At the Department of Neurosurgery and the Center for Neuroregeneration at Houston Methodist Reseach Institute, our interdisciplinary teams aim to translate scientific discoveries into treatments for patients. Our research harnesses collaborative bioengineering approaches, including engineering materials to match electrokinetic properties of the brain, stereotaxic neurosurgery, and electrical engineering to drive innovations in therapeutic delivery techniques in the brain.

This study presents the implementation of electrokinetic convection-enhanced delivery (ECED) to infuse macromolecules into the brain from a hydrogel reservoir placed at the surface of the brain. The brain acts as a charged porous scaffold that, in the presence of an electric field, allows for electroosmosis: bulk fluid flow in a porous media. From the hydrogel reservoir, this bulk flow of fluid enables the delivery of therapeutic agents.

We infused a neutrally charged fluorophore into the brain from a hydrogel placed on the cortical surface. we demonstrate a method of therapeutic drug delivery to the brain that does not exclusively rely on the pressure gradient to reach selected targets. Rather, an electric field is used to infuse the molecules into the brain along electric field lines, based on bulk interstitial fluid flow.

These findings open the door for directed infusions in the brain along electric field for the precise delivery and coverage of therapeutic agents along a region of interest, potentially minimizing off-target effects and maximizing therapeutic efficacy.

ECED enables an infusion technique that can be applied to treat conditions such as traumatic brain injury, brain tumors, or degenerative disease, by itself and in conjunction with pressure driven approaches.

Post contributors: Jesus G. Cruz-Garza, PhD. Lokeshwar S. Bhenderu, MD. 

Image credits: Rachael Whitehead, MS. Senior Scientific Illustrator, Houston Methodist Academic Institute.