Open AccessUltrasound Neuromodulation: Integrating Medicine and Engineering for Neurological Disease Treatment
Author(s) -
Yuhao Chen,
Yue Li,
Mingliang Du,
Jinsui Yu,
Fei Gao,
Zhen Yuan,
Zhiyi Chen
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
bio integration/bio integration
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
eISSN - 2712-0082
pISSN - 2712-0074
DOI - 10.15212/bioi-2020-0026
Subject(s) - neuromodulation , medicine , neuroscience , epilepsy , deep brain stimulation , disease , depression (economics) , central nervous system , psychology , parkinson's disease , pathology , psychiatry , economics , macroeconomics
Neurological diseases associated with dysfunctions of neural circuits, including Alzheimer’s disease (AD), depression and epilepsy, have been increasingly prevalent. To tackle these issues, artificial stimulation or regulation of specific neural circuits and nuclei are employed to alleviate or cure certain neurological diseases. In particular, ultrasound neuromodulation has been an emerging interdisciplinary approach, which integrates medicine and engineering methodologies in the treatment. With the development of medicine and engineering, ultrasound neuromodulation has gradually been applied in the treatment of central nervous system diseases. In this review, we aimed to summarize the mechanism of ultrasound neuromodulation and the advances of focused ultrasound (FUS) in neuromodulation in recent years, with a special emphasis on its application in central nervous system disease treatment. FUS showed great feasibility in the treatment of epilepsy, tremor, AD, depression, and brain trauma. We also suggested future directions of ultrasound neuromodulation in clinical settings, with a focus on its fusion with genetic engineering or nanotechnology.