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Ashwini's Project Page - RISE summer 2004 |
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Intern: Ashwini Ashokkumar, UCSB
Mentor: Sumit Paliwal
Faculty Supervisor: Samir Mitragotri
Department: Chemical Engineering |
ULTRASOUND ASSISTED CHEMOTHERAPY
Brain cancer is a difficult type of cancer to treat, with very few
alternatives available for treatment. Our current research shows that a short
application of low-frequency ultrasound selectively sensitizes prostate and skin
cancer cells against a bioflavonoid, quercetin. Moreover, ultrasound has been
shown to enhance transport of several drugs across biological membranes
including skin and cell membranes. Therefore ultrasound can be used an
attractive non-invasive localized treatment technique for brain cancer assisted
by chemotherapy. Our current work focuses on studying permeability enhancement
of brain tissue using ultrasound.
Pig brain is used as the brain tissue model. A custom made franz diffusion cell
with ultrasound transducer fitted on the donor side is used for studying
transport of radio-labeled drug mannitol. Both high frequency (1 MHz) and
low-frequency (79 kHz) transducers are used in the study.
Initial experiments with high frequency ultrasound demonstrate that ultrasound
enhances the permeability of mannitol up to 1.5-12 times over a period of 3-6
hours. Our experiments show that these enhancements are independent of
ultrasonic thermal effects. Since low frequency ultrasound primarily works
through mechanical effects, we expect even higher enhancements.
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