Transcranial Focused Ultrasound Neuromodulation: Mechanisms and Applications
Emerging Applications of Neuromodulation Keynote Speaker
4/10/25, 9:10 AM - 4/10/25, 10:00 AM (US/Eastern) (50 minutes)

Transcranial Focused Ultrasound Neuromodulation: Mechanisms and Applications
Bin He, PhD
Trustee Professor of Biomedical Engineering at Carnegie Mellon University
Trustee Professor of Biomedical Engineering at Carnegie Mellon University

Bin He is a Trustee Professor of Biomedical Engineering and Neuroscience, and by courtesy of Electrical and Computer Engineering at Carnegie Mellon University. His current research interests include EEG source imaging, EEG-based brain-computer interface, and transcranial focused ultrasound neuromodulation. Dr. He’s work has been recognized by prestigious awards including the IEEE Biomedical Engineering Award, the IEEE EMBS William J. Morlock Award, the IEEE EMBS Academic Career Achievements Award, and the AIMBE Earl Bakken Lecture Award. He served as a Past Chair of the International Academy of Medical and Biological Engineering (IAMBE), Past President of IEEE Engineering in Medicine and Biology Society (EMBS), Editor-in-Chief of IEEE Transactions on Biomedical Engineering, and a Member of NIH BRAIN Initiative Multi-Council Working Group. He is an elected Fellow of National Academy of Inventors (NAI), IAMBE, IEEE, American Institute of Medical and Biological Engineering (AIMBE), and Biomedical Engineering Society (BMES). He is Editor-in-Chief of IEEE Reviews in Biomedical Engineering.


Neuromodulation techniques aim to modulate brain processes and treat neurological disorders non-pharmacologically by stimulating neural circuits. Low-intensity transcranial focused ultrasound (tFUS) is a noninvasive neuromodulation technology that uses focused ultrasound pressure waves, offering high spatial precision and the ability to target deep brain structures. I will present our work on the development and investigation of tFUS neuromodulation technology for noninvasive precision stimulation of brain circuits in animal models and human subjects. Our findings demonstrate the cell-type selectivity of tFUS neuromodulation and its ability to induce long-term depression using an in vivo rodent model. Using a 128-element transducer array with sub-millimeter lateral resolution, we demonstrate that tFUS can significantly suppress pain hypersensitivity by targeting the primary somatosensory cortex and insula in a humanized mouse model of sickle cell disease. In human studies, our work demonstrates the neuromodulatory effects of low-intensity tFUS in enhancing voluntary movement-related cortical activities, as evidenced by EEG source imaging. Additionally, our recent findings show that V5-targeted tFUS enhances alpha and theta oscillations at V5 and within the dorsal visual processing pathway. This neuromodulation significantly improved the performance of a motion-onset visual speller in a brain-computer interface.