An implantable prosthesis for the use of ultrasounds in brain therapy

The study “Ultrasounds induce blood-brain barrier opening across a sonolucent polyolefin plate in an in vitro isolated brain preparation” published in Scientific Reports and  authored by Dr. Prada (director of the Acoustic Neuroimaging and Therapy Laboratory – ANTY-Lab), Dr. Librizzi, and Dr. Uva, reveals that a special polyolefin plate, placed on the brain surface, may allow the passage of ultrasound usable for blood-brain barrier (BBB) opening

As the blood-brain barrier (BBB) hinders the passage of drugs into the brain, the combined use of low-intensity pulsed ultrasonic waves and intravascular microbubbles (MB) represents a promising solution because it allowis controlled and reversible opening of the barrier.

The study, in particular, assessed the feasibility of opening the blood-brain barrier through a biocompatible polyolefin-based prosthesis that may allow the delivering of therapeutic agents within the central nervous system.

Innovative biomarkers in nasal mucosa for Parkinson's diagnosis

The prestigious journal “Translational Neurodegeneration,” specialized in neurodegenerative diseases, has granted the work of dr. Fabio Moda “Efficient RT-QuIC seeding activity for alpha-synuclein in olfactory mucosa samples of patients with Parkinson’s disease and multiple system atrophy (2019)” with the “Best Paper Award,” an award assigned by the journal’s editorial board to the best 10 papers published in the decade 2012-2021

“The study, developed by myself and my collaborator Dr. Chiara Maria Giulia De Luca,” said dr. Moda – was conducted on a case series of well-characterized patients in order to find biomarkers of Parkinson’s disease and Multiple System Atrophy (MSA) in the nasal mucosa.

The goal was to identify novel biomarkers in easily harvested peripheral tissues that may be useful to improve the clinical diagnosis and to recognize subsets of disease in order to classify patients more accurately.