Transcranial focused ultrasound

Transcranial focused ultrasound, also called transcranial ultrasound stimulation or low intensity focused ultrasound, is a non-invasive technique under investigation for treating psychiatric and neurological disorders, capable of reaching deep brain structures with millimeter level precision. It appears to act on neurons through acoustic cavitation, small thermal changes affecting cell membranes, and the mechanical activation of ion channels such as Piezo1. Conditions under study include essential tremor, treatment resistant major depressive disorder, post-stroke chronic pain, epilepsy, obsessive compulsive disorder, and anxiety disorders, though as of the mid-2020s only a small number of clinical studies of its psychiatric uses had been conducted.