/decade3d, stockadobecom
Mainz – A working group from Rhineland-Palatinate wants to use ultrasound stimulation to transport active substances from the blood to the brain in a targeted manner and thus improve the therapy and prevention of mental illnesses. The federal state supports the project called “Access” with more than 750,000 euros.
“The project is highly relevant, promising and therefore absolutely worthy of funding. It gives hope for new, safe treatment methods for difficult-to-treat diseases with few side effects,” said the Rhineland-Palatinate Minister of Health, Clemens Hoch (SPD).
The Leibniz Institute for Resilience Research (LIR), the University Medicine and the Institute for Molecular Biology Mainz. With the funding from the state, the research team wants to transfer the technology from the mouse model to humans, which is to be done in four work steps within two years.
Background: Conventional drug treatment approaches often reach their limits in diseases of the central nervous system, since the active ingredients required cannot, or only with difficulty, cross the blood-brain barrier and thus cannot reach the brain in the required concentration.
According to the working group, new technologies that enable the targeted delivery of active substances to the affected areas of the brain could make a decisive difference. The scientists rely on transcranial ultrasound stimulation. It makes it possible to temporarily and locally open the blood-brain barrier without surgical intervention. © hil/aerzteblatt.de