Ultrasound-enhanced nose-to-brain drug delivery
Focused ultrasound-mediated intranasal brain drug delivery technique (FUSIN)
Researchers are developing a noninvasive nose-to-brain method that uses focused ultrasound and tiny microbubbles to deliver drugs directly to diseased brain areas for people with brain tumors and other neurological conditions.
Quick facts
| Grant type | R01 grant |
|---|---|
| Study type | NIH-funded research |
| Funding institution | Washington University NIH-funded |
| Lab location | 1 site (Saint Louis, United States) |
| Project ID | NIH-11324280 on NIH RePORTER |
What this research studies
This project is building a way to put medicines in the nose and use focused ultrasound plus microbubbles to guide them into specific brain regions without open surgery. The approach bypasses the blood–brain barrier by combining intranasal dosing with transcranial focused ultrasound to boost delivery at the targeted site. The team is studying how the technique works in mice and then optimizing safety and dosing in pigs to produce data needed for human testing. The goal is to enable future clinical trials so patients could receive more precise brain treatments with fewer systemic side effects.
Who could benefit from this research
Good fit: Adults with brain tumors or other localized central nervous system disorders who need targeted, noninvasive drug delivery and who might be eligible for future clinical trials.
Not a fit: People with widely spread brain disease, those who cannot tolerate intranasal treatments, or those with implanted cranial hardware incompatible with ultrasound may not benefit.
Why it matters
Potential benefit: If successful, this could allow doctors to deliver drugs directly to diseased brain areas without invasive surgery, improving effectiveness and reducing side effects.
How similar studies have performed: Related techniques such as focused-ultrasound opening of the blood–brain barrier and intranasal drug delivery have shown promising results in animals and some early human work, but combining intranasal dosing with focused ultrasound (FUSIN) is a newer approach still under preclinical testing.
Where this research is happening
Saint Louis, United States
- Washington University — Saint Louis, United States (Active)
Researchers
- Principal investigator: Chen, Hong — Washington University
- Study coordinator: Chen, Hong
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 below.