China makes early progress in using sound waves to stimulate damaged brains

Chinese researchers are testing whether focused ultrasound can help restore consciousness in patients with severe brain injuries, adding to a growing international effort to use sound waves to stimulate deep brain structures without surgery.

A team involving the Chinese Academy of Sciences’ Shenzhen Institutes of Advanced Technology has used targeted ultrasound pulses to stimulate brain regions associated with awareness and communication. The technology was presented at a brain-computer interface industry conference in Shenzhen, where researchers highlighted a potential medical application beyond the field’s better-known efforts to connect brains with computers and robotic systems.

According to Chinese state media, one patient who had spent three months in a coma after a brain haemorrhage regained the ability to speak, eat independently and walk with assistance following a month of ultrasound treatment and rehabilitation.

Ultrasound targets deep brain structures without surgery

The technique uses magnetic resonance imaging to identify specific areas of the brain for stimulation, 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 across the brain.

Researchers then direct focused ultrasound pulses towards the selected regions. Unlike conventional approaches involving 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 behaviour. This is particularly relevant to patients with prolonged disorders of consciousness, including those who remain in minimally conscious or vegetative states following traumatic injuries, strokes 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 over four weeks. Chinese media reported that 13 of them showed improvements in conscious behaviour.

Early findings need larger controlled trials

The results follow a peer-reviewed case study published by the same research group in Frontiers in Psychiatry in February. The paper tracked one patient treated with focused ultrasound and documented progressive behavioural improvements, with the patient eventually emerging from a minimally conscious state.

Researchers in the US are pursuing a more extensive clinical assessment. A multicentre trial led by the University of California, Los Angeles, is recruiting 60 patients with severe brain injuries. It includes a sham-stimulation control group, allowing investigators to compare patients receiving actual ultrasound treatment with those undergoing a simulated procedure.

Focused ultrasound is attracting attention because it can influence brain activity without requiring implanted hardware. That makes it a potential tool for neurological research and treatment, although questions remain about the optimal stimulation parameters, patient selection, treatment duration and long-term effects.

The development also signals a broader effort to create less invasive ways of interacting 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.