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 thromboembolic stroke. 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 several therapeutic effects that are being evaluated. One mechanism is the disruption of blood clots, which allows reperfusion of ischemic tissue. Another mechanism is the temporary opening of the blood-brain barrier, which enables entry of stem cells into the area of the stroke. A third mechanism is neuromodulation, which can increase regional blood flow to ischemic areas. All are still in the early stage, and more work is needed before this research can reach the clinic. Please note that there is another major cause of stroke, listed separately under “Stroke, intracellular hemorrhage.”
Advantages
The primary options for treatment of stroke include medications with the possible inclusion of surgery.
For certain patients, focused ultrasound could provide a noninvasive alternative to surgery with 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.
Clinical Trials
There is a clinical trial ongoing in North Carolina using low intensity focused ultrasound to help with upper extremity motor deficits after a stroke.
There is a clinical trial in Taiwan using focused ultrasound to help patients recover after a stroke.
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 thromboembolic stroke is not yet approved by regulatory bodies or covered by medical insurance companies.
Notable Papers
Huang Z, Charalambous CC, Chen M, Kim T, Sokhadze E, Song A, Jung SH, Shekhar S, Feld JA, Jiang X, Feng W. Low intensity focused ultrasound stimulation in stroke: A phase I safety & feasibility trial. Brain Stimul. 2025 Jan 20;18(1):179-187. doi: 10.1016/j.brs.2025.01.015. PMID: 39842609
Guo J, He S, Yan L, Wang L, Shi X, Hu H, Li L. Therapeutic effects of low-intensity transcranial focused ultrasound stimulation on ischemic stroke in rats: an in vivo evaluation using electrical impedance tomography. Neural Regen Res. 2024 Dec 7. doi: 10.4103/NRR.NRR-D-24-00128. PMID: 39665828
Hong Z, Zuo Z, Zhao Y, Ai Y, Zhang L, Li L, He X, Luo J, Xu J, Yang X, Yi S, Zheng H, Tie C, Niu L, Hu X. Transcranial focused ultrasound stimulation alleviates NLRP3-related neuroinflammation induced by ischemic stroke via regulation of the Nespas/miR-383-3p/SHP2 pathway. Int Immunopharmacol. 2024 Nov 30;144:113680. doi: 10.1016/j.intimp.2024.113680. PMID: 39616858
Cheng R, Luo X, Wu X, Wang Z, Chen Z, Zhang S, Xiao H, Zhong J, Zhang R, Cao Y, Qin X. Artificial Microglia Nanoplatform Loaded With Anti-RGMa in Acoustic/Magnetic Feld for Recanalization and Neuroprotection in Acute Ischemic Stroke. Adv Sci (Weinh). 2024 Oct 30:e2410529. doi: 10.1002/advs.202410529. PMID: 39475454
Savelon ECJ, Jordan HT, Stinear CM, Byblow WD. Noninvasive brain stimulation to improve motor outcomes after stroke. Curr Opin Neurol. 2024 Sep 3. doi: 10.1097/WCO.0000000000001313. PMID: 39221935
Click here for additional references from PubMed.