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MRI-guided Disruption of the Blood-brain Barrier using Transcranial Focused Ultrasound in a Rat Model
Published on: March 13, 2012
Cavitation-based third ventriculostomy using MRI-guided focused ultrasound
Ryan Alkins1, Yuexi Huang, Dan Pajek
1Physical Sciences Platform, Sunnybrook Research Institute, Toronto; and.
Journal of Neurosurgery
|October 1, 2013
Summary
Focused ultrasound can create brain holes for noninvasive procedures. Researchers demonstrated successful third ventriculostomy through the skull using low-frequency ultrasound, offering a new treatment for hydrocephalus.
Area of Science:
- Neurosurgery
- Medical Imaging
- Acoustic Physics
Background:
- Transcranial focused ultrasound (FUS) is explored for intracranial pathologies.
- High-intensity FUS can induce inertial cavitation and tissue fractionation.
- Endoscopic third ventriculostomy is a current treatment for hydrocephalus.
Purpose of the Study:
- Investigate the technical feasibility of MRI-guided FUS for third ventriculostomy.
- Explore FUS as a noninvasive alternative to endoscopic procedures for hydrocephalus.
Main Methods:
- Male pigs underwent craniectomy to expose the brain; some treatments used ex vivo human skulls.
- MRI guided registration and targeting with CT correction for skull aberrations.
- Sonications at 650 kHz and 230 kHz determined tissue fractionation pressure thresholds.
Main Results:
- Ventriculostomy in craniectomized pigs required ≥ 22.7 MPa at 650 kHz.
- Transcranially, 650 kHz FUS could not achieve sufficient intensity for fractionation.
- Successful transcranial ventriculostomy was achieved at 230 kHz with 8.8 MPa peak pressure.
Conclusions:
- This study suggests the possibility of noninvasive third ventriculostomy using ultrasound.
- This technique may offer an alternative for creating cerebrospinal fluid communications.
- Potential applications include perforating the septum pellucidum or intraventricular membranes.
