Key Points
- A large, multicenter team of researchers partnered with GE Research to study the use of focused ultrasound for the treatment of diabetes.
- Focused ultrasound neuromodulation could be used to prevent or reverse Type 2 diabetes.
- The results of the preclinical study were published in Nature Biomedical Engineering.
A large, multicenter team of researchers partnered with GE Research to study the use of focused ultrasound for the treatment of diabetes. The results of the study were published in the journal Nature Biomedical Engineering.
In the journal article, Stimulation of the Hepatoportal Nerve Plexus with Focused Ultrasound Restores Glucose Homoeostasis in Diabetic Mice, Rats and Swine, the scientists used focused ultrasound to stimulate the nerves that control the venous system that returns blood from the digestive system to the liver and spleen. The ultrasound stimulation protocol positively impacted key metabolic functions (e.g., communication between the digestive organs and the brain, neurotransmitter concentrations, and glucose tolerance and utilization) in three different preclinical models.
According to the GE Research press release, focused ultrasound neuromodulation has the potential to be used to prevent or reverse Type 2 diabetes. Human feasibility studies in patients with diabetes are now underway.
“The use of ultrasound could be a game-changer in how bioelectronic medicines are used and applied to disease, such as Type-2 diabetes, in the future,” said Christopher Puleo, a senior biomedical engineer at GE Research. “Non-pharmaceutical and device-based methods to augment or replace the current drug-treatments may add a new therapeutic choice for physicians and patients in the future.”
The GE Research team includes GE scientists and laboratories at Feinstein Institutes for Medical Research, UCLA Samueli School of Engineering, Yale School of Medicine, and Albany Medical College.
See Nature Biomedical Engineering >
See media coverage from New Atlas, UCLA Samueli School of Engineering, and Interesting Engineering.