Focused Ultrasound Therapy
Focused ultrasound is a noninvasive, therapeutic technology with the potential to improve the quality of life and decrease the cost of care for patients with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD). This novel technology focuses beams of ultrasound energy precisely and accurately on targets deep in the brain without damaging surrounding normal tissue.
How it Works
Where the beams converge, focused ultrasound produces neuromodulative therapeutic effects that are currently being evaluated. The mechanism of action of this treatment is being investigated, but it is still not well understood.
Advantages
For certain patients, focused ultrasound could provide a noninvasive – and perhaps more effective – alternative to conventional therapy. Focused ultrasound carries less risk of complications – such as surgical wound healing or infection – at a lower cost. It can reach the desired target without damaging surrounding tissue and is repeatable, if necessary. While significant work has been accomplished, there is still much to be done before this technology will be widely available.
Clinical Trials
A clinical trial is using neuromodulation in Hong Kong to see if it can improve those who have trouble in concentration.
A clinical trial in California is recruiting patients “by invitation” and is using low frequency focused ultrasound targeting the anterior cingulate in multiple treatment sessions.
The Foundation updates these pages regularly, but with the increasing number of clinical trials, we want to be sure that our audience has the latest information available. Therefore, we also added the website search information for the above trials. If you click here, it will take you to the latest information available from https://www.clinicaltrials.gov/.
Regulatory Approval and Reimbursement
Focused ultrasound treatment for ADHD is not yet approved by regulatory bodies or covered by medical insurance companies.
Notable Papers
Wang M, Xie Z, Wang T, Dong S, Ma Z, Zhang X, Li X, Yuan Y. Low-intensity transcranial ultrasound stimulation improves memory behavior in an ADHD rat model by modulating cortical functional network connectivity. Neuroimage. 2024 Oct 1;299:120841. doi: 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2024.120841. Epub 2024 Sep 6. PMID: 39244077.
Lord B, Sanguinetti JL, Ruiz L, Miskovic V, Segre J, Young S, Fini ME, Allen JJB. Transcranial focused ultrasound to the posterior cingulate cortex modulates default mode network and subjective experience: an fMRI pilot study. Front Hum Neurosci. 2024 Jun 4;18:1392199. doi: 10.3389/fnhum.2024.1392199. PMID: 38895168; PMCID: PMC11184145.
Hu YY, Yang G, Liang XS, Ding XS, Xu DE, Li Z, Ma QH, Chen R, Sun YY. Transcranial low-intensity ultrasound stimulation for treating central nervous system disorders: A promising therapeutic application. Front Neurol. 2023 Mar 8;14:1117188. doi: 10.3389/fneur.2023.1117188. PMID: 36970512; PMCID: PMC10030814.
Materna L, Wiesner CD, Shushakova A, Trieloff J, Weber N, Engell A, Schubotz RI, Bauer J, Pedersen A, Ohrmann P. Adult patients with ADHD differ from healthy controls in implicit, but not explicit, emotion regulation. J Psychiatry Neurosci. 2019 Sep 1;44(5):340-349. doi: 10.1503/jpn.180139.
Tang C, Wei Y, Zhao J, Nie J. Different Developmental Pattern of Brain Activities in ADHD: A Study of Resting-State fMRI. Dev Neurosci. 2018;40(3):246-257. doi: 10.1159/000490289. Epub 2018 Jul 13.
Click here for additional references from PubMed.