Sponsor: Coulter Foundation
Performance Period: 9/1/11-8/31/13
PI: Chris Rylander, co-PIs: John Robertson and John Rossmeisl
The goal of this project is to develop a superior convective-enhanced delivery (CED) treatment for malignant gliomas (MGs), in which a chemotherapeutic drug (carboplatin) is broadly and uniformly delivered with a novel medical device to primary tumors and infiltrative cells (extending >2 cm). To accomplish this goal, a fiberoptic microneedle device (FMD) will be developed and utilized as outlined in the Specific Aims:
Aim 1: Design and evaluate FMD prototypes for controlled microneedle arborization and broad distribution of drugs using explanted porcine and canine brain tissue.
Aim 2: Design and evaluate FMD prototypes for photo-thermo-chemotherapeutic (PTC) drug perfusion to uniformly saturate selected regions of explanted brain tissue.
Aim 3: Test FMD with caboplatin+Gd-DTPA in canine patients with spontaneous MGs and evaluate treatment with MR imaging.
Photo-thermo-chemotherapeutic treatment of explanted brain tissue with a blue tracer dye.Section through brain region perfused by FMD.
Left: photo-thermo-chemotherapeutic treatment of explanted brain tissue with a blue tracer dye. Right: section through brain region perfused by FMD.