Breaking the Blood Brain Barrier: A Breakthrough For Alzheimer's Research?

Hong Chen, associate professor of biomedical engineering and radiation oncology at Washington University in St. Louis, is dedicated to what may seem like the impossible. "This constant puzzle of what's happening in my brain." She's referring to all human brains sharing this complexity and getting answers to serious problems is difficult. "Like Alzheimer's or Parkinson's or brain tumors." Because the brain is incredibly protected, MRIs and CT scans are used. "With those imaging techniques, you don't know what's the genetic or molecular makeup of that disease," she said. A tissue biopsy is an option with an invasive surgery. "It's only available for brain tumor patients," said Chen. "What can we do?" So, Chen and her colleagues developed a new method that facilitated diagnosis of Alzheimer's disease using a mouse model. Chen is using a focused ultrasound combined with a new method for opening the blood-brain barrier for retrieval of disease biomarkers. #alzheimer #alzheimerdisease #neuroscience #neurorehabilitation #biomedical_engineering Subscribe now ➤ https://bit.ly/2NNQiyM For more great content from HEC Media check us out at: Facebook ➤ http://bit.ly/1WPZEek Twitter ➤ http://bit.ly/22qZDNU Instagram ➤ http://bit.ly/1THSOnM