Researchers at MIT have made a small device called LUCID. They hope it could help people with glioblastoma, a fast-growing brain cancer. Doctors usually remove this cancer in an operation, but some cancer cells can remain. The cancer often comes back.
LUCID is thin and can bend, like a sheet of card. It holds medicine and slowly releases it through a tiny tube. It also has 24 small parts that make sound waves. These waves help the medicine spread further through the brain.
The team tested the device in a gel made to act like human body tissue. The medicine spread further with the sound waves than without them. The researchers also tested a liquid used for brain scans in mice. This liquid spread further through the brain when the sound waves were on.
In the future, doctors could put LUCID in place during a cancer operation. It could then release medicine to kill cancer cells left behind. Doctors could control the sound waves without wires. The device also has a small battery that can charge without wires.
