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Health

Precision ultrasound could treat deep parts of brain without surgery

A non-invasive ultrasound device can stimulate deep parts of the brain with far greater precision than previously achieved, which could help to treat depression, long-term pain and post-traumatic stress disorder

By Michael Le Page

26 June 2024

鶹ý. Science news and long reads from expert journalists, covering developments in science, technology, health and the environment on the website and the magazine.

The ultrasound system is used with an MRI scanner

Eleanor Martin et al.

A low-power ultrasound system can alter activity deep within the brain with far greater precision than previously possible, allowing the organ to be studied in new ways. It will also help brain surgeons plan operations and could be used to treat some conditions directly.

“I think it does open a new avenue for neuroscience,” says at the University of Oxford, whose team created the system. “We can, for the first time, transiently, safely, non-invasively modulate activity in various bits of the deep brain and…

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