Focal Volume, Acoustic Radiation Force, and Strain in Two-Transducer Regimes

TL;DR

This paper demonstrates that using two orthogonally arranged 1 MHz transducers significantly improves spatial resolution in transcranial focused ultrasound stimulation, enabling precise targeting and manipulation of neural tissue with localized acoustic forces.

Contribution

The study introduces a dual transducer setup that enhances spatial resolution by nearly 40-fold and allows selective application of acoustic pressures, advancing non-invasive neural modulation techniques.

Findings

Achieved a sub-cubic millimeter target volume of 0.24 mm^3.

Generated localized standing waves with periodic ARF regions near the target.

Preliminary evidence shows strain from particle motion and ARF, with distinct maximum points.

Abstract

Transcranial focused ultrasound stimulation (TUS) holds promise for non-invasive neural modulation in treating neurological disorders. Most clinically relevant targets are deep within the brain (near or at its geometric center), surrounded by other sensitive regions that need to be spared clinical intervention. However, in TUS, increasing frequency with the goal of improving spatial resolution reduces the effective penetration depth. We show that by using a pair of 1 MHz, orthogonally arranged transducers we improve the spatial resolution afforded by each of the transducers individually, by nearly 40 fold, achieving a sub-cubic millimeter target volume of $0.24\ mm^3$. We show that orthogonally placed transducers generate highly localized standing waves with Acoustic Radiation Force (ARF) arranged into periodic regions of compression and tension near the target. We further present an extended capability of the orthogonal setup, which is to impart selective pressures--either positive or negative, but not both--on the target. Lastly, we share our preliminary findings that strain can arise from both particle motion and ARF with the former reaching its maximum value at the focus, and the latter remaining null at the focus and reaching its maximum around the focus. As the field is investigating the mechanism of interaction in TUS by way of elucidating the mapping between ultrasound parameters and neural response, orthogonal transducers expand our toolbox by making it possible to conduct these investigations at much finer spatial resolutions, with localized and directed (compression vs. tension) ARF and the capability of applying selective pressures at the target.