This technology uses ultrasound to create a transient opening in the blood-brain barrier in vivo. The technology allows physicians and other health care professionals efficient and targeted access to specific locations in the brain. They can control the size of the blood-brain barrier opening and the area of the region affected by the blood-brain barrier. This control is mediated by changing the size of the microbubble. The microbubble size determines the amount of drug that can pass through the opening allowing physicians to control the efficacy and/or toxicity of the drug being administered. The use of this technology has also shown that biomimetic agents are capable of going through the opened blood-brain barrier and reaching the neurons in the hippocampus.
The blood-brain barrier (BBB) is a major impediment to therapeutic drug delivery and limits available treatments for patients with neurological disorders. Most neuropathic agents require invasive transcranial delivery procedures which limits the possibility of large-scale screening for new drug candidates. This technology facilitates the targeted delivery of BBB impermeable drugs and makes large-scale screening possible. The invention makes cooperative use of focused ultrasound (FUS) and microbubble technologies to achieve localized, transient, and non-invasive molecular delivery into the brain. Focused ultrasound waves at low intensity (similar to levels in medical imaging) are used to locally create an opening in the BBB, accurately positioned by a computer-controlled device. In conjunction with the ultrasound, small diameter microbubbles are administered as ultrasound contrast agents for diagnostic purposes. The entire procedure is further monitored with high-resolution magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), allowing detailed spatial analysis of both the opening and surrounding tissue. The ultrasound-induced disruption of the BBB allows molecular tracers and pharmacological agents to access previously protected brain regions. Targeted trans-BBB delivery of bioactive molecules has great potential for treatment of disorders with focal pathologies like Alzheimer's and Parkinson's disease. This technology has been tested and verified in multiple in vivo mouse studies.
Tech Ventures Reference: IR M09-025
