Li Yueming, Jiang Ying, Lan Lu, Ge Xiaowei, Cheng Ran, Zhan Yuewei, Chen Guo, Shi Linli, Wang Runyu, Zheng Nan, Yang Chen, Cheng Ji-Xin
Department of Mechanical Engineering, Boston University, Boston, MA, 02215, USA.
Graduate Program for Neuroscience, Boston University, Boston, MA, 02215, USA.
Light Sci Appl. 2022 Nov 3;11(1):321. doi: 10.1038/s41377-022-01004-2.
High precision neuromodulation is a powerful tool to decipher neurocircuits and treat neurological diseases. Current non-invasive neuromodulation methods offer limited precision at the millimeter level. Here, we report optically-generated focused ultrasound (OFUS) for non-invasive brain stimulation with ultrahigh precision. OFUS is generated by a soft optoacoustic pad (SOAP) fabricated through embedding candle soot nanoparticles in a curved polydimethylsiloxane film. SOAP generates a transcranial ultrasound focus at 15 MHz with an ultrahigh lateral resolution of 83 µm, which is two orders of magnitude smaller than that of conventional transcranial-focused ultrasound (tFUS). Here, we show effective OFUS neurostimulation in vitro with a single ultrasound cycle. We demonstrate submillimeter transcranial stimulation of the mouse motor cortex in vivo. An acoustic energy of 0.6 mJ/cm, four orders of magnitude less than that of tFUS, is sufficient for successful OFUS neurostimulation. OFUS offers new capabilities for neuroscience studies and disease treatments by delivering a focus with ultrahigh precision non-invasively.
高精度神经调节是破译神经回路和治疗神经系统疾病的有力工具。当前的非侵入性神经调节方法在毫米级别上精度有限。在此，我们报告了用于超高精度非侵入性脑刺激的光生聚焦超声（OFUS）。OFUS由一种柔软的光声垫（SOAP）产生，该光声垫通过将烛烟纳米颗粒嵌入弯曲的聚二甲基硅氧烷薄膜中制成。SOAP在15兆赫兹频率下产生经颅超声聚焦，横向分辨率高达83微米，比传统经颅聚焦超声（tFUS）小两个数量级。在此，我们展示了在体外单超声周期下有效的OFUS神经刺激。我们在体内证明了对小鼠运动皮层的亚毫米级经颅刺激。0.6毫焦/平方厘米的声能，比tFUS小四个数量级，就足以实现成功的OFUS神经刺激。OFUS通过非侵入性地提供超高精度的聚焦，为神经科学研究和疾病治疗提供了新的能力。
