We use cookies to understand how you use our site and to improve your experience. This includes personalizing content and advertising. To learn more, click here. By continuing to use our site, you accept our use of cookies. Cookie Policy.

Features Partner Sites Information LinkXpress
Sign In
Advertise with Us
GLOBETECH PUBLISHING LLC

Download Mobile App




Skull-Implantable Ultrasound Device Enables Powerful Chemotherapy Drug to Reach Brain Tumors

By MedImaging International staff writers
Posted on 15 May 2023
Print article
Image: A novel, skull-implantable ultrasound device can open the blood-brain barrier to deliver chemotherapy (Photo courtesy of Northwestern Medicine)
Image: A novel, skull-implantable ultrasound device can open the blood-brain barrier to deliver chemotherapy (Photo courtesy of Northwestern Medicine)

A significant challenge in treating lethal brain cancer known as glioblastoma has been the inability of powerful chemotherapy to penetrate the blood-brain barrier to target the aggressive brain tumor. The blood-brain barrier is a microscopic structure that protects the brain from most circulating drugs, considerably limiting the range of medications that can be used to treat brain disorders. Consequently, most drugs that are effective for cancer in other parts of the body cannot be used to treat brain cancer because they are unable to cross the blood-brain barrier. Now, researchers have shared the results of the first human clinical trial in which a unique, skull-implantable ultrasound device was used to open the blood-brain barrier and allow chemotherapy, administered intravenously, to reach critical, large areas of the brain repeatedly. The procedure to open the blood-brain barrier, which lasts for about four minutes, is done with the patient awake and allows them to return home after a few hours. The results indicate that the treatment is safe and well-tolerated, with some patients undergoing up to six cycles of treatment.

This study by scientists at Northwestern Medicine (Evanston, IL, USA) was the first to effectively measure the impact of ultrasound-based blood-brain barrier opening on the levels of chemotherapy in the human brain. The results showed that opening the blood-brain barrier led to an estimated four- to six-fold increase in drug concentrations in the human brain. This increase was observed with two different potent chemotherapy drugs, paclitaxel and carboplatin, which are usually not used to treat these patients because they do not cross the blood-brain barrier under normal conditions.

In addition, the study was the first to describe how fast the blood-brain barrier closes after sonication. Previous human studies have indicated that the blood-brain barrier completely recovers 24 hours after brain sonication, and some animal studies have suggested that the blood-brain barrier remains open for roughly the first six hours. However, the researchers found that the opening of the blood-brain barrier using ultrasound and microbubbles is temporary, and the majority of the blood-brain barrier's integrity is restored within an hour after the procedure in humans. According to the researchers, these findings will help optimize the timing of drug delivery and ultrasound activation to maximize drug penetration into the human brain.

“This is potentially a huge advance for glioblastoma patients,” said lead investigator Dr. Adam Sonabend, an associate professor of neurological surgery at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine and a Northwestern Medicine neurosurgeon. “While we have focused on brain cancer (for which there are approximately 30,000 gliomas in the U.S.), this opens the door to investigate novel drug-based treatments for millions of patients who suffer from various brain diseases.”

Related Links:
Northwestern Medicine 

Gold Member
Solid State Kv/Dose Multi-Sensor
AGMS-DM+
New
Color Doppler Ultrasound System
DRE Crystal 4PX
New
Ultrasound Table
Ergonomic Advantage (EA) Line
New
Computed Tomography (CT) Scanner
Aquilion Serve SP

Print article

Channels

Radiography

view channel
:	Image: The AI model could be a valuable adjunct to human radiologists in breast cancer diagnoses and risk prediction (Photo courtesy of 123RF)

AI Model Predicts 5-Year Breast Cancer Risk from Mammograms

Approximately 13% of U.S. women, or one in every eight, are predicted to develop invasive breast cancer over their lifetime, with 1 in 39 women (3%) succumbing to the illness, according to the American... Read more

Nuclear Medicine

view channel
Image: The AI system uses scintigraphy imaging for early diagnosis of cardiac amyloidosis (Photo courtesy of 123RF)

AI System Automatically and Reliably Detects Cardiac Amyloidosis Using Scintigraphy Imaging

Cardiac amyloidosis, a condition characterized by the buildup of abnormal protein deposits (amyloids) in the heart muscle, severely affects heart function and can lead to heart failure or death without... Read more

General/Advanced Imaging

view channel
Image: The CIARTIC Move self-driving mobile C-arm has received FDA clearance (Photo courtesy of Siemens)

Self-Driving Mobile C-Arm Reduces Imaging Time during Surgery

Intraoperative imaging faces significant challenges due to staff shortages and the high demands placed on surgical teams in the operating room (OR). A common challenge during many OR procedures is the... Read more

Imaging IT

view channel
Image: The new Medical Imaging Suite makes healthcare imaging data more accessible, interoperable and useful (Photo courtesy of Google Cloud)

New Google Cloud Medical Imaging Suite Makes Imaging Healthcare Data More Accessible

Medical imaging is a critical tool used to diagnose patients, and there are billions of medical images scanned globally each year. Imaging data accounts for about 90% of all healthcare data1 and, until... Read more

Industry News

view channel
Image: Samsung Medison CEO Mr. Yongkwan Kim and Bracco Imaging CEO Dr. Fulvio Renoldi Bracco endorsed a MoU agreement (Photo courtesy of Bracco Group)

Samsung and Bracco Enter Into New Diagnostic Ultrasound Technology Agreement

Samsung Medison (Seoul, South Korea) and Bracco Imaging (Milan, Italy) have entered into a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) agreement to pioneer a new area for diagnostic ultrasound devices and contrast agents.... Read more
Copyright © 2000-2024 Globetech Media. All rights reserved.