Our project Ultrasound Neurotech won the HiTMaT award. The HiTMaT call is a program to stimulate innovative High Tech solutions within public-private partnerships from the Dutch top sector High Tech Systems and Materials.

Non-invasive treatment of brain disorders

One in four people gets a brain disorder. Think about epilepsy, Parkinson’s or depression. The personal consequences and societal costs are enormous, affecting everybody (in)directly. The cause of brain disorders lays often deep in our brain, but with current technology, these places cannot be reached without surgery. Recently this became possible with ultrasonic brain modulation. Dr. Lennart Verhagen from the Radboud University is working on this.

Ultrasonic brain modulation

High frequency sound waves – ultrasound – can control brain activity down to the millimetre, even deep in the brain. Ultrasound is already being used for brain operations in critically ill patients; we call that “cutting without a scalpel”. Non-invasive ultrasound treatment has the potential to help many more patients with brain disorders. For example, in epilepsy we could stop the epileptic attach deep in the brain before it spreads. In this project we will adapt the ultrasound waves to the person because that delivers the most successful treatment. After all, every head and every brain is different, unique as a fingerprint.

Personalized treatment

A broad public-private partnership, including Radboud University, Innovate Ideas, and Brainbox Ltd, will work together to make ultrasonic brain modulation personalised. Automatic adaptation based on brain structure and wearable design play a central role in this. In the consortium we will use next-generation Artificial Intelligence for treatment of brain disorders in everyday life. Together we want to create a breakthrough treatment method for patients that makes a difference in their recovery and quality of life.