Grant: Project Grant

A key challenge in treating spinal cord disorders is that drug therapies do not reach the affected tissue in high enough concentrations due to the blood-spinal cord barrier (BSCB), which is the name to describe of a number of features of the blood vessels in the spinal cord that prevent drugs from crossing into the tissue. One way to temporarily open the BSCB is to apply ultrasound, combined with ultrasound contrast agents (termed 'microbubbles') that are administered to the bloodstream. The microbubbles vibrate in response to the ultrasound and enhance the delivery of drugs from the bloodstream to the tissue. This therapy is in clinical testing for bypassing the similar blood-brain barrier (BBB) to treat primary brain tumors and other brain diseases. Our goal in this study is to bring ultrasound BSCB opening to clinical readiness for first-in-human testing in patients having undergone prior surgical removal of the vertebral laminae (laminectomy). To achieve this we will implement the ultrasound methods on a commercial prototype system and test them on the bench and in pigs. We will develop new magnetic resonance imaging hardware to improve our ability to see the effects of the treatment. The project will culminate in chronic safety testing of repeat ultrasound and microbubble treatments in pigs with laminectomy, as well as through the intact spine.