ReviewNature reviews. Neurology2021
Applications of focused ultrasound in the brain: from thermoablation to drug delivery.
Review in Nature reviews. Neurology, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. It is linked to trial NCT07484152 (Motor and Non-Motor Effects of Low-Intensity Focused Ultrasound), which is not on this map. Cited by 221 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Motor and Non-Motor Effects of Low-Intensity Focused Ultrasound (LIFU) as a Neuromodulation Tool in Movement Disorders: A Randomized, Double-Blind, Sham-Controlled, Crossover Clinical Trial in Essential Tremor
Who cites it
221 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 459 citations in OpenAlex.
- Brain metastases: A Society for Neuro-Oncology (SNO) consensus review on current management and future directions.Neuro-oncology · 2022Guideline
- Skin-attached bioadhesive patch enabling ultrasound deep brain stimulation and real-time electrophysiological monitoring for REM sleep enhancement.Nature communications · 2026Trial
- Sonolysis during carotid endarterectomy: randomised controlled trial.BMJ (Clinical research ed.) · 2025Trial
- A pilot safety and tolerability study of scanning ultrasound as a neuromodulation therapy in Alzheimer's disease.Brain communications · 2025Trial
- Prospective Long-term Follow-up of Focused Ultrasound Unilateral Subthalamotomy for Parkinson Disease.Neurology · 2023Trial
- Depression in neurodegenerative disease: neurobiological mechanisms and emerging treatments.Molecular psychiatry · 2026Review
- Acoustically driven micro/nanobubbles: from fundamental mechanisms to biomedical applications.Microsystems & nanoengineering · 2026Review
- Blood-Brain Barrier Regulation: Evolving From Classic Strategies to Electrochemical Ion and Reactive Oxygen Species Control.Advanced healthcare materials · 2026Review
- Neurostimulation in the treatment of psychiatric disorders: Underlying mechanisms and critical analysis of circuit-based interventions.Molecular psychiatry · 2026Review
- Focused Ultrasound is Poised to Take Non-Viral Gene Therapies to the Blood-Brain Barrier - and Beyond.Cell biomaterials · 2026Article
- Impact of transducer position on BMedical physics · 2026Article
- Integrated device for optoacoustically-guided ultrasound surgery.Nature communications · 2026Article
- Tailored Nanogel Network Topology Enables Clinical Ultrasound-Induced Mechanochemical Activation for In Vivo Therapy.Angewandte Chemie (International ed. in English) · 2026Article
- Focused ultrasound blood-brain barrier opening reveals a paradoxical remote metabolic response in the primate brain.Science advances · 2026Article
- Review
- Shining light in deep tissue.Nature materials · 2026Article
- Focused ultrasound neuromodulation for psychiatric disorders: a scoping review of clinical applications and current progress.Journal of neural transmission (Vienna, Austria : 1996) · 2026Review
- BBB-aware stimuli-responsive and biomimetic nanomedicines for glioblastoma.Chinese neurosurgical journal · 2026Review
- TRPC4/TRPC5 are critical for neuronal modulation by transcranial focused ultrasound in retrosplenial cortex in male mice.Nature communications · 2026Article
- Clinical translation and landscape of stimuli-responsive nanomedicines and microscale therapeutics.Chemical Society reviews · 2026Review
161 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
3 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Focused ultrasound (FUS) is a disruptive medical technology, and its implementation in the clinic represents the culmination of decades of research. Lying at the convergence of physics, engineering, imaging, biology and neuroscience, FUS offers the ability to non-invasively and precisely intervene in key circuits that drive common and challenging brain conditions. The actions of FUS in the brain take many forms, ranging from transient blood-brain barrier opening and neuromodulation to permanent thermoablation. Over the past 5 years, we have seen a dramatic expansion of indications for and experience with FUS in humans, with a resultant exponential increase in academic and public interest in the technology. Applications now span the clinical spectrum in neurological and psychiatric diseases, with insights still emerging from preclinical models and human trials. In this Review, we provide a comprehensive overview of therapeutic ultrasound and its current and emerging indications in the brain. We examine the potential impact of FUS on the landscape of brain therapies as well as the challenges facing further advancement and broader adoption of this promising minimally invasive therapeutic alternative.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.