IRE electrode system that opens the blood-brain barrier for
This technology uses precisely controlled electrical pulses delivered through electrodes placed in brain tissue to do two things at once: it permanently destroys a targeted zone of cells (such as a tumor) while simultaneously and temporarily opening the blood-brain barrier in the surrounding area. The blood-brain barrier normally blocks most drugs from reaching the brain, which is why treating brain diseases is so difficult. By disrupting that barrier in a controlled zone around the treatment site, this method allows therapeutic agents — drugs, biologics, or other compounds — to flood into the tissue while it is vulnerable. The result is a combined ablation-plus-drug-delivery approach in a single procedure, without the heat damage that conventional energy-based treatments cause.
What you could build
A neurosurgical system combining an IRE electrode array with a synchronized drug-infusion protocol, sold to hospital neuro-oncology and neurosurgery departments treating glioblastoma and other brain tumors where current options are inadequate.
Who in Virginia should care
Virginia hospital systems with active neurosurgery programs (Inova, UVA Health, VCU Health) and defense-adjacent researchers at DARPA or Walter Reed studying traumatic brain injury treatments would be natural early partners or licensees.
Readiness: Lab validated
Concept — described but not yet demonstrated. Lab validated — supported by experimental results in the patent. Prototype likely — the text describes a built, working embodiment.
Readiness is inferred from the patent text, not from a lab visit.
The record
- Inventors
- Rafael V. Davalos, Paulo A. Garcia, John H. Rossmeisl
- Granted
- April 30, 2019
- Status
- Granted patent
- Patent number
- 10272178
Ready to talk?
Virginia Tech Intellectual Properties handles licensing for this technology.
Prosim summaries are generated from public patent text and are not legal advice.