Department of Radiology, Stanford University, Stanford, California, United States of America.
Attune Neurosciences, San Francisco, California, United States of America.
PLoS Biol. 2024 Oct 29;22(10):e3002884. doi: 10.1371/journal.pbio.3002884. eCollection 2024 Oct.
Our understanding of brain circuit operations and disorders has rapidly outpaced our ability to intervene and restore them. Developing technologies that can precisely interface with any brain region and circuit may combine diagnostics with therapeutic intervention, expediting personalised brain medicine. Transcranial ultrasound stimulation (TUS) is a promising noninvasive solution to this challenge, offering focal precision and scalability. By exploiting the biomechanics of pressure waves on brain tissue, TUS enables multi-site targeted neuromodulation across distributed circuits in the cortex and deeper areas alike. In this Essay, we explore the emergent evidence that TUS can functionally test and modify dysfunctional regions, effectively serving as a search and rescue tool for the brain. We define the challenges and opportunities faced by TUS as it moves towards greater target precision and integration with advanced brain monitoring and interventional technology. Finally, we propose a roadmap for the evolution of TUS as it progresses from a research tool to a clinically validated therapeutic for brain disorders.
我们对大脑回路运作和紊乱的理解迅速超过了我们干预和恢复它们的能力。开发能够精确与任何脑区和回路相连接的技术,可能会将诊断与治疗干预相结合,加速个性化脑医学的发展。经颅超声刺激(TUS)是应对这一挑战的一种很有前途的非侵入性解决方案,它提供了焦点精度和可扩展性。通过利用脑组织上压力波的生物力学,TUS 能够在皮层和更深层区域的分布式回路中进行多部位靶向神经调节。在这篇文章中,我们探讨了 TUS 可以有效地测试和修改功能失调区域的新出现的证据,它实际上是大脑的搜索和救援工具。我们定义了 TUS 在朝着更高的目标精度以及与先进的大脑监测和介入技术的整合的过程中所面临的挑战和机遇。最后,我们提出了 TUS 的发展路线图,它将从研究工具演变为针对大脑疾病的临床验证治疗方法。
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