Focused ultrasound opening of the blood-brain barrier for treatment of Parkinson's disease
Recommended Citation
LeWitt PA, Lipsman N, and Kordower JH. Focused ultrasound opening of the blood-brain barrier for treatment of Parkinson's disease. Mov Disord 2019; Epub ahead of print.
Document Type
Article
Publication Date
5-28-2019
Publication Title
Movement disorders : official journal of the Movement Disorder Society
Abstract
The expanding landscape of options for Parkinson's disease (PD) therapeutics calls for novel ways to improve delivery of treatments to counteract neurodegeneration or enhance symptomatic control. This unmet need is particularly relevant for opportunities in gene therapy, which, in recent PD clinical trials, has required invasive neurosurgical approaches into the CNS. One of the promising techniques to bring new therapies into the brain for PD therapeutics involves an evolving technology, focused ultrasound. Focused ultrasound has been used to alleviate tremor by thermal ablation with high-energy sonication. Using similar equipment but much lower sonication energy, focused ultrasound assisted with micro-bubbles can temporarily open the blood-brain barrier at specific brain targets to facilitate real-time magnetic resonance-guided delivery of therapeutic agents. To explore the current status and future of focused ultrasound in transvascular therapeutics for PD, a November 2018 workshop reviewed its accomplishments and challenges. This report summarizes key points of discussion and provides further background to the promising roles focused ultrasound offers. © 2019 International Parkinson and Movement Disorder Society.
PubMed ID
31136023
ePublication
ePub ahead of print
