The use of ultrasound to increase cell membrane permeability – sonoporation – is a fast-growing avenue of investigation (1), (2). Here, sonoporation expert Spiros Kotopoulis gives us a rapid rundown of this emerging field.

Tell us about your research.

My work at the University Hospital of Bergen in Norway primarily focuses on the therapeutic use of ultrasound and microbubbles to deliver chemotherapy drugs. We started with simply simulating bubble behavior in different situations, and moved on to studying the relationship between microbubbles, ultrasound, and drug uptake. Using high-speed microscopy, we can visualize the interaction at frame rates of up to several million frames per second. We put bubbles and cells in a culture chamber under a microscope, and apply the ultrasound, to force the microbubbles into the cells. The culmination of that work so far was a clinical trial showing that chemotherapy in conjunction with sonoporation nearly doubled the median survival time in pancreatic cancer patients, with no added side effects, compared with chemotherapy alone(1).