Implantable Ultrasound Device Enhances Local Drug Delivery in Glioblastoma

Although surgeons can remove visible tumor tissue, residual cancer cells may remain in surrounding brain tissue and contribute to recurrence. This creates a need for local treatments that can reach these remaining cells while limiting systemic exposure. To address this challenge, researchers have developed an implantable ultrasound-enhanced drug-delivery device.

The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) has developed the Long-term Ultrasound-enhanced Convective Injection Device, or LUCID, a flexible implant designed for placement during brain surgery. As thin as a sheet of cardstock, the device combines a drug reservoir for extended release with ultrasound transducers that use sound waves to improve drug distribution through surrounding brain tissue.

LUCID integrates a 3D-printed drug-delivery cannula with an array of 24 miniature ultrasound transducers positioned near the needle tip. The transducers generate ultrasound waves that help released molecules diffuse farther into nearby tissue. The device holds about 100 microliters of fluid, uses a passive osmotic pump for infusion, and can be controlled wirelessly through Bluetooth. Its small battery can also be recharged wirelessly.

The researchers first evaluated the system in tissue phantoms, gel-like materials designed to mimic human tissue. In these tests, ultrasound-enhanced delivery spread drug molecules farther than delivery without ultrasound. The team then tested the device in mice using an MRI contrast agent and found that the agent spread farther through the brain.

If developed for patient use, the drug cannula and ultrasound array would be placed inside the skull. The battery and other electronics could remain outside the skull. The technology may also be applicable to small-molecule drugs, immunotherapies, nucleic acids including gene therapies, and delivery in organs beyond the brain. The work was published in Device on October 26, 2026.

“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,” said Canan Dagdeviren, an associate professor of media arts and sciences at MIT and the senior author of the study.

“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. We are showing that we can make any kind of payload be distributed in a better way,” Dagdeviren added.

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