A groundbreaking National Health Service trial will utilise a brain-computer interface that employs ultrasound to directly modify brain activity, aiming to improve the mental well-being and mood of patients.

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The device, which is designed to be implanted beneath the skull but outside the brain, maps activity and delivers targeted pulses of ultrasound to “switch on” clusters of neurons. Its safety and tolerability will be tested on about 30 patients in the US $6.70 million trial, funded by the UK’s Advanced Research and Invention Agency (Aria).

It may revolutionise mental health treatment

Doctors envision that this innovative technology could potentially transform the treatment landscape for various neurological and psychiatric conditions, including depression, addiction, OCD, and epilepsy, by restoring balance to aberrant brain activity patterns.

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Jacques Carolan, Aria’s programme director, said, “Neurotechnologies can help a much broader range of people than we thought. Helping with treatment-resistant depression, epilepsy, addiction, and eating disorders, is a huge opportunity here. We are at a turning point in both the conditions we hope we can treat and the new types of technologies emerging to do that.”

The trial builds upon the swift progress made in brain-computer-interface (BCI) technology, including Neuralink's clinical trial using BCI to treat paralysis patients and another study that enabled stroke patients to communicate by converting their thoughts into spoken language.

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Safety considerations

There are safety considerations, as ultrasound can cause tissue to heat up. Prof Elsa Fouragnan, a neuroscientist at the University of Plymouth, which is collaborating on the project, said, “What we’re trying to minimise is heat. There’s a safety and efficacy trade-off.”

She added that it would also be important to ensure that personality or decision-making were not altered in unintended ways – for instance, making someone more impulsive.

(With inputs from agencies)