Applications of focused ultrasound-mediated blood-brain barrier opening

Catherine M Gorick, Victoria R Breza, Katherine M Nowak, Vinton W T Cheng, Delaney G Fisher, Anna C Debski, Matthew R Hoch, Zehra E F Demir, Nghi M Tran, Mark R Schwartz, Natasha D Sheybani, Richard J Price*

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalReview articlepeer-review

Abstract

The blood brain barrier (BBB) plays a critically important role in the regulation of central nervous system (CNS) homeostasis, but also represents a major limitation to treatments of brain pathologies. In recent years, focused ultrasound (FUS) in conjunction with gas-filled microbubble contrast agents has emerged as a powerful tool for transiently and non-invasively disrupting the BBB in a targeted and image-guided manner, allowing for localized delivery of drugs, genes, or other therapeutic agents. Beyond the delivery of known therapeutics, FUS-mediated BBB opening also demonstrates the potential for use in neuromodulation and the stimulation of a range of cell- and tissue-level physiological responses that may prove beneficial in disease contexts. Clinical trials investigating the safety and efficacy of FUS-mediated BBB opening are well underway, and offer promising non-surgical approaches to treatment of devastating pathologies. This article reviews a range of pre-clinical and clinical studies demonstrating the tremendous potential of FUS to fundamentally change the paradigm of treatment for CNS diseases.

Original languageEnglish
Article number114583
Number of pages20
JournalAdvanced Drug Delivery Reviews
Volume191
Early online date19 Oct 2022
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - Dec 2022

Bibliographical note

Copyright © 2022 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Keywords

  • Humans
  • Blood-Brain Barrier
  • Microbubbles
  • Biological Transport
  • Contrast Media
  • Drug Delivery Systems
  • Magnetic Resonance Imaging

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