Todd Mainprize at Sunnybrook Hospital has, for the first time, delivered chemotherapy directly to a brain tumor, by breaking through the blood-brain barrier using tightly focused ultrasound.
The patient’s bloodstream was infused with a chemotherapy drug, as well as microscopic bubbles, which are smaller than red blood cells and can pass freely through blood. MRI-guided, low intensity sound waves targeted blood vessels in the blood-brain barrier, near the tumor site. The ultrasound waves vibrated the microbubbles, loosening the tight cell junctions of the blood-brain barrier. The loosened junctions allowed the chemotherapy drug to flow past the barrier and deposit within the targeted tumor site.
This breakthrough could also lead to new treatments for brain diseases such as Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s.
Click to view Sunnybrook Hospital video.
NEUROTECH SAN FRANCISCO – APRIIL 6, 2016 @ THE MISSION BAY CONFERENCE CENTER