Mar 24 Research started into opening blood-brain barrier with sound waves
Recently, a study has been launched testing a new kind of technology to more effectively administer medication to people with brain disorders. This is a technique in which sound waves are used to temporarily and locally open the blood-brain barrier – which is naturally present to protect the brain against harmful external influences. This innovative method is now being applied for the first time in the Netherlands and will hopefully lead to new possibilities for better treating brain disorders in the future.
The research is funded by the Brain Foundation and is a collaboration between the Princess Máxima Center, Amsterdam UMC, LUMC and UMC Utrecht. Through this collaboration between experts with different expertise, knowledge of all kinds of brain disorders is combined and it is hoped that the new technique can eventually be used on a wide scale in multiple types of treatments.
“The blood-brain barrier is our brain’s natural protective mechanism,” explains Dannis van Vuurden, lead researcher and pediatric oncologist at the Princess Máxima Center† “It protects the brain from harmful substances, but it also blocks medicines. So the barrier literally stands in the way of treating brain tumors in children. […] Breaking that barrier with sound vibrations may be an important step towards better survival and quality of life for children with brain tumors.”
Initially, the technology in the research will, as soon as it is ready, be applied in the (experimental) treatment of both children and adults with a brain tumor. Focused Ultrasound (FUS) is used to temporarily open the blood-brain barrier and thereby improve access for medicines. This method does not require surgery; Using MRI, very targeted sound vibrations and tiny bubbles are created in the blood, causing the blood vessels to open temporarily. This can be done exactly at the location in the brain where the drug has to do its work, so that the blood-brain barrier in other parts of the brain remains intact. Also in Canada and the United States, this technique is currently being investigated as an application in treatments.
“Brain scientists have made enormous strides in recent years,” said Merel Heimens Visser, director of the Brain Foundation. “We can now open the blood-brain barrier very locally and administer medication in a very targeted way. By financing this project, we as the Brain Foundation also want to make this technique possible in the Netherlands,” she says. “The technology will be used in the treatment of brain tumors and tested for safety in Alzheimer’s disease. But we could treat even more brain disorders such as Parkinson’s disease and depression better with this technique.”
The animation video below from the Brain Foundation explains the functioning of the blood-brain barrier and the FUS technology once more: