Key Points
- Dong-Guk Paeng, PhD, and his team at Jeju National University in Korea recently completed a Foundation-funded research project.
- The group sought to determine whether an alternate focused ultrasound technology could be used to open the blood-brain barrier.
- The experiments showed disappointing results but led to new hypotheses.
Former Foundation Research Fellow, Dong-Guk Paeng, PhD, and his team at Jeju National University in Korea recently completed a Foundation-funded research project. In “Blood Brain Barrier (BBB) Opening of Rat by Laser-Generated Focused Ultrasound Transducer,” the group sought to determine whether laser-generated focused ultrasound – an alternate focused ultrasound technology – could be used to open the BBB in a rat model. The team studied the use of a laser-generated carbon nanotube (CNT) transducer for transcranial focused ultrasound applications. Unfortunately, the transducer was incapable of generating enough peak negative pressure to create the cavitation needed for BBB opening. Interestingly, however, the group discovered that the CNT transducer may be useful for neurostimulation-based neuromodulation.
“High-risk technology projects that offer compelling new capabilities are worth investment,” said the Foundation’s Brain Program Technical Director, John Snell, PhD. “Even projects with negative results can yield important new insights that we would not capture otherwise.”