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 traumatic brain injury. 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 clinical mechanism involves neuromodulation, that is aimed a stimulation of desired neural activity. A preclinical mechanism is the temporary opening of the blood brain barrier, which can facilitate the entry of stem cell, where they can multiply and differentiate. While some progress has been made, much work remains before these approaches could be widely available.
Advantages
The primary options for treatment of traumatic brain injury include initial stabilization measures, followed by specific treatment of the injuries involved. These may include medication and 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
A clinical trial in Los Angeles is looking to use thalamic low intensity focused ultrasound in acute brain injured patients.
A clinical trial in Korea is using low intensity focused ultrasound to treat patients with prolonged loss of consciousness after traumatic brain injury.
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/.
See a list of laboratory research sites >
Regulatory Approval and Reimbursement
Focused ultrasound treatment for traumatic brain injury is not yet approved by regulatory bodies or covered by medical insurance companies.
Notable Papers
Song W, Jayaprakash N, Saleknezhad N, Puleo C, Al-Abed Y, Martin JH, Zanos S. Transspinal Focused Ultrasound Suppresses Spinal Reflexes in Healthy Rats. Neuromodulation. 2024 Jun;27(4):614-624. doi: 10.1016/j.neurom.2023.04.476. Epub 2023 Aug 2. PMID: 37530695
Yi H, Wu S, Wang X, Liu L, Wang W, Yu Y, Li Z, Jin Y, Liu J, Zheng T, Du D. Multimodal evaluation of the effects of low-intensity ultrasound on cerebral blood flow after traumatic brain injury in mice. BMC Neurosci. 2024 Feb 13;25(1):8. doi: 10.1186/s12868-024-00849-0. PMID: 38350864
Huang L, Kang J, Chen G, Ye W, Meng X, Du Q, Feng Z. Low-intensity focused ultrasound attenuates early traumatic brain injury by OX-A/NF-κB/NLRP3 signaling pathway. Aging (Albany NY). 2022 Sep 16;14(undefined). doi: 10.18632/aging.204290.
Csaba Z, Vitalis T, Charriaut-Marlangue C, Margaill I, Coqueran B, Leger PL, Parente I, Jacquens A, Titomanlio L, Constans C, Demene C, Santin MD, Lehericy S, Perrière N, Glacial F, Auvin S, Tanter M, Ghersi-Egea JF, Adle-Biassette H, Aubry JF, Gressens P, Dournaud P. A simple novel approach for detecting blood-brain barrier permeability using GPCR internalization. Neuropathol Appl Neurobiol. 2021 Feb;47(2):297-315. doi: 10.1111/nan.12665. Epub 2020 Sep 27.
Cain JA, Spivak NM, Coetzee JP, Crone JS, Johnson MA, Lutkenhoff ES, N P CR, Buitrago-Blanco M, Vespa PM, Schnakers C, Monti MM. Ultrasonic Thalamic Stimulation in Chronic Disorders of Consciousness. Brain Stimul. 2021 Jan 16:S1935-861X(21)00009-7. doi: 10.1016/j.brs.2021.01.008.
Click here for additional references from PubMed.