Creating a ‘Window to the Brain’

University of California, Riverside researchers develop novel transparent skull implant that could provide new treatment options for disorders such as brain cancer and traumatic brain injury

By Sean Nealon on September 3, 2013

Members of the research team, from left, Javier Garay, Yasuhiro Kodera, Carissa L. Reynolds, Yasaman Damestani, Guillermo Aguilar, Masaru P. Rao and B. Hyle Park.

RIVERSIDE, Calif. (www.ucr.edu) A team of University of California, Riverside researchers have developed a novel transparent skull implant that literally provides a window to the brain, which they hope will eventually open new treatment options for patients with life-threatening neurological disorders, such as brain cancer and traumatic brain injury.

The teams implant is made of the same ceramic material currently used in hip implants and dental crowns, yttria-stabilized zirconia (YSZ). However, the key difference is that their material has been processed in a unique way to make it transparent.

A version of the transparent skull implant developed by UC Riverside researchers.

Since YSZ has already proven itself to be well-tolerated by the body in other applications, the teams advancement now allows use of YSZ as a permanent window through which doctors can aim laser-based treatments for the brain, importantly, without having to perform repeated craniectomies, which involve removing a portion of the skull to access the brain.

The work also dovetails with President Obamas recently-announced BRAIN (Brain Research through Advancing Innovative Neurotechnologies) Initiative, which aims to revolutionize the understanding of the human mind and uncover new ways to treat, prevent, and cure brain disorders. The team envisions potential for their YSZ windows to facilitate the clinical translation of promising brain imaging and neuromodulation technologies being developed under this initiative.

This is a case of a science fiction sounding idea becoming science fact, with strong potential for positive impact on patients, said Guillermo Aguilar, a professor of mechanical engineering at UC Riversides Bourns College of Engineering (BCOE).

Aguilar is part of 10-person team, comprised of faculty, graduate students and researchers from UC Riversides Bourns College of Engineering and School of Medicine, who recently published a paper Transparent Nanocrystalline Yttria-Stabilized-Zirconia Calvarium Prosthesis about their findings online in the journal Nanomedicine: Nanotechnology, Biology and Medicine.

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Creating a ‘Window to the Brain’