Meeting Report: Focused Ultrasound Neuromodulation (FUN) 2022

Published:

Key Points

  • The 3rd Focused Ultrasound Neuromodulation (FUN) Meeting was held September 26–28, 2022, in Mainz, Germany.
  • The conference is produced by the International Transcranial Ultrasonic Stimulation Safety and Standards (iTRUSST) Consortium.
  • All 11 oral and poster presentation sessions were related to focused ultrasound.

The International Transcranial Ultrasonic Stimulation Safety and Standards (iTRUSST) Consortium’s 3rd Focused Ultrasound Neuromodulation (FUN) Meeting was held September 26–28, 2022, on the campus of the Johannes Gutenberg-University Mainz in Mainz, Germany. The three-day conference, which was also available virtually, included technical, biomechanism, neuroscience, and clinical sessions. Eleven neuromodulation experts from across the globe presented invited lectures.

  • Technical sessions addressed stimulation control, effectiveness, safety, brain-machine interface, patient-specific focused ultrasound, and the assistance of modeling, neuroimaging, and neuronavigation.
  • Biomechanism sessions covered biomolecular mechanisms, electrical and ionic neural responses, brain perfusion and cerebral spinal fluid, and stimulation causality, dynamics, and selectivity.
  • Neuroscience sessions included presentations on neuroplastic effects, auditory confounds, cortical activation and inhibition, learning and decision, and online versus offline effects.
  • Clinical sessions featured information on using neuromodulation to treat depression, Parkinson’s disease, and chronic disorders of consciousness and information on the clinical practice of MR-guided focused ultrasound.

Apoutou N’Djin, PhD, a researcher at LabTAU in Lyon (a focused ultrasound center of excellence), served as a member of the meeting’s scientific committee. Dr. N’Djin reported that the symposium included 11 oral presentation sessions and one poster session. The abstracts and poster sessions also covered all aspects of FUN, and the poster pitch sessions stimulated lively discussions.

The Focused Ultrasound Foundation was a gold-level sponsor of this event.

The meeting program is available for download on the conference website.