OBJECTIVE Ultrasound can be precisely focused through the intact human skull to target deep regions of the brain for stereotactic ablations. Acoustic energy at much lower intensities is capable of both exciting and inhibiting neural tissues without causing tissue heating or damage. The objective of this study was to demonstrate the effects of low-intensity focused ultrasound (LIFU) for neuromodulation and selective mapping in the thalamus of a large-brain animal. METHODS Ten Yorkshire swine ( Sus scrofa domesticus) were used in this study. In the first neuromodulation experiment, the lemniscal sensory thalamus was stereotactically targeted with LIFU, and somatosensory evoked potentials (SSEPs) were monitored. In a second mapping experiment, the ventromedial and ventroposterolateral sensory thalamic nuclei were alternately targeted with LIFU, while both trigeminal and tibial evoked SSEPs were recorded. Temperature at the acoustic focus was assessed using MR thermography. At the end of the experiments, all tissues were assessed histologically for damage. RESULTS LIFU targeted to the ventroposterolateral thalamic nucleus suppressed SSEP amplitude to 71.6% ± 11.4% (mean ± SD) compared with baseline recordings. Second, we found a similar degree of inhibition with a high spatial resolution (∼ 2 mm) since adjacent thalamic nuclei could be selectively inhibited. The ventromedial thalamic nucleus could be inhibited without affecting the ventrolateral nucleus. During MR thermography imaging, there was no observed tissue heating during LIFU sonications and no histological evidence of tissue damage. CONCLUSIONS These results suggest that LIFU can be safely used to modulate neuronal circuits in the central nervous system and that noninvasive brain mapping with focused ultrasound may be feasible in humans.

The blood-brain barrier (BBB) presents a significant obstacle for the treatment of many central nervous system (CNS) disorders, including invasive brain tumors, Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s and stroke. Therapeutics must be capable of bypassing the BBB and also penetrate the brain parenchyma to achieve a desired effect within the brain. In this study, we test the unique combination of a noninvasive approach to BBB permeabilization with a therapeutically relevant polymeric nanoparticle platform capable of rapidly penetrating within the brain microenvironment. MR-guided focused ultrasound (FUS) with intravascular microbubbles (MBs) is able to locally and reversibly disrupt the BBB with submillimeter spatial accuracy. Densely poly(ethylene-co-glycol) (PEG) coated, brain-penetrating nanoparticles (BPNs) are long-circulating and diffuse 10-fold slower in normal rat brain tissue compared to diffusion in water. Following intravenous administration of model and biodegradable BPN in normal healthy rats, we demonstrate safe, pressure-dependent delivery of 60 nm BPNs to the brain parenchyma in regions where the BBB is disrupted by FUS and MBs. Delivery of BPNs with MR-guided FUS has the potential to improve efficacy of treatments for many CNS diseases, while reducing systemic side effects by providing sustained, well-dispersed drug delivery into select regions of the brain.

The blood-brain barrier (BBB) remains one of the most significant limitations to treatments of central nervous system (CNS) disorders including brain tumors, neurodegenerative diseases and psychiatric disorders. It is now well-established that focused ultrasound (FUS) in conjunction with contrast agent microbubbles may be used to non-invasively and temporarily disrupt the BBB, allowing localized delivery of systemically administered therapeutic agents as large as 100 nm in size to the CNS. Importantly, recent technological advances now permit FUS application through the intact human skull, obviating the need for invasive and risky surgical procedures. When used in combination with magnetic resonance imaging, FUS may be applied precisely to pre-selected CNS targets. Indeed, FUS devices capable of sub-millimeter precision are currently in several clinical trials. FUS mediated BBB disruption has the potential to fundamentally change how CNS diseases are treated, unlocking potential for combinatorial treatments with nanotechnology, markedly increasing the efficacy of existing therapeutics that otherwise do not cross the BBB effectively, and permitting safe repeated treatments. This article comprehensively reviews recent studies on the targeted delivery of therapeutics into the CNS with FUS and offers perspectives on the future of this technology.

Nanoparticle (NP) drug delivery vehicles may eventually offer improved tumor treatments; however, NP delivery from the bloodstream to tumors can be hindered by poor convective and/or diffusive transport. We tested whether poly(lactic-co-glycolic acid) NP delivery can be improved by covalently linking them to ultrasound (US)-activated microbubbles in a "composite-agent" formulation and whether drug 5-fluorouracil (5FU)-loaded NPs delivered in this fashion inhibit the growth of tumors that are typically not responsive to intravenously administered 5FU. After intravenous composite-agent injection, C6 gliomas implanted on Rag-1(-/-) mice were exposed to pulsed 1 MHz US, resulting in the delivery of 16% of the initial NP dose per gram tissue. This represented a five- to 57-fold increase in NP delivery when compared to multiple control groups. 5FU-bearing NP delivery from the composite-agent formulation resulted in a 67% reduction in tumor volume at 7 days after treatment, and animal survival increased significantly when compared to intravenous soluble 5FU administration. We conclude that NP delivery from US-activated composite agents may improve tumor treatment by offering a combination of better targeting, enhanced payload delivery, and controlled local drug release.

BackgroundDuring high-intensity focused ultrasound (HIFU) surgical procedures, there is a need to rapidly ablate pathological tissue while minimizing damage to healthy tissue. Current techniques are limited by relatively long procedure times and risks of off-target heating of healthy tissue. One possible solution is the use of microbubbles, which can improve the efficiency of thermal energy delivery during HIFU procedures. However, microbubbles also suffer from limitations such as low spatial selectivity and short circulation time in vivo. In this study, the use of a dual-perfluorocarbon nanodroplet that can enhance thermal ablation, yet retains high spatial selectivity and circulation half-life, was evaluated in vivo and compared to traditional microbubble agents during HIFU ablations of rat liver.MethodsHigh-intensity focused ultrasound (1.1 MHz, 4.1 MPa, 15-s continuous wave) was applied to rat liver in vivo, and heating was monitored during sonication by magnetic resonance thermometry. Thermometry data were analyzed to quantify temperature rise and ablated area, both at the target and prefocally, for HIFU applied 5, 15, or 95 min after intravenous injection of either nanodroplet or microbubble agents. Sham control experiments (no injected agents) were also performed.ResultsAt all three time points, nanodroplets significantly enhanced thermal delivery to the target, achieving temperatures 130 % higher and ablated areas 30 times larger than no-agent control sonications. Nanodroplets did not significantly enhance off-target surface heating. Microbubbles also resulted in significantly greater thermal delivery, but heating was concentrated at the proximal surface of the animal, causing skin burns. Furthermore, microbubbles resulted in lower thermal delivery to the desired target than even the control case, with the notable exception of the 95-min time point.ConclusionsResults indicate that the nanodroplet formulation studied here can substantially increase thermal delivery at the acoustic focus while avoiding prefocal heating. In contrast, microbubbles resulted in greater prefocal heating and less heating at the target. Furthermore, nanodroplets are sufficiently stable to enhance HIFU ablation in vivo for at least 1.5 h after injection. The use of a dual-perfluorocarbon nanodroplet formulation as described herein could substantially reduce HIFU procedure times without increasing the risk of skin burns.