The brain contains its own security system known as the blood-brain barrier. Though its purpose – preventing harmful substances entering – is essential to our survival, this also means that potential life-improving medicines can't reach the brain. This includes drugs that could manage or cure currently untreatable conditions such as Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s and brain tumours.
Sophie Morse, from Imperial College London, is part of a team developing a new technique which uses ultrasound to temporarily open the barrier with microbubbles for drugs to cross the blood-brain barrier. Hear more about this revolutionary non-invasive technique in this year’s Engineering, Technology and Industry Award Lecture.