Trans-cranial opening of the blood-brain barrier in targeted regions using astereotaxic brain atlas and focused ultrasound energy

Objective The blood-brain barrier (BBB) protects the brain by preventing the entry of largemolecules; this poses a major obstacle for the delivery of drugs to the brain. Anovel technique using focused ultrasound (FUS) energy combined with microbubblecontrast agents has been widely used for non-invasive trans-cranial BBB opening.Traditionally, FUS research is conducted with magnetic resonance imaging (MRI)guidance, which is expensive and poses physical limitations due to the magneticfield. A system that could allow researchers to test brain therapies without MRintervention could facilitate and accelerate translational research.