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 retinal impairment. 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, the ultrasound produces neuromodulation of the ocular cortex, potentially enabling retinal impairment to be treated without surgery. While initial work has been accomplished, there is still much to be done before this technology will be widely available.
Advantages
The primary options for treatment of retinal impairment are very limited, and this could be a novel solution.
Focused ultrasound can reach the desired target without damaging surrounding tissue and is repeatable, if necessary.
Clinical Trials
At the present time, there are no clinical trials recruiting patients for focused ultrasound treatment of retinal impairment.
Regulatory Approval and Reimbursement
Focused ultrasound treatment for retinal impairment is not yet approved by regulatory bodies or covered by medical insurance companies.
Notable Papers
Lu G, Qian X, Castillo J, Li R, Jiang L, Lu H, Shung KK, Humayun MS, Thomas BB, Zhou Q. Transcranial Focused Ultrasound for Non-invasive Neuromodulation of the Visual Cortex. IEEE Trans Ultrason Ferroelectr Freq Control. 2020 Jun 29;PP. doi: 10.1109/TUFFC.2020.3005670.
Click here for additional references from PubMed.