low-intensity pulsed ultrasound and microbubbles

LIPU/MB (Low-Intensity Pulsed Ultrasound and Microbubbles) is a therapeutic platform designed to transiently and reversibly increase the permeability of the blood-brain barrier (BBB) to facilitate the delivery of systemic therapeutic agents into the central nervous system. The procedure involves the intravenous administration of microbubbles (typically lipid-shelled gas microspheres) followed by the application of low-intensity pulsed ultrasound, often via a skull-implantable device such as the SonoCloud. The ultrasound waves cause the microbubbles to undergo stable cavitation within the cerebral capillaries, exerting mechanical forces on the vascular endothelium that temporarily disrupt tight junctions. This "BBB opening" allows for significantly higher concentrations of chemotherapies (e.g., carboplatin, paclitaxel, doxorubicin) and large-molecule biologics (e.g., monoclonal antibodies like pembrolizumab) to reach brain tumors such as glioblastoma. The technology is currently being evaluated in clinical trials (e.g., NCT04528680) for recurrent and newly diagnosed glioblastoma.

Brand names

SonoCloud

Other names

ultrasound-mediated blood-brain barrier openingultrasound-mediated blood-brain barrier disruption