Future Technology Trends

Ultrasound is an old technology that is continually being refined for novel applications.  Functional ultrasound imaging of the brain has a resolution that can surpass other scanning modalities.  Very high intensity beams can kill cancer tumors or perform surgery.  Lower frequency and intensity ultrasound is another advance in the field of neurotechnology.  Influencing your mind with sound waves sounds like it could be a statement from a generic crackpot.  Fortunately, this does not relate to any of those claims.  Studies have shown that specific focused ultrasonic waveforms can trigger brain cells to fire in a non-invasive manner via mechanical action.  It has previously been difficult to enable ultrasound to cross the skull effectively, but new methods have allowed scientists to overcome these issues.  Researchers from Arizona State University have shown that this tech treats treat epileptic seizures in mice.  This work is in Nature Protocols and gives another boost to the credibility of the science.  The technology may be able to complement or replace existing neurostimulation techniques.  

Specialized transducer arrays and software algorithms should be able to fine-tune the functioning of a multitude of brain regions at the same time.  Metamaterials can help to localize the activation area.  Many neurological disorders are associated with excesses or deficits of cerebral blood flow in specific regions.  The treatment can normalize these aberrations.   Pharmaceutical regimens often have numerous side effects.  Doctors could attenuate negative outcomes using this new technology.  Decreasing the activity of neurons would lessen the severity of epileptic fits.

Aside from the clinic, the main scientist William J. Tyler outlines speculative scenarios (see machining physiological intelligence).

It paves the way for forthcoming brain-computer interfaces due to its noninvasive nature. In these forward-looking applications, we envision the use of our technology in defense and national security industries, recreational applications such as video gaming, and future generations of social entertainment networks beyond the wildest imaginations of Apple, Facebook, and Google. We believe that brain stimulation is on the cusp of enabling the machining of physiological intelligence.

Dr. Tyler seems to entertain some very far-fetched future possibilities.  About six years ago, Sony had the idea of synthesizing hallucinatory sensations for video games using ultrasound.  The targeting accuracy is in the millimeter range, so it seems unlikely that the resolving power is high enough to accomplish that scenario.  Another recent related patent is a patient feedback for control of ultrasound deep-brain neuromodulation.  It is not really a surprise that the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency is also investigating this for the military.  Using it as a tool for recreation has been elucidated by the researcher and sounds similar to Kurzweil’s “experience beamers” idea.

MyBrainCloud.net is a forthcoming technology where users will be able connect with brain-machine interfaces utilizing noninvasive pulsed ultrasound to stimulate brain circuits in such a manner to influence cognitive experiences and performance while gaining access to global information highways from personalized cloud computing clusters. This technology has many broad applications ranging from at-home medicine to recreational applications such as interactive video gaming and virtual experience downloading.

It is still far too soon to tell if this work will end up in the clinic, let alone your home living room.  Do it yourself brain alteration appears to be an unlikely outcome for widespread use given the inherent dangers, but it won’t stop people from trying.  Too much stimulation may have unknown long term side effects or even cause seizures if inappropriately applied.  It is difficult to say when clinical trials would commence.

In a video, Dr. Tyler discusses ultrasonic neuromodulation.  He formed a spinoff company called synsonix to market LILFU. Another article discusses the use of ultrasound to treat brain disorders in clinical emergencies.