“Precision Neurology Using Focused Ultrasonic Waves”
Associate Professor of Psychiatry
Associate Professor of Neurology
Associate Professor of Radiology 
WashU Medicine
Many patients with neurological disorders are resistant to existing treatments. Emerging circuit-directed therapies are limited by the lack of tools to modulate and reset the involved neural networks. We have developed a noninvasive tool, based on transcranial focused ultrasound, that can engage the deep brain circuits involved in neurological disorders precisely and flexibly. The system is unique in that it compensates for the ultrasound aberrations by the head, thus delivering defined ultrasound intensity into the desired targets. We have applied the tool in randomized sham-controlled clinical studies to patients with essential tremor, chronic pain, and major depression. The talk with discuss these results and future directions.