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An illustration shows how LUCID combines a 3D-printed fluid-delivery channel with a layered miniature ultrasound array. This integrated structure brings ultrasound generation and local infusion together in a single device. Components are separated for illustration.
Photo Credit: Courtesy of the researchers
(CC BY-NC-ND 3.0)
Scientific Frontline: Extended "At a Glance" Summary: Implantable Device Uses Ultrasound to Improve Drug Delivery to the Brain
The Core Concept: An implantable device, LUCID, combines a 3D-printed fluid-delivery channel with a layered miniature ultrasound array to enhance the dispersion of drugs within the brain.
Key Distinction/Mechanism: Unlike passive diffusion methods, LUCID uses ultrasound transducers to generate convective flows and mechanically increase the permeability of the blood-brain barrier, allowing for wider and more controlled distribution of therapeutic molecules.
Origin/History: Developed in 2026 by MIT researchers Canan Dagdeviren, Sarah Ornellas, and Jason Hou, combining earlier technologies like a micro-cannula and the ImPULS deep brain stimulation implant. Published in the journal Device on October 26, 2026.
Major Frameworks/Components:
- LUCID (Long-term Ultrasound-enhanced Convective Injection Device): The integrated implant.
- 3D-printed fluid-delivery cannula.
- Miniature ultrasound transducers (array of 24).
- Passive osmotic pump for slow infusion.
- Wireless Bluetooth control and rechargeable battery.
- Convective flows for enhanced drug dispersion.
- Blood-brain barrier permeability modulation via mechanical oscillation.
Branch of Science: Biomedical Engineering, Neuroscience, Oncology.
Future Application: Preventing the recurrence of glioblastoma by delivering targeted chemotherapy; administering immunotherapies, nucleic acids, and gene therapies; and potentially treating other soft tissues deep within the body with reduced systemic toxicity.
Why It Matters: Glioblastoma is an aggressive cancer with a low survival rate; LUCID offers a programmable, localized treatment method that overcomes the limitations of surgical resection and the blood-brain barrier, potentially improving patient outcomes.
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| The LUCID prototype, which combines a miniature ultrasound device with a fluid-delivery tube, an osmotic pump, and custom electronics. A coin provides a sense of scale. The system is designed to deliver substances directly into brain tissue and uses ultrasound to help them spread. Photo Credit: Courtesy of the researchers (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0) |
Patients with glioblastoma, an aggressive type of brain tumor, usually undergo surgery to remove the tumor. However, it is difficult for surgeons to remove all the cancer cells, and the tumor often recurs.
MIT researchers have now designed an implantable drug-delivery device that they hope could help prevent the recurrence of glioblastoma. Their device contains a reservoir that can release drugs over an extended period, along with ultrasound transducers that use sound waves to help drugs spread farther through the brain and bypass the blood-brain barrier.
Such a device could be implanted in the brain during surgery, then gradually release drugs that would help kill the remaining tumor cells. After implantation, a wireless controller can be used to program the exact ultrasound dosages to be delivered, enhancing the reach of the delivered therapy.
“We have 24 transducers in one ultrasound array, which can help a given drug bypass the blood-brain barrier and enhance the drug infusion. The device also gives doctors options in terms of the size, the length, and the number of infusions,” says Canan Dagdeviren, an associate professor of media arts and sciences at MIT and the senior author of the study.
In a paper appearing today in the journal Device, the researchers showed that their ultrasound device allowed molecules to spread farther after being released in tissue models and in a mouse study.
MIT graduate student Sarah Ornellas and Jason Hou, PhD ’26, are the lead authors of the study.
Enhanced by Ultrasound
Glioblastoma is a rare but deadly cancer, with slightly more than 10,000 cases diagnosed in the United States per year. On average, patients survive 12 to 15 months after diagnosis. Patients typically undergo surgery to remove as much of the tumor as possible, followed by radiation and chemotherapy.
Chemotherapy drugs are usually given either as pills or an intravenous infusion, but in recent years, scientists have developed drug-delivery wafers and hydrogels that can be implanted directly in the skull. This approach can help eliminate the side effects of chemotherapy and ensure that a higher concentration of the drug reaches the brain.
These devices work by the passive diffusion of drugs, but the MIT team wanted to design a new device that would allow for greater control of the timing of drug release. They also wanted to incorporate ultrasound arrays to enhance the distribution of drug molecules.
Previous research has shown that ultrasound helps drug molecules disperse more widely by creating convective flows that help them travel longer distances. The mechanical oscillations generated by ultrasound waves also temporarily increase the permeability of the blood-brain barrier, helping drug molecules enter the brain.
Dagdeviren had previously designed a tiny cannula, about as thin as a human hair, that could be implanted in the brain to deliver drugs. She also built an implant called ImPULS, which uses tiny ultrasound transducers to deliver deep brain stimulation.
In the new study, her lab combined these technologies to create LUCID (Long-term Ultrasound-enhanced Convective Injection Device)—a flexible implant as thin as a sheet of cardstock. A drug-delivery cannula is 3D-printed directly onto an array of 24 miniature ultrasound transducers. These transducers generate ultrasound waves right at the tip of the needle, helping drug molecules diffuse farther into tissue after they are released.
“Getting a drug into the brain is only part of the challenge. It also needs to spread through the surrounding tissue. We brought a delivery channel and a tiny ultrasound array together in one implant to help molecules reach a larger area, even during slow infusion,” says Hou.
The implant’s reservoir carries about 100 microliters of fluid, and infusion is supplied by a passive osmotic pump, while ultrasound can be controlled wirelessly through Bluetooth. The device also contains a small battery that can be recharged wirelessly.
In tests in a “tissue phantom”—a gel-like material engineered to mimic human tissue—the researchers showed that ultrasound-aided delivery spread drug molecules much farther than when the drugs were delivered without ultrasound.
“By enhancing that distribution locally and programmably with ultrasound, you can reduce systemic toxicity in nontarget organs, while the therapy that you’re using has a better chance of reaching whatever tumor cells are within the affected area,” Ornellas says.
Wider Distribution
The researchers also tested their system in mice, using it to deliver an MRI contrast agent. When the ultrasound array was activated, the contrast agent spread farther through the brain than when ultrasound was not used.
If developed for use in patients, the drug cannula and ultrasound array would be placed inside the skull, while the part of the device containing the battery and other electronics could sit outside the skull, the researchers say.
In addition to delivering small-molecule drugs, this technology could also be used to deliver immunotherapies or nucleic acids, including gene therapies. It could also potentially be used in organs other than the brain.
“We started with the brain as a follow-up to our ImPULS technology, but eventually this can be used for other soft tissue treatments for different types of drugs, different types of interventions in deep body tissue,” Dagdeviren says. “We are showing that we can make any kind of payload be distributed in a better way.”
Funding: The research was funded by the MIT Media Lab Consortium and the National Institutes of Health.
Published in journal: Device
Title: Long-term ultrasound-enhanced convective injection device for neural drug delivery
Authors: Jason F. Hou, Sarah B. Ornellas, Michal O. Nowicki, Jerry Li, Heloise Leblanc, Betul Serra Tulu, David Sadat, Marco Mineo, Steve Ramirez, E. Antonio Chiocca, and Canan Dagdeviren
Source/Credit: Massachusetts Institute of Technology | Anne Trafton
Edited by: Scientific Frontline
Reference Number: eng102626_01
