Therapeutic power of focused ultrasound has now been further refined

Dr. Kullervo Hynynen, vice president of research and innovation and senior scientist at Sunnybrook Research Institute (SRI), has spent more than three decades advancing a revolutionary technology that is well on its way to changing medicine. Now, Dr. Hynynen, his team and collaborators are on the verge of the next major leap in the technology’s potential, this time to scale its reach based on a model of personalization and portability.

The technology, called MRI-guided focused ultrasound or FUS, uses ultrasonic waves to target tissue deep in the body without the need for incisions. Its promise is to improve the quality of life for patients with a wide range of conditions, from essential tremor to uterine fibroids to obsessive compulsive disorder.

A powerful new focused ultrasound device that Hynynen and his team are currently working on is specifically designed to open the blood-brain barrier to allow helpful agents – such as chemotherapy, antibodies, stem cells or gene therapy to reach the brain. Now, a new technology – a next-generation helmet that operates outside of an MRI – has the potential to bring focused ultrasound to more patients and more clinics.

“Each device will be custom produced, based on scans of individual patients. It’s also frameless, making it more economical for clinical use since it does not require the real-time use of MRI, Hynynen explains.
“Importantly, it will be more comfortable for the patient. Not only is it completely non-invasive, but it can treat multiple locations in the brain at one time, making the procedure shorter.”

Among the steps in its development, Sunnybrook recently signed a collaboration agreement with Insightec, a global pioneer and leader in FUS device development, to develop and explore the potential of the new helmet design intended to open the blood-brain-barrier and enable drug delivery and treatment options for patients with neurological disorders.

Becoming a world leader with the help of a unique ecosystem: Hynynen, a physicist, is a world-leader in the field of focused ultrasound, inventing about 30 related patents, founding two start-up companies and authoring over 450 publications. Since joining Sunnybrook from Brigham and Women’s Hospital and Harvard Medical School in 2006, he has worked with scientific and clinical colleagues to establish Sunnybrook as a world leader in focused ultrasound research and the only Focused Ultrasound Centre of Excellence in Canada. The progress, he said, has been due to the unique ecosystem for commercialization at Sunnybrook and in Canada.

“If you want to make an impact in research, you have to commercialize your discoveries, so more people can benefit,” said Hynynen. This mantra drives Hynynen’s own research ventures, but also Sunnybrook’s.

Building Canada’s leading image-guided therapy research facility: In 2008, along with 55 other scientists, Hynynen led a successful grant for $74.6 million to establish the Centre for Research in Image-Guided Therapeutics (IGT) at Sunnybrook. The 150,000 square foot space at Sunnybrook encompasses preclinical and clinical facilities to develop and test state-of-the-art medical imaging technologies, therapeutics and standards of practice, and translate them into the clinic.

The space includes an extensive machine shop and device development lab, allowing clinicians and scientists to design and produce complex medical devices under highly controlled conditions. “Many [of our researchers] have gone on to invent new medical technologies and license them or start their own companies,” said Hynynen.

Over 20 start-ups have launched from SRI – many in the image-guided sector. Examples include MOLLI Surgical (recently acquired by Stryker), Conavi, and Profound Medical.

In 2015, Sunnybrook was the first in the world to demonstrate that focused ultrasound paired with microscopic bubbles can be used to open the blood-brain barrier temporarily and non-invasively to direct medication into the brain of a research participant with brain cancer.

Sunnybrook researchers were also the first in the world to study low-intensity focused ultrasound in the opening of the blood-brain barrier or delivery of therapies directly to the brain in brain cancer, Parkinson’s disease, Alzheimer’s disease, and Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS).