Development of a lung ultrasound therapy system for acute respiratory distress syndrome

急性呼吸窘迫综合征（ARDS）是重症监护病房的一种常见疾病，死亡率接近40%，其治疗是一项相当大的挑战。在急性呼吸窘迫综合征中，肺部充满液体，导致患者在自己的液体中溺水。急性呼吸窘迫综合征是最难治疗的疾病之一，因为它呈斑片状分布，肺部充满液体的区域分散在正常肺中，导致传统治疗优先影响正常肺，而不是受损肺。例如，机械呼吸机虽然能挽救生命，但它优先给肺的正常区域充气，导致正常肺本身过度膨胀和损伤。同样，吸入或注射的药物优先影响正常的肺部或身体的其他器官。在这里，我们**提出一种基于**超声技术和微气泡（临床上已用于**诊断目的的微小气泡）的革命性个性化和靶向药物治疗ARDS。虽然肺部的正常区域会散射超声波（因为超声波被空气阻挡），但超声波能够穿透受伤（充满液体或塌陷）的区域，从而增强抗生素等药物向受损肺部的输送。这种方法是个性化医疗的一种革命性形式，因为它将允许将药物和基因准确地输送到每个病人需要的地方。在这个项目中，我们将开发一个专门针对肺部的超声治疗系统的临床原型，并利用大型ARDS动物模型优化治疗方案。在项目结束时，我们将把这项研究转化为一期人体临床试验。

Treatment of acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS), a common disorder in intensive**care units with a mortality rate approaching 40%, is a considerable challenge. In ARDS, the**lungs are filled with fluid resulting in patients drowning in their own fluids. ARDS is one of the**most difficult conditions to treat because of its patchy distribution, where the fluid-filled regions**of the lung are interspersed within the normal lungs, causing conventional treatments to**preferentially affect the normal lungs rather than the injured regions. For instance, mechanical**ventilators, although life-saving, preferentially inflate the normal regions of the lung resulting**in overdistension and injury of the normal lung itself. Similarly, medicines given by inhalation**or injection preferentially affect the normal lungs or other organs in the body. Here we**propose a revolutionary form of personalized and targeted medicine to treat ARDS based on**ultrasound technology and microbubbles (tiny gas bubbles already used clinically for**diagnostic purposes). While the normal regions of lung scatter ultrasound waves (because**ultrasound is blocked by air), the ultrasound waves are able to penetrate the injured (fluidfilled**or collapsed) regions, allowing enhanced delivery of drugs like antibiotics to the**damaged lung. This approach is a revolutionary form of personalized medicine, since it will**allow the delivery of medicines and genes exactly where they are needed in each patient. In**this project, we will develop a clinical prototype of an ultrasound therapy system specifically**for the lungs and optimize treatment protocols using large animal models of ARDS. At the end**of the project, we will translate the study to a Phase I clinical trial in humans.