Background: Focussed Ultrasound (FUS) combined with microbubbles (MBs) was proven a promising modality for non-invasive blood brain barrier disruption (BBBD). Herein, two devices for FUS-mediated BBBD in rodents are presented.
Methods: A two-axes robotic device was manufactured for navigating a single element FUS transducer of 1 MHz relative to the brain of rodents. A second more compact device featuring a single motorized vertical axis was also developed. Their performance was assessed in terms of motion accuracy, MRI compatibility and trans-skull BBBD in wild type mice using MBs in synergy with pulsed FUS.
Results: Successful BBBD was evidenced by the Evans Blue dye method, as well as by Fibronectin and Fibrinogen immunostaining. BBB permeability was enhanced when the applied acoustic intensity was increased.
Conclusions: The proposed devices constitute a cost-effective and ergonomic solution for FUS-mediated BBBD in small animal models. Further experimentation is needed to examine the repeatability of results and optimise the therapeutic protocol.
Keywords: BBB disruption; MRI compatible; focussed ultrasound; mice; robotic device; transcranial.
© 2022 The Authors. The International Journal of Medical Robotics and Computer Assisted Surgery published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.