The treatment of brain tumors using chemotherapy is currently not very effective. One of the major causes is the low penetration of chemotherapeutic agents into the brain due to the blood-brain barrier (BBB).

Many articles in the scientific literature have demonstrated the the blood-brain barrier can be opened using ultrasound in combination with systemic injection of an ultrasound contrast agent. This opening allows for an increased concentration of chemotherapeutic agents in brain tissue. Until now, all of the research in the field has used focused external ultrasound (HIFU) and is limited to small areas in the brain.

Primary brain tumors are often a diffuse disease. The objective of CarThera® is to open a larger zone of the BBB to allow for an optimal penetration of chemotherapy drugs in the brain. In addition, as chemotherapy sessions are performed repeatedly, our ultrasound system is compatible with repeated opening of the BBB in an outpatient setting.

The histological diagnosis or surgical resection of brain tumors requires an opening of the skull. This opening is normally followed by a closing of the skull opening. The idea for the SonoCloud® was to use this opening in the skull to implant an ultrasound device.

“Our primary innovation was to work on a device that emitted unfocused ultrasound from within the skull to avoid distortion of the ultrasound waves and to simplify the technique for repeated treatments. Thus was born the SonoCloud® program” as explained by Pr. Alexandre Carpentier.