The work is published in the journal Nature Biomedical Engineering.

The new approach could represent a paradigm shift in how the malformations, commonly called CCMs, are treated, the researchers say. The technique uses tiny, gas-filled “microbubbles” propelled by focused sound waves to open the brain’s protective barrier and stunt the growth of the malformations.

“This is a clear example of serendipity in science. We were looking for something else—performing long-term safety studies of focused ultrasound as a tool for drug and gene delivery to CCMs—when we noticed that CCMs exposed to just focused ultrasound with microbubbles were being stabilized. After the initial observations, we spent years doing experiments to confirm the effect was real and reproducible,” said researcher Richard J. Price, Ph.D., co-director of UVA Health’s Focused Ultrasound Cancer Immunotherapy Center.