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Canadian researchers break blood-brain barrier with new ultrasound treatment
CTVNews.ca Staff
Published Sunday, November 8, 2015 10:02PM EST
Last Updated Monday, November 9, 2015 7:29AM EST
Canadian scientists have made history with a world first, successfully using focused ultrasound to break through one of the human body's final frontiers -- the blood-brain barrier.
The researchers have unlocked a non-invasive way to deliver medication deep into the brain, opening the door to better treatments for brain tumours, Alzheimer's, Parkinson's and more.
The blood-brain barrier has long been an obstacle for doctors trying to treat brain diseases. The barrier is a layer of tightly packed cells that act like plastic wrap, surrounding each of the brain's blood vessels, protecting them from infections and toxins.
Because little can get through this barrier, it is frustratingly difficult for doctors to treat tumours and brain diseases because life-saving drugs can't enter brain cells.
But neuroscientists at Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre have found a non-invasive solution. They have devised a new technique involving microbubbles and focused ultrasound to get through the barrier.
The researchers have unlocked a non-invasive way to deliver medication deep into the brain, opening the door to better treatments for brain tumours, Alzheimer's, Parkinson's and more.
The blood-brain barrier has long been an obstacle for doctors trying to treat brain diseases. The barrier is a layer of tightly packed cells that act like plastic wrap, surrounding each of the brain's blood vessels, protecting them from infections and toxins.
Because little can get through this barrier, it is frustratingly difficult for doctors to treat tumours and brain diseases because life-saving drugs can't enter brain cells.
But neuroscientists at Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre have found a non-invasive solution. They have devised a new technique involving microbubbles and focused ultrasound to get through the barrier.
Kullervo Hynynen, one of the scientists who has been working on this technique, says the animal tests went well and if the approach works in humans, it would be a game-changer.
"It will revolutionize the way we treat brain disease completely. It will give hope to patients who have no hope," Hynynen says.
"It will revolutionize the way we treat brain disease completely. It will give hope to patients who have no hope," Hynynen says.
Full article: http://www.ctvnews.ca/health/canadian-researchers-break-blood-brain-barrier-with-new-ultrasound-treatment-1.2648878
"Bonny Hall is the first patient to undergo the non-invasive brain treatment. Hall recently learned that the benign brain tumour she has lived with for eight years had begun to grow quickly and was malignant."
