Delivering Agents Locally into Articular Cartilage by Intense MHz Ultrasound

Heikki J. Nieminen*, Tuomo Ylitalo, Jussi Petteri Suuronen, Krista Rahunen, Ari Salmi, Simo Saarakkala, Ritva Serimaa, Edward Hæggström

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticleScientificpeer-review

15 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

There is no cure for osteoarthritis. Current drug delivery relies on systemic delivery or injections into the joint. Because articular cartilage (AC) degeneration can be local and drug exposure outside the lesion can cause adverse effects, localized drug delivery could permit new drug treatment strategies. We investigated whether intense megahertz ultrasound (frequency: 1.138 MHz, peak positive pressure: 2.7 MPa, Ispta: 5 W/cm2, beam width: 5.7 mm at -6 dB, duty cycle: 5%, pulse repetition frequency: 285 Hz, mechanical index: 1.1) can deliver agents into AC without damaging it. Using ultrasound, we delivered a drug surrogate down to a depth corresponding to 53% depth of the AC thickness without causing histologically detectable damage to the AC. This may beimportant because early osteoarthritis typically exhibits histopathologic changes in the superficial AC. In conclusion, we identify intense megahertz ultrasound as a technique that potentially enables localized non-destructive delivery of osteoarthritis drugs or drug carriers into articular cartilage.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)2259-2265
Number of pages7
JournalULTRASOUND IN MEDICINE AND BIOLOGY
Volume41
Issue number8
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 1 Aug 2015
MoE publication typeA1 Journal article-refereed

Keywords

  • Cartilage repair
  • Drug delivery
  • Osteoarthritis
  • Ultrasound

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