Chinese researchers are testing whether focused ultrasound can help restore consciousness in patients with severe brain injuries, adding to growing international efforts to use sound waves to stimulate deep brain structures without surgery.
A team including the Chinese Academy of Sciences’ Shenzhen Institutes of Advanced Technology has used targeted ultrasound pulses to stimulate brain regions associated with consciousness and communication. The technology was unveiled at a brain-computer interface industry conference in Shenzhen, where researchers highlighted a potential medical application that goes beyond the field’s better-known efforts to connect brains to computers and robotic systems.
A patient who had been in a coma for three months following a brain hemorrhage regained the ability to speak, eat independently and walk with assistance after a month of ultrasound treatment and rehabilitation, according to Chinese state media.
Ultrasound targets deep brain structures without surgery
The technique uses magnetic resonance imaging to identify specific areas of the brain to stimulate, particularly the thalamus. This structure acts as a central relay between different neural networks and plays an important role in consciousness, sensory processing and communication in the brain.
The researchers then direct focused ultrasound pulses to the selected regions. Unlike traditional approaches using implanted electrodes or invasive surgery, the method is designed to reach deep brain structures from outside the skull.
The approach is based on the idea that stimulating disrupted neural networks could help restore some of the activity associated with conscious behavior. This is particularly relevant for patients with persistent impaired consciousness, including patients who remain in a minimally conscious or vegetative state following traumatic injury, stroke, or other neurological events.
In a preliminary study conducted with Kunming Medical University, 24 patients with chronic disorders of consciousness received three 20-minute ultrasound sessions per week for four weeks. Chinese media reported that 13 of them showed improvements in conscious behavior.
Early findings require larger controlled studies
The findings are based on a peer-reviewed case study published in February by the same research group in Frontiers in Psychiatry. The work followed a patient treated with focused ultrasound and documented progressive behavioral improvements, with the patient eventually awakening from a minimally conscious state.
Researchers in the US are pursuing a more comprehensive clinical evaluation. A multicenter study led by the University of California, Los Angeles is recruiting 60 patients with severe brain injuries. It includes a sham stimulation control group, allowing researchers to compare patients who receive actual ultrasound treatment with those who undergo a simulated procedure.
Focused ultrasound is attracting attention because it can affect brain activity without the need for implanted hardware. This makes it a potential tool for neurological research and treatment, although questions remain regarding the optimal stimulation parameters, patient selection, treatment duration and long-term effects.
The development also signals a broader effort to create less invasive ways to interact with the brain. While some BCI projects focus on translating neural signals into commands for computers or robotic devices, ultrasound-based approaches could potentially stimulate neural activity or enable new forms of communication with brain tissue.
