Title : 3DYNAFS-MBAFUS: A virtual lab of microbubble-assisted focused ultrasound for noninvasive treatments of neurodisorders
Abstract:
Focused Ultrasound (FUS), especially when combined with Microbubbles (MB), offers non-invasive options for treating deep-seated brain tumors and other neurodisordersm, by enabling targeted surgical ablation and/or local blood-brain-barrier opening (BBBO) for effective drug delivery. However, clinical translation faces significant challenges due to complex and intertwisted dependencies among various FUS and MB-related parameters, coupled with sensitivity to patient-specific conditions. To expedite the deployment of these non-invasive treatments, Dynaflow has developed MBaFUS, a two-way coupled numerical platform. It models MBs in a Lagrangian fashion while solving acoustic and thermal fields in bio-media using an Eulerian approach. This allows for bidirectional interactions, where the acoustic field affects bubble dynamics, and bubble behavior influences pressure and heat distribution in bio-media.
MBaFUS serves as a Virtual Lab, streamlining therapy development and reducing the time and effort required for extensive testing. Researchers can explore new applications and advance basic science with this platform. Furthermore, it can function as a Treatment Planning System (TPS) in clinics for patient-specific optimizations. We demonstrate its efficacy in non-invasive deep-seated tumor ablation, validated against in vitro and ex vivo experiments. Ongoing efforts to expand its use for sonothrombolysis, including cerebral venous thrombosis treatment, will also be discussed. Lastly, we illustrate the prospects of MBaFUS's as a powerful tool to optimize Blood-Brain Barrier Opening (BBBO) for targeted drug delivery in treating neurodisorders such as Parkinson's and Alzheimer's diseases.
