NCT07518927

Brief Summary

The current study presents a unique opportunity to measure the immediate neural responses to brief, non-therapeutic transcranial low-intensity focused ultrasound (LIFU) pulses using intracranial electrodes. By recording time-locked signals in local and distant brain regions we can characterize circuit connectivity in real-time. We will use adult patients undergoing intracranial electrophysiological monitoring in an inpatient setting as our targeted population.

Trial Health

75
On Track

Trial Health Score

Automated assessment based on enrollment pace, timeline, and geographic reach

Enrollment
30

participants targeted

Target at below P25 for not_applicable

Timeline
56mo left

Started Mar 2026

Longer than P75 for not_applicable

Geographic Reach
1 country

1 active site

Status
enrolling by invitation

Health score is calculated from publicly available data and should be used for screening purposes only.

Trial Relationships

Click on a node to explore related trials.

Study Timeline

Key milestones and dates

Study Progress8%
Mar 2026Mar 2031

Study Start

First participant enrolled

March 4, 2026

Completed
28 days until next milestone

First Submitted

Initial submission to the registry

April 1, 2026

Completed
8 days until next milestone

First Posted

Study publicly available on registry

April 9, 2026

Completed
4.9 years until next milestone

Primary Completion

Last participant's last visit for primary outcome

March 4, 2031

Expected
Same day until next milestone

Study Completion

Last participant's last visit for all outcomes

March 4, 2031

Last Updated

April 9, 2026

Status Verified

April 1, 2026

Enrollment Period

5 years

First QC Date

April 1, 2026

Last Update Submit

April 1, 2026

Conditions

Outcome Measures

Primary Outcomes (2)

  • Local spectral responses and temporally linked network activity, as measured by intracranial EEG

    From enrollment to end of study is two weeks

  • Safety, as defined by the number and type of adverse events (AE) and change in clinical VAS scales

    From enrollment to end of study is 2 weeks

Study Arms (1)

LIFU Experiment

EXPERIMENTAL
Device: Low Intensity Focused Ultrasound

Interventions

The study visit consists of non-therapeutic transcranial low-intensity focused ultrasound pulses given while patient has intracranial electrodes implanted.

LIFU Experiment

Eligibility Criteria

Age21 Years - 75 Years
Sexall
Healthy VolunteersNo
Age GroupsAdult (18-64), Older Adult (65+)

You may qualify if:

  • Patients who received (or are scheduled to receive) intracranial electrode implantation surgery as part of standard clinical care or as participation in an ongoing research study for the treatment of epilepsy and/or neuropsychiatric conditions at Pennsylvania Hospital (PAH) or Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania (HUP).
  • Adult patients, 21 to 75 years of age
  • Patients considered to be in a stable medical condition, in the opinion of the PI
  • Patients who are able to demonstrate comprehension of instructions in the English language, in the opinion of the PI
  • Patients who are able to provide informed consent and fully comply with all study requirements, in the opinion of the PI

You may not qualify if:

  • Patients with chronic alcohol abuse history
  • Patients with additional implanted devices, such as an aneurysm clip, large cranial plates or mesh that may intersect with ultrasonic beam path
  • Open scalp wounds, infection or dermatologic condition that preclude safe placement of ultrasound transducer
  • Intracranial mass lesion with significant mass effect near intended beam path
  • Patients who are pregnant at the time of screening or patients who get pregnant during the course of the study
  • Patients with any past or present medical condition, disease, disorder, or injury that, in the opinion of the PI, may reduce or hinder the participant's ability to fully comply with all study requirements or may impact, compromise, or affect the integrity of the data or the results of the study

Contact the study team to confirm eligibility.

Sponsors & Collaborators

Study Sites (1)

University of Pennsylvania

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, 19107, United States

Location

Related Publications (27)

  • Kakusa B, Huang Y, Barbosa DAN, Feng A, Gattas S, Shivacharan R, Lee EB, Kuijper FM, Saluja S, Parker JJ, Miller KJ, Keller C, Bohon C, Halpern CH. Anticipatory human subthalamic area beta-band power responses to dissociable tastes correlate with weight gain. Neurobiol Dis. 2021 Jul;154:105348. doi: 10.1016/j.nbd.2021.105348. Epub 2021 Mar 26.

    PMID: 33781923BACKGROUND
  • Blackmore J, Shrivastava S, Sallet J, Butler CR, Cleveland RO. Ultrasound Neuromodulation: A Review of Results, Mechanisms and Safety. Ultrasound Med Biol. 2019 Jul;45(7):1509-1536. doi: 10.1016/j.ultrasmedbio.2018.12.015. Epub 2019 May 18.

    PMID: 31109842BACKGROUND
  • Kamimura HAS, Conti A, Toschi N, Konofagou EE. Ultrasound neuromodulation: mechanisms and the potential of multimodal stimulation for neuronal function assessment. Front Phys. 2020 May;8:150. doi: 10.3389/fphy.2020.00150. Epub 2020 May 26.

    PMID: 32509757BACKGROUND
  • Dallapiazza RF, Timbie KF, Holmberg S, Gatesman J, Lopes MB, Price RJ, Miller GW, Elias WJ. Noninvasive neuromodulation and thalamic mapping with low-intensity focused ultrasound. J Neurosurg. 2018 Mar;128(3):875-884. doi: 10.3171/2016.11.JNS16976. Epub 2017 Apr 21.

    PMID: 28430035BACKGROUND
  • Verhagen L, Gallea C, Folloni D, Constans C, Jensen DE, Ahnine H, Roumazeilles L, Santin M, Ahmed B, Lehericy S, Klein-Flugge MC, Krug K, Mars RB, Rushworth MF, Pouget P, Aubry JF, Sallet J. Offline impact of transcranial focused ultrasound on cortical activation in primates. Elife. 2019 Feb 12;8:e40541. doi: 10.7554/eLife.40541.

    PMID: 30747105BACKGROUND
  • Osada T, Konishi S. Noninvasive intervention by transcranial ultrasound stimulation: Modulation of neural circuits and its clinical perspectives. Psychiatry Clin Neurosci. 2024 May;78(5):273-281. doi: 10.1111/pcn.13663. Epub 2024 Mar 20.

    PMID: 38505983BACKGROUND
  • Dell'Italia J, Sanguinetti JL, Monti MM, Bystritsky A, Reggente N. Current State of Potential Mechanisms Supporting Low Intensity Focused Ultrasound for Neuromodulation. Front Hum Neurosci. 2022 Apr 25;16:872639. doi: 10.3389/fnhum.2022.872639. eCollection 2022.

    PMID: 35547195BACKGROUND
  • Murphy KR, Nandi T, Kop B, Osada T, Lueckel M, N'Djin WA, Caulfield KA, Fomenko A, Siebner HR, Ugawa Y, Verhagen L, Bestmann S, Martin E, Butts Pauly K, Fouragnan E, Bergmann TO. A practical guide to transcranial ultrasonic stimulation from the IFCN-endorsed ITRUSST consortium. Clin Neurophysiol. 2025 Mar;171:192-226. doi: 10.1016/j.clinph.2025.01.004. Epub 2025 Jan 28.

    PMID: 39933226BACKGROUND
  • Darrow DP. Focused Ultrasound for Neuromodulation. Neurotherapeutics. 2019 Jan;16(1):88-99. doi: 10.1007/s13311-018-00691-3.

    PMID: 30488340BACKGROUND
  • Kamimura HAS, Sokolov A. Transcranial magnetic resonance-guided focused ultrasound for neurological applications: industry challenges, innovations, and future directions. J Neural Eng. 2025 Apr 15;22(2). doi: 10.1088/1741-2552/adc8d2.

    PMID: 40179892BACKGROUND
  • Darmani G, Ramezanpour H, Sarica C, Annirood R, Grippe T, Nankoo JF, Fomenko A, Santyr B, Zeng K, Vetkas A, Samuel N, Davidson B, Fasano A, Lankarany M, Kalia SK, Pichardo S, Lozano AM, Chen R. Individualized non-invasive deep brain stimulation of the basal ganglia using transcranial ultrasound stimulation. Nat Commun. 2025 Mar 19;16(1):2693. doi: 10.1038/s41467-025-57883-7.

    PMID: 40108143BACKGROUND
  • Deveney CM, Surya JR, Haroon JM, Mahdavi KD, Hoffman KR, Enemuo KC, Jordan KG, Becerra SA, Kuhn T, Bystritsky A, Jordan SE. Transcranial focused ultrasound for the treatment of tremor: A preliminary case series. Brain Stimul. 2024 Jan-Feb;17(1):35-38. doi: 10.1016/j.brs.2023.12.007. Epub 2023 Dec 19.

    PMID: 38128826BACKGROUND
  • Riis TS, Losser AJ, Kassavetis P, Moretti P, Kubanek J. Noninvasive modulation of essential tremor with focused ultrasonic waves. J Neural Eng. 2024 Feb 27;21(1). doi: 10.1088/1741-2552/ad27ef.

    PMID: 38335553BACKGROUND
  • Stern JM, Spivak NM, Becerra SA, Kuhn TP, Korb AS, Kronemyer D, Khanlou N, Reyes SD, Monti MM, Schnakers C, Walshaw P, Keselman I, Cohen MS, Yong W, Fried I, Jordan SE, Schafer ME, Engel J Jr, Bystritsky A. Safety of focused ultrasound neuromodulation in humans with temporal lobe epilepsy. Brain Stimul. 2021 Jul-Aug;14(4):1022-1031. doi: 10.1016/j.brs.2021.06.003. Epub 2021 Jun 23.

    PMID: 34198105BACKGROUND
  • Lee CC, Chou CC, Hsiao FJ, Chen YH, Lin CF, Chen CJ, Peng SJ, Liu HL, Yu HY. Pilot study of focused ultrasound for drug-resistant epilepsy. Epilepsia. 2022 Jan;63(1):162-175. doi: 10.1111/epi.17105. Epub 2021 Nov 2.

    PMID: 34729772BACKGROUND
  • Mahoney JJ 3rd, Thompson-Lake DGY, Ranjan M, Marton JL, Carpenter JS, Zheng W, Berry JH, Farmer DL, D'Haese P, Finomore VS, Tirumalai P, Mears AS, Suffridge J, Ames A, Hodder SL, Rezai AR. Low-Intensity Focused Ultrasound Targeting the Bilateral Nucleus Accumbens as a Potential Treatment for Substance Use Disorder: A First-in-Human Report. Biol Psychiatry. 2023 Dec 1;94(11):e41-e43. doi: 10.1016/j.biopsych.2023.06.031. Epub 2023 Aug 22. No abstract available.

    PMID: 37610405BACKGROUND
  • Cain JA, Visagan S, Johnson MA, Crone J, Blades R, Spivak NM, Shattuck DW, Monti MM. Real time and delayed effects of subcortical low intensity focused ultrasound. Sci Rep. 2021 Mar 17;11(1):6100. doi: 10.1038/s41598-021-85504-y.

    PMID: 33731821BACKGROUND
  • Lee W, Kim H, Jung Y, Song IU, Chung YA, Yoo SS. Image-guided transcranial focused ultrasound stimulates human primary somatosensory cortex. Sci Rep. 2015 Mar 4;5:8743. doi: 10.1038/srep08743.

    PMID: 25735418BACKGROUND
  • Ai L, Bansal P, Mueller JK, Legon W. Effects of transcranial focused ultrasound on human primary motor cortex using 7T fMRI: a pilot study. BMC Neurosci. 2018 Sep 14;19(1):56. doi: 10.1186/s12868-018-0456-6.

    PMID: 30217150BACKGROUND
  • Legon W, Ai L, Bansal P, Mueller JK. Neuromodulation with single-element transcranial focused ultrasound in human thalamus. Hum Brain Mapp. 2018 May;39(5):1995-2006. doi: 10.1002/hbm.23981. Epub 2018 Jan 29.

    PMID: 29380485BACKGROUND
  • Legon W, Sato TF, Opitz A, Mueller J, Barbour A, Williams A, Tyler WJ. Transcranial focused ultrasound modulates the activity of primary somatosensory cortex in humans. Nat Neurosci. 2014 Feb;17(2):322-9. doi: 10.1038/nn.3620. Epub 2014 Jan 12.

    PMID: 24413698BACKGROUND
  • Sarica C, Nankoo JF, Fomenko A, Grippe TC, Yamamoto K, Samuel N, Milano V, Vetkas A, Darmani G, Cizmeci MN, Lozano AM, Chen R. Human Studies of Transcranial Ultrasound neuromodulation: A systematic review of effectiveness and safety. Brain Stimul. 2022 May-Jun;15(3):737-746. doi: 10.1016/j.brs.2022.05.002. Epub 2022 May 6.

    PMID: 35533835BACKGROUND
  • Permezel F. Brain MRI-guided focused ultrasound conceptualised as a tool for brain network intervention. J Clin Neurosci. 2021 Aug;90:370-379. doi: 10.1016/j.jocn.2021.05.062. Epub 2021 Jul 2.

    PMID: 34275578BACKGROUND
  • Tufail Y, Matyushov A, Baldwin N, Tauchmann ML, Georges J, Yoshihiro A, Tillery SI, Tyler WJ. Transcranial pulsed ultrasound stimulates intact brain circuits. Neuron. 2010 Jun 10;66(5):681-94. doi: 10.1016/j.neuron.2010.05.008.

    PMID: 20547127BACKGROUND
  • Folloni D, Verhagen L, Mars RB, Fouragnan E, Constans C, Aubry JF, Rushworth MFS, Sallet J. Manipulation of Subcortical and Deep Cortical Activity in the Primate Brain Using Transcranial Focused Ultrasound Stimulation. Neuron. 2019 Mar 20;101(6):1109-1116.e5. doi: 10.1016/j.neuron.2019.01.019. Epub 2019 Feb 11.

    PMID: 30765166BACKGROUND
  • Yoo SS, Bystritsky A, Lee JH, Zhang Y, Fischer K, Min BK, McDannold NJ, Pascual-Leone A, Jolesz FA. Focused ultrasound modulates region-specific brain activity. Neuroimage. 2011 Jun 1;56(3):1267-75. doi: 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2011.02.058. Epub 2011 Feb 24.

    PMID: 21354315BACKGROUND
  • In A, Strohman A, Payne B, Legon W. Low-intensity focused ultrasound to the posterior insula reduces temporal summation of pain. Brain Stimul. 2024 Jul-Aug;17(4):911-924. doi: 10.1016/j.brs.2024.07.020. Epub 2024 Jul 30.

    PMID: 39089647BACKGROUND

Study Design

Study Type
interventional
Phase
not applicable
Allocation
NA
Masking
NONE
Purpose
BASIC SCIENCE
Intervention Model
SINGLE GROUP
Model Details: Adult Patients undergoing intracranial electrophysiological monitoring in an inpatient setting are invited to participate in the one session of LIFU
Sponsor Type
OTHER
Responsible Party
PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR
PI Title
Associate Professor of Psychiatry

Study Record Dates

First Submitted

April 1, 2026

First Posted

April 9, 2026

Study Start

March 4, 2026

Primary Completion (Estimated)

March 4, 2031

Study Completion (Estimated)

March 4, 2031

Last Updated

April 9, 2026

Record last verified: 2026-04

Locations