title: Noninvasive and targeted delivery of therapeutics to the brain using focused ultrasound.
abstract: The range of therapeutic treatment options for central nervous system (CNS) diseases is greatly limited by the blood-brain barrier (BBB). While a variety of strategies to circumvent the blood-brain barrier for drug delivery have been investigated, little clinical success has been achieved. Focused ultrasound (FUS) is a unique approach whereby the transcranial application of acoustic energy to targeted brain areas causes a noninvasive, safe, transient, and targeted opening of the BBB, providing an avenue for the delivery of therapeutic agents from the systemic circulation into the brain. There is a great need for viable treatment strategies for CNS diseases, and we believe that the preclinical success of this technique should encourage a rapid movement towards clinical testing. In this review, we address the versatile applications of FUS-mediated BBB opening, the safety profile of the technique, and the physical and biological mechanisms that drive this process. This article is part of the Special Issue entitled "Beyond small molecules for neurological disorders".
authors.affiliation: Institute of Biomaterials and Biomedical Engineering, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada.|Physical Sciences Platform, Sunnybrook Research Institute, Toronto, ON, Canada.
authors.forename: Charissa
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Poon
authors.affiliation: Department of Medical Biophysics, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada.|Physical Sciences Platform, Sunnybrook Research Institute, Toronto, ON, Canada.
authors.forename: Dallan
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: McMahon
authors.affiliation: Institute of Biomaterials and Biomedical Engineering, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada.|Department of Medical Biophysics, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada.|Physical Sciences Platform, Sunnybrook Research Institute, Toronto, ON, Canada.
authors.forename: Kullervo
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Hynynen
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001921:Brain / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000502:physiology; D002491:Central Nervous System Agents / Q000008:administration & dosage*; D002493:Central Nervous System Diseases / Q000188:drug therapy*; D016503:Drug Delivery Systems; D006801:Humans; D014463:Ultrasonography / Q000379:methods*
chemical_list: D002491:Central Nervous System Agents
keywords: Amyloid-beta protein (PubChem CID: 16131051); Blood-brain barrier; Doxorubicin (PubChem CID: 31703); Drug delivery; Evans blue (PubChem CID: 9566057); Focused ultrasound; Gadolinium (PubChem CID: 23982); MRI ; Microbubbles; Noninvasive surgery; Texas red (PubChem CID: 5014711)