Design Details

  • Primary Purpose: Treatment
  • Allocation: Randomized
  • Interventional Model: Parallel Assignment
  • Masking: None (Open Label)

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm

Participant Group / Arm

A group or subgroup of participants in a clinical trial that receives a specific intervention/treatment, or no intervention, according to the trial's protocol.
Intervention / Treatment

Intervention / Treatment

A process or action that is the focus of a clinical study. Interventions include drugs, medical devices, procedures, vaccines, and other products that are either investigational or already available. Interventions can also include noninvasive approaches, such as education or modifying diet and exercise.
Experimental: Cohort 1 Exchange anthroplasty - experimental group
The experimental group will undergo an US exam within 24 hours following the revision surgery with a Logiq E10 scanner (GE HealthCare), with a B-mode scan to acquire the radiofrequency (RF) data for the quantitative H-scan analysis, and a contrast-enhanced US (CEUS) scan to perform the UTMD therapy. Following the B-mode scan, the wound site will be sterilized and subjects will receive a localized injection of antibiotics (determined by the orthopaedic surgeon based on intra-operative cultures) and Definity microbubbles to perform the UTMD therapy using commercially-available flash-replenishment sequences.
Drug: Ultrasound-triggered microbubble destruction with antibiotics
A combination of Definity microbubbles and clinically-relevant antibiotics will in injected into the intraarticular space of the knee the day after revision surgery. Ultrasound will be used to rupture the microbubbles to enhance antibiotic activity.
Other Names:
  • antibiotics
  • ultrasound-triggered microbubble destruction
Experimental: Cohort 2 Debridement, antibiotics, and implant retention (DAIR) revision surgery - experimental
The experimental group will undergo an US exam within 24 hours following the revision surgery with a Logiq E10 scanner (GE HealthCare), with a B-mode scan to acquire the radiofrequency (RF) data for the quantitative H-scan analysis, and a contrast-enhanced US (CEUS) scan to perform the UTMD therapy. Following the B-mode scan, the wound site will be sterilized and subjects will receive a localized injection of antibiotics (determined by the orthopaedic surgeon based on intra-operative cultures) and Definity microbubbles to perform the UTMD therapy using commercially-available flash-replenishment sequences.
Drug: Ultrasound-triggered microbubble destruction with antibiotics
A combination of Definity microbubbles and clinically-relevant antibiotics will in injected into the intraarticular space of the knee the day after revision surgery. Ultrasound will be used to rupture the microbubbles to enhance antibiotic activity.
Other Names:
  • antibiotics
  • ultrasound-triggered microbubble destruction
No Intervention: Cohort 1 Exchange anthroplasty - control group
The control group will undergo clinical standard of care with no therapeutic interventions from the study team, only the collection of the wound exudate from the wound drain.
No Intervention: Cohort 2 Debridement, antibiotics, and implant retention (DAIR) revision surgery - control
The control group will undergo clinical standard of care with no therapeutic interventions from the study team, only the collection of the wound exudate from the wound drain.

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Primary Outcome Measures

In a clinical study's protocol, the planned outcome measure that is the most important for evaluating the effect of an intervention/treatment. Most clinical studies have one primary outcome measure, but some have more than one.
Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Re-Infection Rate
Time Frame: 2 years
Rate of re-infection within 2 years post-intervention
2 years

Secondary Outcome Measures

Secondary Outcome Measures

In a clinical study's protocol, a planned outcome measure that is not as important as the primary outcome measure for evaluating the effect of an intervention but is still of interest. Most clinical studies have more than one secondary outcome measure.
Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Time to Re-Infection
Time Frame: 2 years
Time between initial intervention and presentation with re-infection
2 years
Bacterial Debris
Time Frame: 72 hours
Measurement of bacterial debris present in would exudate from drains
72 hours

Collaborators and Investigators

This is where you will find people and organizations involved with this study.

Sponsor

Sponsor

The organization or person who initiates the study and who has authority and control over the study.
Thomas Jefferson University

Collaborators

Collaborators

An organization other than the sponsor that provides support for a clinical study. This support may include activities related to funding, design, implementation, data analysis, or reporting.
National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID)

Publications and helpful links

The person responsible for entering information about the study voluntarily provides these publications. These may be about anything related to the study.

General Publications

Study record dates

These dates track the progress of study record and summary results submissions to ClinicalTrials.gov. Study records and reported results are reviewed by the National Library of Medicine (NLM) to make sure they meet specific quality control standards before being posted on the public website.

Study Major Dates

Study Start (Estimated)

Study Start

The actual date on which the first participant was enrolled in a clinical study. The "anticipated" study start date is the date that the researchers think will be the study start date.
June 30, 2026

Primary Completion (Estimated)

Primary Completion

The date on which the last participant in a clinical study was examined or received an intervention to collect final data for the primary outcome measure. Whether the clinical study ended according to the protocol or was terminated does not affect this date. For clinical studies with more than one primary outcome measure with different completion dates, this term refers to the date on which data collection is completed for all the primary outcome measures. The "anticipated" primary completion date is the date that the researchers think will be the primary completion date for the study.
June 1, 2028

Study Completion (Estimated)

Study Completion

The date on which the last participant in a clinical study was examined or received an intervention/treatment to collect final data for the primary outcome measures, secondary outcome measures, and adverse events (that is, the last participant's last visit). The "anticipated" study completion date is the date that the researchers think will be the study completion date.
June 1, 2030

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

First Submitted

The date on which the study sponsor or investigator first submitted a study record to ClinicalTrials.gov. There is typically a delay of a few days between the first submitted date and the record's availability on ClinicalTrials.gov (the first posted date).
May 14, 2026

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

The date on which the study sponsor or investigator first submits a study record that is consistent with National Library of Medicine (NLM) quality control (QC) review criteria. The sponsor or investigator may need to revise and submit a study record one or more times before NLM's QC review criteria are met. It is the responsibility of the sponsor or investigator to ensure that the study record is consistent with the NLM QC review criteria.
May 14, 2026

First Posted (Actual)

First Posted

The date on which the study record was first available on ClinicalTrials.gov after National Library of Medicine (NLM) quality control (QC) review has concluded. There is typically a delay of a few days between the date the study sponsor or investigator submitted the study record and the first posted date.
May 20, 2026

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Actual)

Last Update Posted

The most recent date on which changes to a study record were made available on ClinicalTrials.gov. There may be a delay between when the changes were submitted to ClinicalTrials.gov by the study's sponsor or investigator (the last update submitted date) and the last update posted date.
July 31, 2026

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

The most recent date on which the study sponsor or investigator submitted changes to a study record that are consistent with National Library of Medicine (NLM) quality control (QC) review criteria. It is the responsibility of the sponsor or investigator to ensure that the study record is consistent with the NLM QC review criteria.
July 29, 2026

Last Verified

Last Verified

The most recent date on which the study sponsor or investigator confirmed the information about a clinical study on ClinicalTrials.gov as accurate and current. If a study with a recruitment status of recruiting; not yet recruiting; or active, not recruiting has not been confirmed within the past 2 years, the study's recruitment status is shown as unknown.
July 1, 2026

More Information

Terms related to this study

Keywords

Additional Relevant MeSH Terms

Other Study ID Numbers

Other Study ID Numbers

Identifiers or ID numbers other than the NCT number that are assigned to a clinical study by the study's sponsor, funders, or others. These numbers may include unique identifiers from other trial registries and National Institutes of Health grant numbers.
  • 2025-0492
  • 1R01AI187384-01 (U.S. NIH Grant/Contract)

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?

UNDECIDED

IPD Plan Description

De-identified data will be shared upon request

Drug and device information, study documents

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product

Yes

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product

No

This information was retrieved directly from the website clinicaltrials.gov without any changes. If you have any requests to change, remove or update your study details, please contact register@clinicaltrials.gov. As soon as a change is implemented on clinicaltrials.gov, this will be updated automatically on our website as well.

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