Thanh Nguyen, Ph.D.

Associate Professor University of Connecticut

  • Storrs CT

Professor Nguyen focuses on biointegrated materials and devices at nano- and micro-scales for applications in biomedicine

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#Expert Research: Biodegradable ultrasound implant could improve brain tumour treatments

One of the challenges in treating certain types of brain cancer is the way that the blood-brain barrier prevents chemotherapy drugs from reaching the tumors they're meant to target. UConn's Thanh Nguyen, a biomedical and mechanical engineer, is developing new technology that could improve how we are able to treat brain tumors.  He recently spoke with Physics World about this groundbreaking research: A new type of biodegradable ultrasound implant based on piezoelectric nanofibres could improve outcomes for patients with brain cancer. Researchers led by Thanh Nguyen from the the University of Connecticut’s department of mechanical engineering fabricated the devices from crystals of glycine, an amino acid found in the human body. Glycine is not only non-toxic and biodegradable, it is also highly piezoelectric, enabling the creation of a powerful ultrasound transducer that could help treat brain tumours. Brain tumours are particularly difficult to treat because the chemotherapy drugs that would be effective in tackling them are blocked from entering the brain by the blood–brain barrier (BBB). This barrier is a very tight junction of cells lining the blood vessel walls that prevents particles and large molecules from making their way through and damaging the brain. However, ultrasound can be safely used to temporarily alter the shape of the barrier cells such that chemotherapy drugs circulating in the bloodstream can pass through to the brain tissues. Currently, to achieve such BBB opening requires the use of multiple ultrasound transducers located outside the body, together with very high intensity ultrasound to enable penetration through the thick human skull bone. “That strong ultrasound can easily damage brain tissues and is not practical for multiple-time applications which are required to repeatedly deliver chemotherapeutics,” Nguyen tells Physics World. By contrast, the team’s new device would be implanted during the tumour removal surgery, and “can generate a powerful acoustic wave deep inside the brain tissues under a small supplied voltage to open the BBB”. The ultrasound would be triggered repeatedly as required to deliver the chemotherapy that kills off the residual cancer cells at tumour sites. After a set period of time following treatment the implant biodegrades, thereby eliminating the need for surgery to remove it. The research, reported in Science Advances, demonstrated that the team’s device used in conjunction with the chemotherapy drug paclitaxel significantly extended the lifetime of mice with glioblastomas (the most aggressive form of brain tumour) compared with mice receiving the drugs but no ultrasound treatment. This is fascinating research and if you are interesting in covering this topic, then let us help. Professor Nguyen focuses on biointegrated materials and devices at nanoand micro-scales for applications in biomedicine, and he's available to speak to media about his research. Simply click on his icon now to arrange an interview today.

Thanh Nguyen, Ph.D.

Biography

Nguyen joined the Departments of Mechanical Engineering and Biomedical Engineering at UConn at the beginning of 2016 after finishing his postdoctoral fellowship with Dr. Robert Langer at MIT. His research is highly interdisciplinary and at the interface of biomedicine, materials and nano/micro technology. He has invented and developed a platform technology which can create 3-dimensional microstructures of biomaterials, such as biodegradable polymers for applications in vaccine/drug delivery and medical implants. Recently, his research group has studied and developed a novel biodegradable piezoelectric polymer, which can be used to make a miniaturized implantable force-sensor for monitoring vital biophysiological forces. The sensor can be well-engineered to perform monitoring task and self-vanish after a defined lifetime. Dr. Nguyen’s work has been published in prestigious journals including Science, Nature Nanotechnology etc. and highlighted in major media such as The New York Times, BBC News, Fox News etc. He received several prestigious awards including the NIH Trailblazer Award for Young and Early Investigators, and the SME Outstanding Manufacturing Engineer Award.

Areas of Expertise

Vaccinations
Drug Delivery
Nano

Education

Princeton University

Ph.D.

Accomplishments

National Academy of Inventors 2024 Senior Member

NAI Senior Members are active faculty, scientists, and administrators with success in patents, licensing, and commercialization who have produced technologies that have brought or aspire to bring real impact on the welfare of society. They are rising stars who foster a spirit of innovation within their communities and institutions while educating and mentoring the next generation of inventors.

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Media Appearances

Biodegradable Brain Implant Delivers Life-Saving Cancer Meds

Web MD  online

2023-07-10

The problem addressed by the researchers is the blood-brain barrier, a nearly impenetrable blood vessel lining that keeps harmful molecules from passing into the brain from the blood. But this lining can also block chemo drugs from reaching cancer cells. So the scientists implanted one-centimeter-square devices into the skulls of mice, directly behind the tumor site. The implants generate ultrasound waves, loosening the barrier and allowing the drugs to reach the tumor. The sound waves leave healthy tissue undamaged.

“You inject the drug into the body and turn on the ultrasound at the same time. You're going to hit precisely at the tumor area every single time you use it," said lead study author Thanh Nguyen, PhD, an associate professor of mechanical engineering at the University of Connecticut.

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Biodegradable ultrasound implant could improve brain tumour treatments

Physics World  online

2023-07-07

A new type of biodegradable ultrasound implant based on piezoelectric nanofibres could improve outcomes for patients with brain cancer.

Researchers led by Thanh Nguyen from the at the University of Connecticut’s department of mechanical engineering fabricated the devices from crystals of glycine, an amino acid found in the human body. Glycine is not only non-toxic and biodegradable, it is also highly piezoelectric, enabling the creation of a powerful ultrasound transducer that could help treat brain tumours.

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UConn professor develops electric masks. Here’s how they work.

Hearst Connecticut Media  print

2022-02-11

Connecticut schools may soon allow students to take off their masks, but that’s not stopping Thanh Nguyen.

Nguyen is an assistant professor at the University of Connecticut, specializing in mechanical and biomedical engineering, and material science. He’s taken a not-so-new idea and adapted it for a new purpose.

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Articles

Biotemplated Synthesis of PZT Nanowires

Nano Letters

Thanh Nguyen et al.

2013

Piezoelectric nanowires are an important class of smart materials for next-generation applications including energy harvesting, robotic actuation, and bioMEMS. Lead zirconate titanate (PZT), in particular, has attracted significant attention, owing to its superior electromechanical conversion performance. Yet, the ability to synthesize crystalline PZT nanowires with well-controlled properties remains a challenge...

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Nanoscale Flexoelectricity

Advanced Materials

Thanh Nguyen et al.

2013

Electromechanical effects are ubiquitous in biological and materials systems. Understanding the fundamentals of these coupling phenomena is critical to devising next-generation electromechanical transducers. Piezoelectricity has been studied in detail, in both the bulk and at mesoscopic scales. Recently, an increasing amount of attention has been paid to flexoelectricity: electrical polarization induced by a strain gradient...

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