Implantable device uses ultrasound to improve drug delivery to the brain.
MIT researchers designed an implantable device that pairs a drug reservoir with 24 tiny ultrasound transducers, and showed in tissue models and mice that it spread molecules farther.
Researchers at MIT have designed an implantable drug-delivery device meant to help prevent the recurrence of glioblastoma, an aggressive brain tumor. Patients usually have surgery to remove the tumor, but surgeons often cannot remove every cancer cell, and the tumor frequently returns.
The device, called LUCID (Long-term Ultrasound-enhanced Convective Injection Device), is a flexible implant about as thin as a sheet of cardstock. A drug-delivery cannula is 3D-printed directly onto an array of 24 miniature ultrasound transducers, which generate sound waves at the needle tip. According to the researchers, the ultrasound helps drug molecules spread farther through tissue and temporarily makes the blood-brain barrier more permeable.
The reservoir holds about 100 microliters of fluid, and a passive osmotic pump supplies the infusion. Ultrasound dosing can be programmed wirelessly through Bluetooth, and a small battery can be recharged wirelessly. Canan Dagdeviren, an associate professor of media arts and sciences at MIT and senior author of the study, said the device also gives doctors options for the size, length and number of infusions.
The results appeared in the journal Device. In a "tissue phantom," a gel-like material that mimics human tissue, ultrasound-aided delivery spread drug molecules much farther than delivery without ultrasound. In mice, the team delivered an MRI contrast agent, and it spread further through the brain when the ultrasound array was active.
If the device is developed for patients, the cannula and ultrasound array would sit inside the skull, while the battery and other electronics could stay outside it, the researchers say. They also suggest the approach could deliver immunotherapies, nucleic acids including gene therapies, and possibly treatments for organs other than the brain. The page describes tests only in tissue models and mice.
Lead authors are MIT graduate student Sarah Ornellas and Jason Hou PhD '26. The work was funded by the MIT Media Lab Consortium and the National Institutes of Health.
At a Glance
- The LUCID implant combines a drug cannula with an array of 24 miniature ultrasound transducers.
- The reservoir carries about 100 microliters of fluid, and ultrasound is controlled wirelessly through Bluetooth.
- In mice, an MRI contrast agent spread further through the brain when the ultrasound array was activated.
- The study appeared in the journal Device on October 26, 2026.
Sources
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