Thursday April 23, 2009
12 PM
Evans Wilkins Board Room 1-120 (MED)
| "Nanomedicine Seminar II - Engineering Nanoparticles for Localized Noninvasive Cancer Therapy"
Prof. Tyrone M. Porter
Boston University Nanomedicine is a rapidly emerging field, which has potential to make a significant impact in the practice of medicine.
A major thrust in nanomedicine is the design and synthesis of nanoparticles to serve as carriers of drugs and liquified gas for diagnostic and therapeutic applications. Nanoparticles can be engineered to avoid clearance by the reticuloendothelial system, target solid tumors through underdeveloped neovasculature, and release their payload upon changes in pressure or temperature. The Medical Acoustics Laboratory (MedAL) at Boston University is engineering ultrasound-triggerable nanoparticles that can be used to treat solid tumors in a localized manner.
For example, noninvasive thermal ablation of inoperable tumors is possible with high intensity focused ultrasound (HIFU). This phenomenon can be enhanced by introducing nanoemulsions of liquefied perfluorocarbon gas, which serve as nuclei for bubbles that accelerate ultrasound-mediated thermal coagulation of cancerous tissue. Additionally, ultrasound-mediated heating can trigger the release of doxorubicin from temperature-sensitive liposomes, resulting in a significant increase in the local drug concentration. These approaches are designed to treat solid tumors with a high degree of specificity, thus increasing the effectiveness of the treatment with negligible
damage to surrounding healthy tissue.
Our aim is to generate excitement in the BU Medical Campus community and identify collaborative opportunities driven by clinical needs. This seminar is the second of the 3 seminar series on applications of nanotechnology in medicine. The last seminar (4/28) will focus on cardiovascular disease.
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