Focused ultrasound opening brain to previously impossible treatments

Researchers at the University of Virginia are pioneering the use of focused ultrasound to defy the brain's protective barrier, so that doctors could deliver treatments directly into the brain. The approach could revolutionize treatment for brain cancer by using the focused ultrasound to deliver gene therapy via "deep-penetrating nanoparticles." The nanoparticles are engineered to penetrate the tissue, and the focused sound waves are able to open spaces between cells in the tissue.