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Tom Riis defended his PhD thesis Tom Riis defended his PhD thesis Tom has completed the last step of his extremely productive journey toward the PhD. Congratulations, Tom! February 17, 2023
Effective and safe treatment of depression Effective and safe treatment of depression The deep brain therapy performed with DIADEM can be highly effective. January 5, 2023
Article published in Scientific Reports Article published in Scientific Reports This articles provides an approach to shrink focal volume using frequency superposition. December 20, 2022
Article published in iScience Article published in iScience This article provides a device that programmatically delivers focused ultrasonic waves into specified deep brain targets. November 1, 2022
Treatments of depression Treatments of depression Together with Brian Mickey, we have initiated a clinical trial to use DIADEM to treat major depression. October 13, 2022
Gabrielle Bingener is selected for Summer Program for Undergraduate Research Gabrielle Bingener is selected for Summer Program for Undergraduate Research Gabrielle will characterize the response of specific cell types to ultrasonic stimulation April 30, 2022
Aarav Parikh receives the Charles Steger Global Internship. Aarav Parikh receives the Charles Steger Global Internship. Aarav works on an approach that delivers drugs specifically at the focus of ultrasound. April 20, 2022
Anna Yarema receives the UROP fellowship Anna Yarema receives the UROP fellowship Anna works on an approach that releases drugs locally at the focus of noninvasive ultrasound. Congratulations, Anna! April 13, 2022
Platform for Remote, Multifocal Brain Interventions Platform for Remote, Multifocal Brain Interventions Remus is an noninvasive, ultrasound-based system that manipulates specified deep brain circuits on command. This practical system enables researchers and clinicians to diagnose and treat specific deep brain noninvasively yet in a targeted manner, thus embodying the promise of personalized treatments of brain disorders. We now provide the hardware and software to assemble and use the system in the Tools section. The image link on the left shows how the system can be used to modulate deep brain circuits and behavior. October 20, 2021
Article published in Ultrasonics Article published in Ultrasonics Tom's article shows the acoustic properties of human skulls as a function of specific anatomical locations. We used this information to build a practical device for ultrasonic interventions in the human brain. October 15, 2021
Grant from the Focused Ultrasound Foundation Grant from the Focused Ultrasound Foundation The lab received funding from the Focused Ultrasound Foundation to develop protocols for durable treatments of the neural circuits involved in anxiety disorders. August 20, 2021
Grant from the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke Grant from the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke The lab will participate in a project that develops human brain organoids as a new, personalized way for understanding and treating neurological disorders. August 2, 2021
Article published in IEEE Transactions on Biomedical Engineering Article published in IEEE Transactions on Biomedical Engineering Tom's article shows that the human peripheral nervous system is more effectively stimulated with ultrasound at low frequencies. This result also bolsters the notion of mechanical effects of ultrasound on excitable cells. Congratulations, Tom! May 27, 2021
Acoustic properties across the human skull Acoustic properties across the human skull This information led to the development of a new device, "Diadem", that delivers focused ultrasound into specified deep brain circuits of humans at a controlled dose. This controlled approach safely delivers into the desired circuits much higher ultrasound intensities than previously possible, thus increasing the efficacy and reproducibility of ultrasound-based interventions. April 15, 2021
Platform for incisionless, multifocal brain stimulation Platform for incisionless, multifocal brain stimulation This new system delivers transcranial focused ultrasound into specified deep brain targets remotely, on command. This paper demonstrates its application in modulating behavior in awake behaving non-human primates. March 11, 2021
Rahul Cheeniyil joins the lab Rahul Cheeniyil joins the lab Rahul will develop an entirely new approach to modulate neural activity noninvasively and in a targeted way. Welcome aboard, Rahul! January 10, 2021
Sarah Haslam joins the lab Sarah Haslam joins the lab Sarah will optimize current local drug delivery approaches. Welcome aboard, Sarah! January 6, 2021
Arjun Acharya receives his Masters degree Arjun Acharya receives his Masters degree Arjun completed the required work to receive his Masters within the Neural Engineering track. Congratulations, Arjun! December 20, 2020
Article accepted in Science Advances Article accepted in Science Advances This study shows that ultrasound, applied noninvasively to specific brain regions, can influence choice behavior of primates. March 9, 2020
Taylor Webb receives the NIH Brain Initiative F32 award Taylor Webb receives the NIH Brain Initiative F32 award Taylor performs noninvasive, targeted deep brain therapies in awake behaving primates to treat a variety of mental and neurological disorders and to learn about basic brain function. February 22, 2020
Article published in Brain Stimulation Article published in Brain Stimulation We conclude that repeated ultrasonic brain stimulation in large animals is safe. February 21, 2020
Margolis Foundation seed grant Margolis Foundation seed grant The Ben B. and Iris M. Margolis Foundation generously supported our development of brain stimulation hardware. October 31, 2019
Alex Farley receives Capstone Project award Alex Farley receives Capstone Project award Alex's project receives Capstone funding. Congratulations, Alex! September 11, 2019
NIH R00 grant NIH R00 grant The lab received funding from the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke to develop methods for precise and noninvasive modulation of the nervous system. August 20, 2019
Alex Farley receives the UROP fellowship Alex Farley receives the UROP fellowship Alex investigates the effects of ultrasonic waves on the activity of human neurons. Congratulations, Alex! July 30, 2019
Charles Steger Global Internship Program in Focused Ultrasound Charles Steger Global Internship Program in Focused Ultrasound Our high school students of the Navajo tribe, Karla Tapia and Lelah Alhemrani, have been awarded with the Charles Steger Global Internship of the Focused Ultrasound Foundation. Congratulations, Karla and Lelah! May 1, 2019
Collaboration with the Rolston lab Collaboration with the Rolston lab We investigate the effects of sonic stimulation protocols on neural activity in humans. April 2, 2019
Preprint of sonic neurostimulation in non-human primates Preprint of sonic neurostimulation in non-human primates We found that transcranial ultrasound is capable of modulating neurons to the extent of biasing choice behavior of non-human primates. A demonstration of tangible, brain-region-specific effects on behavior of primates constitutes a critical step toward applying this noninvasive neuromodulation method in investigations of how specific neural circuits are involved in specific behaviors or disease signs. March 25, 2019
Collaboration with the Shcheglovitov lab Collaboration with the Shcheglovitov lab We investigate the effects of sonic stimulation protocols on the activity of human neurons. November 11, 2018
Collaboration with the Vinberg lab Collaboration with the Vinberg lab We investigate the effects of sonic stimulation protocols on the activity of retinal cells. October 12, 2018
Collaboration with Natalya Rapoport Collaboration with Natalya Rapoport We build on the work of Natalya Rapoport to release drugs from nanoparticle carriers focally using ultrasound. September 3, 2018
Research paper published in the Journal of Neuroscience Research paper published in the Journal of Neuroscience A remote control of cellular excitability in specific regions deep in tissue would constitute a powerful diagnostic and therapeutic tool. Ultrasound has demonstrated this promise, yet how ultrasound stimulates excitable cells has remained elusive. This study shows that ultrasound acts on tissues as a mechanical stimulus and so opens membrane ion channels. This mechanistic insight informs the design of protocols that maximize the stimulatory effects. February 28, 2018
Review article published in Neurosurgical Focus Review article published in Neurosurgical Focus The understanding of brain function and the capacity to treat neurological and psychiatric disorders rest on the ability to intervene in neuronal activity in specific brain circuits. Current methods of neuromodulation incur a tradeoff between spatial focus and the level of invasiveness. Transcranial focused ultrasound (FUS) is emerging as a neuromodulation approach that combines noninvasiveness with focus that can be relatively sharp even in regions deep in the brain. This may enable studies of the causal role of specific brain regions in specific behaviors and behavioral disorders. In addition to causal brain mapping, the spatial focus of FUS opens new avenues for treatments of neurological and psychiatric conditions. This review introduces existing and emerging FUS applications in neuromodulation, discusses the mechanisms of FUS effects on cellular excitability, considers the effects of specific stimulation parameters, and lays out the directions for future work. December 2, 2017