1 of 2 | A new “bench-to-bedside” research tool developed by Florida Atlantic University combines the quickly developing technology of focused ultrasound with magnetic resonance imaging. Its inventors say they’re seeking to speed up the search for non-invasive treatments for neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s. Photo courtesy of Florida Atlantic University
Neurologists at Florida Atlantic University have unveiled a new research tool combining focused ultrasound and magnetic resonance imaging to fight complex neurological diseases such as Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s.
The new platform was announced this week at FAU’s NeuroInnovate Center in Boca Raton, Fla., as its creators hailed it as a “global first” in combining quickly emerging focused ultrasound technology with powerful MRI capabilities into a “bench-to-bedside” research and training tool designed to accelerate new discoveries for using ultrasound in the battle against complex neurological diseases.
Focused ultrasound is a non-invasive technology that uses an acoustic lens to concentrate multiple intersecting beams of ultrasound on a target deep in the body with extreme precision and accuracy.
At FAU, the new tool is being positioned to help scientists and educators tap its potential to temporarily open the blood-brain barrier in patients, allowing the introduction of drugs targeting neurological diseases directly into the brain.
Gregg Fields, the university’s vice president for research, said the NeuroInnovate Center platform melds together state-of-the-art pre-clinical and clinical MRI systems from a trio of manufacturers including GE Healthcare, NordicNeuroLab and Bruker BioSpec.
Added to them is a low-frequency focused ultrasound unit developed by the Israeli medical device company, Insightec.
Together, the combination of ultrasound and real-time MRI creates “a unified environment” and unique new way to support a wide range of research activities from pre-clinical investigations to clinical trials and patient care.
When it’s installed in the coming months, FAU’s new Insightec Prime 220 V3 focused ultrasound machine will be one of only nine in the United States and 11 in the world, Fields told UPI.
“We will be the only place on Earth that has the combination of pre-clinical MRI technology and focused ultrasound technology working in concert,” he said. “That’s really unique. We’re going to help train people from one to the other.
“Obviously we’re going to be engaged in clinical trials, but we’re also going to be developing new research protocols for different neurological disease applications, ranging from Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s to brain cancers, addiction disorders and ALS,” he said. “There are many possibilities out there and that’s why we’re so excited.”
Focused ultrasound has been called a rapidly evolving, highly disruptive, noninvasive technology that is “revolutionizing” the treatment of serious diseases and improving lives as it moves toward becoming a global standard of care.
Promising research areas for the new tech include enhancing cancer immunotherapy by priming tumors to become more responsive to immunotherapy, as well as in neuromodulation, where ultrasound can be used to modulate brain activity with “millimeter precision,” according to the Focused Ultrasound Foundation.
But perhaps most importantly, the tech is seen as a potential game-changer with its promise to safely open the blood-brain barrier, thus enabling more precise drug delivery directly into the brain. That will be a main area of concentration for the new FAU platform, Fields said.
“A clinical trial we were involved in a few years showed that low-frequency ultrasound in combination with what we call microbubbles can open the blood-brain barrier for a very specific amount of time,” he said. “If you have a drug circulating and open the barrier, it allows your drug to be more effective.”
One of the advantages of the new platform is that its advanced MRI components allow users to monitor the progress of the ultrasound process in real time.
Overall, as of last year, more than 1 million patients worldwide have been treated with focused ultrasound, including both commercial and clinical trial treatments for more than 70 conditions such as Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s, essential tremor, uterine fibroids, and tumors of the brain, pancreas, prostate, kidneys, breast and liver.
The tech is in various stages of research and development for more than 180 diseases and conditions, with regulatory approval achieved for 34 indications worldwide. For instance, Insightec in July received U.S. Food and Drug Administration approval for the use of its Exablate Neuro ultrasound platform to treat severe motor symptoms in conditions like Parkinson’s disease when medication is ineffective.
Dr. Neal Kassell, founder and chairman of the Focused Ultrasound Foundation and former co-chairman of neurosurgery at the University of Virginia, told UPI the development and investment momentum is building quickly for the technology.
“Currently, there are 180 or so clinical indications for it, but 10 years ago there were only three, so that tells you how rapidly the field is growing,” he said. “Here at the foundation, we’re concentrating our resources and capital on two areas: one is brain, and the other is cancer and immunotherapy.
“In the brain arena, we’re interested in neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s and ALS. We’re also looking at the potential of focused ultrasound to treat depression, anxiety, addiction and chronic pain.”
Kassell agreed the technology could have profound implications in enabling drug delivery across the blood-brain barrier and improving those meds’ efficacy against neurodegenerative diseases. But that’s not all.
“There have even been a couple of clinical trials strongly suggesting that simply opening the barrier with ultrasound, without the administration any drugs, can decrease the levels of [toxic Beta-amyloid plaque] in the brain, as well as, maybe, delivering improved cognition in Alzheimer’s patients,” he said.
