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The brain is protected by the blood-brain barrier that keeps toxins and germs out. But this barrier also prevents helpful medication from getting into the brain. This makes treating brain tumors especially difficult.

Treatments such as surgery can remove some tumors, but surgery can’t touch tumor cells that are invading the surrounding healthy tissue.

A new technology being used at the University of Maryland, called focused ultrasound (FUS), has the potential to revolutionize brain tumor treatment. FUS uses sound waves that can temporarily disrupt the blood-brain barrier in the area surrounding the tumor, enabling medicine to travel through and kill invading cancer cells. With FUS, University of Maryland neurosurgeons have the potential to revolutionize brain tumor treatment.

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