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(Image credit: Drs. Qian Zhong and Raag Airan, Stanford University) (Image credit: Drs. Qian Zhong and Raag Airan, Stanford University)

Using ultrasound to release drugs

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Stanford researchers used focused ultrasound to pry molecules of an anesthetic loose from nanoparticles. The drug’s release modified activity in brain regions targeted by the ultrasound beam.

Stanford University School of Medicine scientists have developed a noninvasive way of delivering drugs to within a few millimeters of a desired point in the brain. The method, tested in rats, uses focused ultrasound to jiggle drug molecules loose from nanoparticle “cages” that have been injected into the bloodstream.

“This important work establishes that ultrasonic drug uncaging appears to have the required precision to tune the brain’s activity via targeted drug application,” said Deisseroth, who wasn’t involved in the study. “The powerful new technique could be used to test optogenetically inspired ideas, derived initially from rodent studies, in large animals — and perhaps soon in clinical trials.”

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The work was funded by the National Institutes of Health (grants RF1MH114252 and U54CA199075), the Stanford Center for Cancer Nanotechnology Excellence, the Foundation of the American Society for Neuroradiology, the Wallace H. Coulter Foundation, the Dana Foundation and the Wu Tsai Neurosciences Institute. The new technology could not only speed advances in neuroscientific research but move rapidly into clinical practice according to Airan. This is definitely worth a look to Tech Scouts in the Stanford Bio-X Affiliates ecosystem.