Virginia Tech was recently named a Center of Excellence for its focused ultrasound program, becoming the sixth recognized center in the United States. The designation opens opportunities for research collaborations with other centers around the world and could lead to increased funding opportunities.

Focused ultrasound is being researched as a noninvasive medical treatment for about 170 different conditions. The technology uses highly focused sound waves to target specific areas of tissue in the body, allowing for precise treatment of conditions such as tumors and neurological disorders.

It has been approved by the Food and Drug Administration and insurance companies to treat a neurological condition called essential tremor, which causes involuntary shaking during movement. Guided by MRI images, focused ultrasound waves can be targeted to destroy a very small area of ​​the brain where abnormal activity is causing the tremor.

Focused ultrasound could be used to treat conditions such as substance abuse, chronic pain and other neurodegenerative diseases, although much of the research is still in its early stages.

Michael Friedlander will chair the new Program of Excellence at the Fralin Biomedical Research Institute at VTC in Roanoke. He is vice president of Virginia Tech’s Department of Health Sciences and Technology and executive director of the research institute.

“We’re not just bringing excellence, good people, great facilities, a great university and so on – we’re bringing approaches that aren’t as well represented in the focused ultrasound consortia. … So we’re bringing something new to the table, not just more of the same,” Friedlander said.

The university conducts numerous research projects in the field of focused ultrasound and is the only center to use this technology in veterinary medicine. Joanne Touhy, a co-director of the program, is researching the use of focused ultrasound to treat cancer in dogs.

According to Friendlander, dogs can develop about 20 of the same types of cancer that humans can. For example, glioblastoma, an aggressive type of brain tumor, occurs in dogs just as it does in humans, so what works in a dog will probably work in a human.

“(The dogs) are treated like patients. If their owners wish, they can participate in a clinical trial to try a new, better form of therapy for them and see if it can help,” Friedlander said.

The institute’s largest research area is currently brain tumors in children, adults and dogs.

Such cancers are difficult to treat because the brain is surrounded by a tightly connected group of cells called the blood-brain barrier, which shields the brain from various substances in the bloodstream. While this barrier protects the brain, it also presents a challenge in administering drugs to treat the tumors, Friedlander said.

The Virginia Tech research group is investigating ways to use low-intensity focused ultrasound to gently move cells apart in order to transport drugs into the brain.

As part of the partnership between Virginia Tech and Children’s National Hospital in Washington, DC, a researcher at the institute is working with doctors at the hospital to apply the new technology to the treatment of severe brain tumors in children.

“This is a very hot area of ​​research at the moment. It’s very exciting,” said Friendlander.

The recognition was given by the Focused Ultrasound Foundation, a nonprofit organization based at the University of Virginia.

There are only 12 centers of excellence for focused ultrasound worldwide.

Virginia Tech’s focused ultrasound team has been working with the Focused Ultrasound Foundation for nearly a decade. About three years ago, Virginia Tech joined a research consortium that enabled it to receive federal funding to support focused ultrasound research.

Then, about two years ago, the foundation’s leadership encouraged Virginia Tech to submit a formal application to become a center of excellence. It took about a year to gather all the information and find the leadership, Friendlander said.

Jenny Munson of FBRI is co-director of the focused ultrasound program and is researching treatments for brain tumors. Blacksburg-based biomedical engineer Eli Vlaisavljevich is developing new focused ultrasound devices and is also co-director.

To be considered for recognition, Virginia Tech had to demonstrate that it had all the necessary infrastructure, including multiple focused ultrasound systems and MRIs.

“We needed a plan that showed how we were going to run the center and how we were going to make sure the resources were available to as many people as possible,” Frielander said. “We needed a communications plan for the center. We needed a plan for how we were going to do outreach and collaborate with other centers. And we needed to show them projects and ideas and things that we’re doing.”

The award opens up opportunities to collaborate with other centers of excellence and apply for certain grants. It is also a good way to raise awareness of Virginia Tech, Friedlander said.

“People are skeptical and wonder how you can do so many things with it,” he said. “The answer is: It’s just energy. And when energy comes into contact with living systems, biological systems, it interacts. So it should be no surprise that you can do so many different things with it.”

Related Posts