ultrasound Archives - Medical Design Sourcing

MIT researchers build wearable ultrasound scanner for earlier breast cancer detection

This wearable ultrasound scanner could offer frequent, at-home imaging of breast tissue to spot tumors earlier and increase survival rates. [Photo courtesy of MIT]

A wearable ultrasound scanner developed by researchers at MIT could improve the survival rate of breast cancer patients.

The researchers 3D-printed a flexible patch that can attach to a bra using magnets. The patch has six openings where a miniaturized ultrasound scanner can contact the skin and image the wearer’s breast tissue from different angles.

The goal is to detect breast cancer earlier with more frequent screening for patients at high risk.

“We changed the form factor of the ultrasound technology so that it can be used in your home,” MIT Media Lab Associate Professor Canan Dagdeviren, who designed the miniaturized scanner, said in a news release. “It’s portable and easy to use, and provides real-time, user-frie…

Researchers use skull-implantable ultrasound to help deliver chemotherapy to the brain

[Screenshot from video provided by Northwestern Medicine]

Northwestern Medicine shared results from a first-in-human clinical trial for a skull-implantable ultrasound device that supports chemotherapy delivery.

The device opened the blood-brain barrier to repeatedly permeate large, critical regions of the human brain. This enabled the delivery of chemotherapy injected intravenously.

With the patient awake, a four-minute procedure opens the blood-brain barrier and patients go home after a few hours. Results from the Northwestern study demonstrated both a safe and well-tolerated treatment. Some patients even reached up to six cycles of chemotherapy treatment.

The paper published on May 2 in The Lancet Oncology.

More about the chemotherapy study

The researchers say this marks the first study to successfully quantify the effect of ultrasound-based blood-brain barrier opening on the concentratio…

New ‘ultrasound tornado’ device breaks down blood clots

[Image courtesy of North Carolina State University]

Researchers at say a new tool and technique using “vortex ultrasound” could potentially break down blood clots in the brain.

This sort of ultrasonic tornado eliminated clots formed in an in vitro model of cerebral venous sinus thrombosis (CVST). The researchers, based at North Carolina State University, say it worked more quickly than existing techniques.

“Our previous work looked at various techniques that use ultrasound to eliminate blood clots using what are essentially forward-facing waves,” said Xiaoning Jiang, co-corresponding author of a paper on the work. “Our new work uses vortex ultrasound, where the ultrasound waves have a helical wavefront.

Jiang, the Dean F. Duncan Professor of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering at N.C. State, said the ultrasound “is swirling as it moves forward.” Because of the shear stress…

Ultrasound research with rats shows potential for depression therapy

[Photo by Sibya via Pixabay]

Ultrasound-based medical devices may have potential as noninvasive treatment for depression and other mental health issues, according to new research from Tokyo University of Science and Fujimic.

Knowing that whole-body exposure to high-frequency ultrasound increases human brain activity, they used rats — which enjoy high-frequency ultrasound vocalizations (USV) — to explore ultrasonic effects of the mechanisms underlying depression.

Researchers used rats, including some without olfactory lobes (organs that regulate neurotransmission), to study agitation and anxiety-like behavior. with and without exposure to USV for 24 hours. Olfactory bulbectomized (OB) rats were used because they experience changes in neurotransmitters, endocrine secretions and behavior similar to humans with depression.

“Since studies on ultrasound exposure have been primarily conducted on hu…

Merck and Vesselon preclinical study reports dramatic tumor pharmacokinetics findings

Merck & Co. (NSDQ:MRNA) scientists have explored fighting cancer by way of the STING (stimulator of interferon genes)-controlled innate immune pathway.

Now, the company has published research in Advanced Therapeutics detailing a preclinical study with its partner Vesselon Inc. that reported impressive pharmacokinetics results related to MSA-1, a STING agonist.

The researchers found that low intravenous doses of MSA-1 alone did not have anti-tumor properties. But pairing MSA-1 with Vesselon’s FDA-approved acoustically-active drug Imagent led to complete tumor regressions. Vesselon makes use of a phenomenon known as sonoporation, which involves a temporary opening of cell membranes as a result of ultrasound exposure.

Imagent is FDA approved as a contrast agent for diagnostic ultrasound.

Specifically, Merck scientists reported that sonoporation dramatically improved the pharmacokinetics of MSA-1, boosting tumor uptake 658% 15 minutes after …

Ivy Brain Tumor Center sees promise in sonodynamic therapy for glioblastoma

Ivy Brain Tumor Center and its partner Sonalasense have announced positive initial results in a first-in-human Phase 0/1 clinical trial involving recurrent glioblastoma patients.

Sonalasense has developed a noninvasive sonodynamic therapy (SDT) that pairs low-intensity ultrasound with chemotherapeutic agents known as sonosensitizers. The therapy is noninvasive.

Data from the trial indicate that SDT swiftly causes targeted oxidative stress and cell death in human glioblastoma tissue. In addition, the therapy was well tolerated in the study.

Get the full story from our sister site, Drug Discovery & Development.

Ivy Brain Tumor Center sees promise in sonodynamic therapy for glioblastoma

Ivy Brain Tumor Center and its partner Sonalasense have announced positive initial results in a first-in-human Phase 0/1 clinical trial involving recurrent glioblastoma patients.

Sonalasense has developed a noninvasive sonodynamic therapy (SDT) that pairs low-intensity ultrasound with chemotherapeutic agents known as sonosensitizers. The therapy is noninvasive.

Data from the trial indicate that SDT swiftly causes targeted oxidative stress and cell death in human glioblastoma tissue. In addition, the therapy was well tolerated in the study.

The Ivy Brain Tumor Center is using MRI-guided focused ultrasound in conjunction with Sonalasense’s 5-aminolevulinic acid (SONALA-001) to investigate the treatment. Investigators administered 5-aminolevulinic acid (ALA) intravenously, which then crosses the blood-brain barrier to enter the brain. Once in the brain, ALA targets glioma cells, which are abnormally metabolically active.

The study used intravenous am…