Abstract
Background: Among the effective approaches developed for blood-brain barrier (BBB) opening, ultrasound is recognized as a non-invasive technique that can induce localized BBB opening transiently and repeatedly. This technique has aroused broad attention from researchers worldwide, and numerous articles have been published recently. However, no existing study has systematically examined this field from a scientometric perspective. The aim of this study was to summarize the knowledge structure and identify emerging trends and potential hotspots in this field.Methods: Publications related to ultrasound-induced BBB opening published from 1998 to 2020 were retrieved from Web of Science Core Collection. The search strategies were as follows: topic: (“blood brain barrier” OR “BBB”) AND topic: (ultrasound OR ultrason* OR acoustic* OR sonopora*). The document type was set to articles or reviews with language restriction to English. Three different analysis tools including one online platform, VOS viewer1.6.16, and CiteSpace V5.7.R2 software were used to conduct this scientometric study.Results: A total of 1,201 valid records were included in the final analysis. The majority of scientific publication was produced by authors from North America, Eastern Asia, and Western Europe. Ultrasound in Medicine and Biology was the most prominent journal. The USA, China, and Canada were the most productive countries. Hynynen K, and Mcdannold N were key researchers with considerable academic influence. According to analysis of keywords, four main research directions were identified: cluster 1 (microbubbles study), cluster 2 (management of intracranial tumors), cluster 3 (ultrasound parameters and mechanisms study), and cluster 4 (treatment of neurodegenerative diseases). The current research hotspot has shifted from the basic research of ultrasound and microbubbles to management of intracranial tumors and neurodegenerative diseases. Burst detection analysis showed that Parkinson's disease, doxorubicin, gold nanoparticle, glioblastoma, gene therapy, and Alzheimer's disease may continue to be the research frontiers.Conclusion: Ultrasound-induced BBB opening research is in a period of robust development. This study is a starting point, providing a comprehensive overview, development landscape, and future opportunities of this technology, which standout as a useful reference for researchers and decision makers interested in this area.
Highlights
Advances in the knowledge of basic neuroscience, neuropharmacology, and nanomaterials have resulted in the availability of several novel therapeutic agents/genes that may be helpful to treat many central nervous system (CNS) diseases such as neurodegenerative, traumatic, inflammatory, and neoplastic diseases (Wong et al, 2012; Tian et al, 2019; Lochhead et al, 2020)
We mainly focused upon the indicators as follows: the annual number of publication and citation; outputs and citation frequency of journals, countries, institutions, and authors; Hirsch index (H-index) of countries and authors; and impact factor (IF) and quartile in category of journals
Research on ultrasound-induced blood-brain barrier (BBB) opening was roughly divided into three stages: the initial stage from 1998 to 2006, and the second stage from 2007 to 2015, and the third stage from 2016 to 2020
Summary
Advances in the knowledge of basic neuroscience, neuropharmacology, and nanomaterials have resulted in the availability of several novel therapeutic agents/genes that may be helpful to treat many central nervous system (CNS) diseases such as neurodegenerative, traumatic, inflammatory, and neoplastic diseases (Wong et al, 2012; Tian et al, 2019; Lochhead et al, 2020). Various strategies have been investigated, including direct intracranial infusion (Banks, 2016), hyperosmotic solutions (Kroll and Neuwelt, 1998), convection-enhanced delivery (Zhan and Wang, 2018), nose-to-brain pathways (Lochhead and Thorne, 2012; Su et al, 2020), and so on These approaches have always been limited by the lack of selectivity of the target site, safety concerns, and a failure to achieve sufficient brain tissue concentrations of delivered compounds, and have not gained widespread acceptance in clinical practice (Banks, 2016; Zhang et al, 2016). The aim of this study was to summarize the knowledge structure and identify emerging trends and potential hotspots in this field
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