as current techniques rely on the use of mri machines, the number of patients that can be treated is limited.
with this generous new grant, he said, treatment will be possible for many more patients.
“and it will cost less money, and can be used in countries where they don’t have such advanced health care,” he said.
this investment will take the technical advances of the last 10 years and move everything forward quickly.
sunnybrook has a long list of world-firsts with fus technology — including ground-breaking work to open the blood-brain barrier and non-invasively deliver chemotherapy directly to patients with brain cancer.
according to
clinical trials ontario
, the blood-brain barrier blocks toxins (and most drugs) from entering the brain.
with the use of fus, the barrier can safely and temporarily be opened, enabling therapy delivery to a precise target inside.
sunnybrook was first in the world to receive approval to use fus to open the blood-brain barrier to treat alzheimer’s. current clinical trials study the use of fus for depression, ocd, parkinson’s, als and more.
the grant from the westons spearheads a $33-million initiative to develop and bring novel fus technology to canadians. the weston family initiative will accelerate development of a powerful new fus device to enable the personalized treatment of brain disorders as never before.