# Focused ultrasound-enabled brain tumor liquid biopsy

> **NIH NIH R01** · WASHINGTON UNIVERSITY · 2024 · $550,519

## Abstract

PROJECT SUMMARY/ABSTRACT
There is an unmet critical need for techniques that achieve noninvasive molecular diagnosis of brain tumors.
Our group is addressing this unmet need by introducing and developing the focused ultrasound (FUS)-enabled
blood-based liquid biopsy technique, which we call sonobiopsy. NIH/NIBIB support (R01EB030102, funding
period 8/1/2020–4/30/2024) allowed us to demonstrate the effectiveness and safety of sonobiopsy in mouse and
pig models of glioblastoma, the most common primary brain tumor in adults. We also developed a clinical
sonobiopsy device by integrating a single-element FUS transducer with a neuronavigation system. These
breakthroughs led to our first-in-human clinical study, which demonstrated the initial feasibility and safety of
sonobiopsy in patients with glioblastoma. In much the same way that MRI transformed the diagnostic capabilities
of neurologic disease by providing anatomic and functional information, sonobiopsy has the potential to provide
equally important and complementary molecular information about the brain that is not currently available.
Sonobiopsy will be a platform technology that can be applied to the diagnosis and monitoring of various
neurological diseases. The objective of this renewal application is to develop and validate a next-generation
FUS device called sonocap, which will radically advance the clinical translation of sonobiopsy and enable its
broad adoption. The sonocap device is patient-friendly, easily manufactured, accurate in tumor targeting, and
safe. We will achieve this objective through two specific aims: Aim 1 will design and construct the wearable
sonocap, and Aim 2 will validate the performance and safety of the sonocap in non-human primates (NHPs).
The proposed sonocap is significant because it is a breakthrough FUS device that enhances our technical
capability in interfacing with the brain using ultrasound, addresses a critical barrier to advancing the clinical
translation of sonobiopsy, and improves the clinical practice in the diagnosis and monitoring of brain diseases
through sonobiopsy. Our multidisciplinary team has expertise in ultrasound engineering, wearable device
design, NHP research, and neurosurgery, and will advance sonocap through the development phase and into
future clinical trials. This study has three main innovations: (1) sonobiopsy is a groundbreaking approach for
interrogating the brain; (2) the wearable sonocap significantly departs from the status quo in the design of clinical
FUS devices; (3) the proposed approach for developing the sonocap combines human head phantom testing
and NHP validation. The project outcomes are expected to significantly impact the medical ultrasound field by
driving the development of wearable FUS devices, collecting essential large animal data required for clinical
translation, and ultimately achieving personalized patient care through noninvasive molecular diagnosis of brain
tumors.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10826166
- **Project number:** 2R01EB030102-05
- **Recipient organization:** WASHINGTON UNIVERSITY
- **Principal Investigator:** Hong Chen
- **Activity code:** R01 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2024
- **Award amount:** $550,519
- **Award type:** 2
- **Project period:** 2024-06-01 → 2028-03-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10826166

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10826166, Focused ultrasound-enabled brain tumor liquid biopsy (2R01EB030102-05). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-23 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10826166. Licensed CC0.

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