Table 1.
Ultrasound stimulation in epilepsy.
| Refs. | Experimental animals | Brain targets | Protocol of ultrasound stimulation | Efficacy |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Animal Research | ||||
| Min et al. (53) | Male SD rat PTZ-induced acute epilepsy Group 1: PTZ with FUS sonication Group 2: PTZ without FUS sonication Group3: giving FUS sonication without PTZ | The thalamus | FF: 690 kHz TBD: 0.5 ms PRF: 100 Hz Ispta: 100 mW/cm2 acoustic focus:3.5 mm in diameter and 6.2 mm in length Deliver twice for 3 min each | (1) The occurrence of epileptic EEG bursts significantly decreased. (2) After FUS, there is less severe epileptic behavior. (3) FUS did not cause any damage to the brain tissue. |
| Hakimova et al. (65) | Male C57BL/6 mice (5–6 weeks old) KA-induced mesial TLE | Hippocampus | FF: 0.2 MHz PRF: 0.5 kHz TBD:1 ms SD: 30 s 200 acoustic cycles | (1) Ultrasound stimulation reduced the number of seizures in the chronic period of epilepsy. (2) It improved sociability and depressive behaviors in KA model mice. |
| Li et al. (67) | Male C57BL/6 mice Group 1: KA group Group 2: KA + low-intensity pulsed ultrasound stimulation Group 3: KA + low-intensity continuous ultrasound stimulation | Hippocampus | FF: 500 kHz PRF: 500 Hz DC: 50 % SD: 30 s The acoustic pressure: 0.26 MP The diameter of the hole at the bottom of the conical collimator was 2 mm. | (1) The intensity of the power spectrum in the low frequency (<10 Hz) was significantly decreased. (2) The phase-amplitude coupling strengths between slow and fast neural oscillations were weakened. (3) The interval between seizures was significantly increased. |
| Lin et al. (57) | Monkeys Penicillin-induced epilepsy model Group 1: penicillin + sham Group 2: penicillin + ultrasound stimulation | The right frontal lobe | FF: 750 kHz PRF: 1 kHz TBD: 300 us SD: 200 ms ISI: 5 s Isppa:2.02 W/cm2 The acoustic pressure: 0.35 MPa | (1) Ultrasound stimulation reduces epileptiform activities and behavioral seizures. (2) Ultrasound stimulation activates the interneurons to increase the inhibitory synaptic inputs. |
| Refs. | Patient characteristic | Brain targets | Protocol of ultrasound stimulation | Efficacy |
| Clinical research | ||||
| Abe et al. (71) | A 36-year-old woman with complex partial seizures without automatism | Hippocampus | 650 kHz phased array transducer 10–20s long sonication sessions The final temperature of the target reached 48 °C, and the actual delivered energy was 20757 J. | (1)The patient remained almost seizure-free for up to 12 months. (2) Ultrasound stimulation did not cause any damage to the brain tissue. |
| Brinker et al. (72) | A 26-year-old female with temporal lobe epilepsy | Hippocampus | FF: 548 kHz PRF: 500 Hz SD: 0.5 s ISI: 7 s DC: 36–50% Ispta: 2.25 W/cm2 The acoustic pressure: 0.32 MPa | There were no adverse events. |
FF, Fundamental frequency; PRF, the pulse repetition frequency; SD, sonication duration; ISI, inter-stimulus interval; TBD, tone-burst duration; DC, duty cycle; Isppa, the spatial peak pulse mean intensity; Ispta: the spatial peak temporal mean intensity.