One of the greatest frustrations for doctors dealing with Einstein tumor is called the blood brain barrier ( BBB ) . It ’s the defense team our bodies have created to keep toxin from exceed from our blood into our brains — but it also stops medicines from making the crossing too . Now that may be about to shift .
Today Helen Thompsonhas a enchanting profilein New Scientist of Toronto medical physicistKullervo Hynynen , who plans to screen a theory he has about how to get malignant neoplastic disease medicine out of the bloodstream and into targeted head tumors . His plan is to to practice microbubbles in the bloodline — basically just really little bubbles of throttle — to open up the layer between blood vessel and brain tissue .
And he ’s move to do it with ultrasound . save Thompson :
Hynynen ’s trial will ask 10 masses with a cancerous brain tumor . First , the volunteers will be give a chemotherapy drug that does not usually spoil the BBB . They will then welcome an injection of microbubbles , which will circulate throughout the eubstance , including into the blood vessels that help the brain .
Next is a treatment calledhigh - vividness focused echography . The volunteers will wear a cap that take an raiment of transducers that lineal ultrasonography wave into their Einstein . Just as the sunshine ’s ray can be focalize by a magnify glass , ultrasound wave can be decoct inside the body to get the microbubbles to vibrate .
The tickle bubbles will expand and contract about 200,000 time a minute , which will force apart the endothelial cells that form the BBB . The idea is that this will permit the chemotherapy drug in the bloodstream to sneak through the gap in the barrier and into any nearby tumour electric cell .
She explains that the ultrasound will only be on for about 2 minutes , and that the BBB will commence to close after it has been move around off ( it wo n’t be completely closed for about six hours , however ) . During the discussion , the affected role will be monitor with functional magnetic resonance imaging brain imaging machines to see whether the drug has crossed the BBB , assist by the vibrating microbubbles . The goal is just to get the drug to nine sites around the mastermind neoplasm .
surgeon will remove the tumors shortly after the treatment , to get more information on whether the microbubble proficiency has worked . There are no guarantees that it will work , and there are many danger associate with opening night up the BBB . Our torso evolved the BBB for a reason , which is that there are many chemical and microbes that are perfectly harmless in our blood stream — but could become extremely severe if unleashed on our grey subject .
The fact that this treatment could leave the nous vulnerable up to six hour is a cause for business organization — but being able to bear medicine to brain tumors may be worth the risk . It could think a future where we might lead off treating brainpower tumors with drug , rather than operating theatre .
Read morein New Scientist
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