Researchers are tapping ultrasound waves and vibrations in treatments for a wide range of brain disorders, such as Parkinson's disease, strokes, and tumors, that will dramatically cut the cost of such therapies.
New methods in focusing on ultrasound waves have been studied to expand the use of ultrasound imaging, a less costly alternative to magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) technology. Traditionally, ultrasound is utilized as an imaging technique, but now it is being considered to be used as an accurate therapy and diagnostic tool for a wide range of brain illnesses, as per the report of Georgia Tech.
Utilizing Ultrasound to Treat, Diagnose Brain Disorders
Researchers from the Georgia Institute of Technology are looking at wide-ranging frequencies for this technique in the study, "Experimental and Computational Investigation of Guided Waves in a Human Skull," published on UMBJournal.
They are creating distinct frameworks to address how to utilize vibration and sound to diagnose and treat brain disorders, and discovering how waves and vibrations through a range of frequencies could get information from the brain or concentrate energy on it.
Though treating some tumors or other brain illnesses non-invasively is possible, if those get closer to the center of the brain, other conditions are difficult to access, according to researchers. While non-invasive treatments can target a part of the brain away from its center, the central part of the brain can only be accessed by going through the skull.
In a diagnostic view, a one-millimeter move is an enormous distance, showing the complex nature of the brain, with each part linked to separate functions and cells being different from one another, according to a EurekAlert article. Researchers said an individual's skull characteristics would determine if such brain imaging or therapy would work, noting that some people have more trabecular bones, which are the porous, spongy part that is harder to treat.
In using ultrasound waves, researchers are facing the challenge in several levels. They are using ultrasound imaging to look at skull dimensions for better therapy and imaging. Initial tests have been conducted using ultrasound imaging to gauge the effects of bone microstructure, including the porosity of the skull's trabecular layer.
Ultrasound Imaging for the Brain Attainable for More People
By getting to know how the acoustic waves are transmitted through the microstructure in a person's skull, researchers said non-invasive ultrasound imaging and therapy of the brain would be attainable for more people, a MedicalExpress article revealed. A specific, possible application noted in the research is imaging blood flow in a stroke patient's brain.
They also discovered a method to train the ultrasound waves through the skull and to the brain 100 times faster than any other existing technique. Adaptive focusing methods would let medical professionals adjust ultrasound quickly for an enhanced focus.
Another research is looking at high-fidelity modeling of skull bone mechanics through vibration-based elastic parameter identification. It uses guided ultrasound waves in the skull for more expansive brain treatments.
Researchers hope their studies would make ultrasound-based brain imaging and therapies acceptable in the future. These methods will offer enhanced detection of traumas and skull or brain disorders, better mapping of brain functions while making neurostimulation possible.
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