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Functional ultrasound imaging decodes your brain intentions

Records changes in blood flow to detect brain activity - alternative to invasive brain interface tools

23-Mar-2021

Key points from article :

A non-invasive functional ultrasound system that can detect brain activity by listening to tiny changes in blood flow.

Viable alternative to invasive electrodes implanted into the brain for brain machine interfaces.

"New method to record detailed brain activity without damaging brain tissue," - Sumner Norman, study researcher.

Involves implanting a small ultrasound-transparent window, which is significantly less invasive.

Ultrasound signals can then non-invasively pass into the brain and identify increases in blood flow in specific brain regions.

So far, the technology has been tested in non-human primates.

“...manages to record signals with 10 times more sensitivity and better resolution than functional MRI," - David Maresca, co-researcher of the study.

Research by Caltech published in the Journal Cell.

Mentioned in this article:

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Caltech

California Institute of Technology, private research university

David Maresca

Assistant Professor of Imaging Physics at TU Delft

Sumner Norman

Postdoctoral fellow at the California Institute of Technology (Caltech)

Topics mentioned on this page:
Brain Interface