Scientist takes aim at tumors with ultrasound, magnets and microbubbles
A biomedical engineer at the University of Oxford has developed a way to finely target tumors, and only tumors, using drug-delivering microbubbles activated by ultrasound and magnetic fields. Her work has caught the eye of Wired UK.
Eleanor Stride, PhD, hopes the technique will come to supplant conventional chemotherapy, eliminating the side effects it causes with its blunt, body-wide attacks.
“[W]e’ve developed arrays of multiple magnets that allow us to trap bubbles within a specific region at depths of a few centimeters,” Stride explains. “These are in the form of small handheld devices that will be positioned at the appropriate location outside the body to accumulate the required concentration of bubbles over the course of a few minutes.”
Then comes the ultrasound, which prompts the bubbles to release the drug inside the tumor.
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Dave P. has worked in journalism, marketing and public relations for more than 30 years, frequently concentrating on hospitals, healthcare technology and Catholic communications. He has also specialized in fundraising communications, ghostwriting for CEOs of local, national and global charities, nonprofits and foundations.