Temporarily disrupting the blood–brain barrier with a focused ultrasound helmet could boost the efficacy of monoclonal antibody treatments for early Alzheimer’s disease, research shows. 

MRI-guided focused ultrasound, which concentrates sound waves at specific points in the brain, has already been shown to reversibly open the barrier and reduce beta-amyloid plaque levels in affected patients. 

But now, US doctors say the non-invasive technology could be paired with the amyloid-busting drugs including aducanumab (Aduhelm), which was granted accelerated approval by the US Food and Drug Administration in 2021. 

Writing in The New England Journal of Medicine, the team presented results from a proof-of-concept trial involving three patients with Alzheimer’s disease — two men aged 59 and 77, and a 64-year-old woman.