Oscillated delivery tool to place brain injections for addiction therapy
Official title: Oscillated Insertion Tool for Minimally Invasive, Low-Damage, Accurate Placement of Delivery Cannula to Improve Efficacy for DREADDS Therapy in Alcohol Addiction Treatment
Funded at Actuated Medical, INC. · NIH-11362613 · Data updated 2026-11-12
A new device helps place tiny delivery cannulas in the brain more accurately and gently to support potential addiction therapies.
Quick facts
| Grant type | Sbir 2 grant |
|---|---|
| Study type | NIH-funded research |
| Funding institution | Actuated Medical, INC. NIH-funded |
| Lab location | 1 site (Bellefonte, United States) |
| Project start | September 1, 2022 |
| Project end | May 31, 2027 |
| Funding year | 2026 |
| Award (this year) | $660,862 |
| NIH project number | 5R44AA030512-04 |
| Project ID | NIH-11362613 on NIH RePORTER |
Who could benefit from this research
✓Could help
Ideal candidates are researchers and clinicians developing brain-directed therapies for alcohol use disorders who need precise, low-damage injection tools.
✕Less likely to help
This device development is not a direct treatment option for patients; it is a research tool for scientists.
What this research studies
This NIH SBIR project aims to perfect the Oscillated Syringe for Intracranial Injections (OSII) so researchers can deliver drugs or gene therapy tools into the brain with high precision and low tissue damage. The effort moves toward potential clinical use and includes an FDA pre-submission step, while also providing the neuroscience community with a research tool. Partners at Oregon Health & Science University and Pennsylvania State University will test the device and conduct a critical AAV study to evaluate delivery accuracy and safety. The work addresses the challenge of delivering therapies for alcohol dependence and other addictive behaviors by reducing needle deflection and improving consistency of injections.
Why it matters
Potential benefit: If successful, this device could enable more reliable brain delivery of therapies for addiction, potentially improving treatment outcomes and enabling safer research.
How similar studies have gone: Previous work shows improving needle accuracy can reduce tissue damage and improve delivery consistency in brain injections, supporting potential translational benefits.
Where this research is happening
-
Actuated Medical, INC.
Bellefonte, United States Active
Researchers
- Principal investigator: Bagwell, Roger Brooks — Actuated Medical, INC.
- Study coordinator: Bagwell, Roger Brooks
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About this research
- This is an active NIH-funded research project — typically early-stage science, not a clinical trial accepting patient enrollment.
- Some NIH-funded labs run parallel clinical studies or seek volunteers for related work. To check, contact the principal investigator or institution listed above.
- For full project details, budget, and progress reports, visit the official NIH RePORTER page.