Future Technology Trends

Bats use high-frequency sound waves to visualize information. Now, researchers are considering a novel way to restore sight to the blind by using ultrasound. Pulses of various acoustic waves targeted to cells located in the eye may help to improve vision for specific people. Scientists hope that a retinal prosthetic can generate artificial vision. The basic idea behind this science would be to collect light from the outside world with a digital video camera mounted on a pair of glasses. They then translate those images into ultrasonic patterns that shoot through the pupil. A multi-focal ultrasound transducer array is the best option to obtain this capability. The sound alters the functioning of tissue and boosts cell activity. The human eye continuously integrates data that it takes in. For some diseases, nerves in the retina die off. This can cause a progressive loss in sight. The new contraption augments the performance of whatever cells are left. They are looking into a holographic method to generate the appropriate waveforms.  Read More »

Blasting the brain with high frequency sound waves is shaping up to become a future neuromodulation tool. Transcranial ultrasound stimulation is an emerging technology. A few papers in scientific journals indicate that this may be a novel method to modify neuron functioning (see previous posts). Recently, new work on utilizing this neurotechnology to alter anesthesia time in animals was published in the journal Neuroreport. For this study, researchers gave rats ketamine (and xylazine) to knock them out quickly. These medications interact with a number of proteins in the brain. Ketamine is an NMDA antagonist. By blocking that receptor, the drug prevents calcium ions from entering a neuron. It may cause dysregulated neural activity in regions like the thalamus to induce a loss of consciousness. The combo is a useful anesthetic. After giving rats the chemicals, they bombard the animal’s brain with focused ultrasound beams targeted to the thalamus. This help to test how these waves affect behavior.  Read More »

Ultrasound is a powerful tool that can treat a variety of conditions. Researchers are exploring these sound waves as a way to ameliorate disorders. Parkinson’s disease is a devastating illness for those afflicted. As people age, dopaminergic neurons die off. For some, this happens at a faster rate due to various factors. Many complex mechanisms underlie this process. Neurodegenerative diseases induce destruction in certain axonal pathways. Depletion of neurotransmitters in key areas causes motor control to cease functioning in a proper manner. Deep brain implants are often effective in treating symptoms by quieting overactive regions. There are drawbacks to these kinds of appliances. Neurosurgery has quite a few potential negative outcomes. Another approach is to ablate parts selectively non-invasively. Focused high-frequency ultrasound stimulation induces a thermal release of heat shock proteins. The beams lead to apoptosis or death of targeted cells. This is a relatively drastic measure. You would think that destroying tissue would be a bad thing. However, deleting cells reduces over excitability and aberrant movement. Read More »

Recent developments may yield practical brain computer interfaces (BCI) that work by using transcranial doppler ultrasound or related technologies.  TDU is an imaging technique that can record the movement of cerebral blood flow.  These types of scanning tools may possibly have benefits when compared to other technologies like an EEG.  Ultrasound is perhaps best known for its ability to image a fetus in the womb but it has numerous legitimate alternate applications as well.  Scientists at the Bloorview Research Institute in collaboration with other organizations have used sonography to investigate the practicality of a novel brain machine interface.   Read More »

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.   Read More »