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A £15 million project has been launched that aims to improve the efficiency of drug treatment while minimising any adverse side effects.
Electronics giant Philips is leading the major European project to develop drug delivery technologies for the treatment for cancer and cardiovascular disease.
The research involves guiding an inert form of medicine directly to disease sites through a patient’s bloodstream using magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and ultrasound before activating it with focused ultrasound pulses.
The aim of the SonoDrugs project is to provide the maximum therapeutic efficiency of the cancer and cardiovascular disease treatment while reducing the side effects caused to the rest of the body.
It is also hoped that the increased level of control can also provide a means of tailoring the therapy to individual patients.
The four-year SonoDrugs project is a partnership between 15 European Union-based industrial partners, university medical centres, and academic institutions.
Copyright Press Association 2009
