Researchers at MIT in the United States, led by Professor Canan Dagdeviren, have created an implant that uses ultrasound to spread drugs more effectively in the brain. The work, with colleagues from Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School and Boston University, was published in Device.
The device, called LUCID, is a thin, flexible implant with a 3D-printed cannula on an array of 24 miniature ultrasound transducers. It holds about 100 microlitres of fluid, uses a passive osmotic pump and is controlled wirelessly via Bluetooth, with a rechargeable battery.
In gel models that mimic human tissue, ultrasound carried molecules further than without it. In mice, an MRI contrast agent spread further through the brain when the ultrasound was switched on.
So far, tests have been limited to gel models and mice and the device has not yet been used in people. The researchers believe the approach could serve for immunotherapies or gene therapies and, in future, help prevent aggressive brain tumours from returning.
