Anne Trafton of MIT News reports on an implantable drug-delivery device from MIT designed to help prevent the recurrence of glioblastoma. The device, called LUCID (Long-term Ultrasound-enhanced Convective Injection Device), is a flexible implant about as thin as a sheet of cardstock. A drug-delivery cannula is 3D-printed directly onto an array of 24 miniature ultrasound transducers, so the sound waves are generated right at the needle tip.

The reservoir holds about 100 microliters of fluid and is fed by a passive osmotic pump. The ultrasound is controlled wirelessly over Bluetooth, and a small onboard battery recharges wirelessly. Ultrasound creates convective flows that carry drug molecules farther, and it temporarily increases the permeability of the blood-brain barrier.

In a gel tissue phantom, ultrasound-aided delivery spread molecules much farther than delivery without it. In mice, an MRI contrast agent also spread further through the brain when the array was on.…