A new hope for brain cancer! A small gadget that dissolves (Biodegradable Brain Implant)

Have you ever heard of brain cancer? It is actually a very dangerous and difficult condition to treat. Because our brain is the most protected place in the body. Not everything can easily enter there. Because of this protection, even the drugs used for cancer (chemotherapy) cannot reach the cancer cells in the brain. But now scientists have found a surprising solution to this.

What is this Blood-Brain Barrier?

Simply put, this is like a high-security wall around our brain. Imagine that our brain is the most important and secure building in the country. The entrance to that building is through a very tightly secured gate. This gate prevents the germs and unwanted chemicals in our blood from entering the brain. This is what we call the Blood-Brain Barrier in medicine.

This protection is essential for us. But the problem is, this defense system treats even chemotherapy drugs as 'unwanted guests' and does not allow them to enter. So, treating brain cancer has become a real challenge for doctors.

Scientists' latest solution: A tiny implant that dissolves!

A team of scientists has now found a new solution to this challenge: a small implant that dissolves in the body and is placed inside the skull, close to the location of the brain tumor.

This little gadget, a small box about a centimeter wide to be exact, is made of a special amino acid. It's called glycine . What's special about it is that when a small electric current is applied to it, it vibrates and emits high-frequency sound waves, or ultrasound waves, that are inaudible to the human ear. This process is called the piezoelectric effect .

Now imagine that the doctor injects an anti-cancer drug, such as paclitaxel, into the body. At the same time, an externally controlled device supplies electricity to that small implant in the brain. Then, the ultrasound waves emitted by it cause the cells of the Blood-Brain Barrier we talked about to vibrate a little, creating small gaps between them. To be precise, it's like the tightly closed gate opens a little. Through those gaps, the cancer drugs can go directly to the cancer cells. Isn't it amazing?

Let's look at some of the advantages of this new technology in the table below.

Widespread uses of ultrasound technology

This ultrasound technology is nothing new to the medical field. We've often heard of it for baby scans. But it's now being used for much more than that. According to Dr. Neal Kassell, one of the experts behind the technology, it's like "using a magnifying glass to focus the sun's rays and burn a leaf." That means the energy can be directed very precisely, only to the desired target. So it doesn't harm the surrounding healthy tissue.

With this knowledge, it is hoped that this technology can be used to treat not only brain cancer, but also neurological diseases such as Alzheimer's and Parkinson's, difficult-to-treat pancreatic and prostate cancers, and even drug addiction.

What does the future of this technology look like?

We must remember that this is still in the research stage. Scientists have tested this on mice and have seen very successful results. When given the drug, the tumors shrank and the animals' lifespans doubled. Even after 6 months, no side effects have been reported. Next, the team plans to test its safety and efficacy in pigs.

The lead scientist who discovered this, Thanh Nguyen, hopes to create something like a patch with many of these tiny implants in the future. Then it will be possible to target and treat different parts of the brain at once. Perhaps this method could be used to destroy any remaining cancer cells after a brain tumor has been surgically removed.

Brain cancer, cancer treatment, chemotherapy, blood-brain barrier, ultrasound, biodegradable implant, new medical technology