Mobile human brain imaging using functional ultrasound
Imagine being able to study the human brain in real-world scenarios while the subject displays natural behaviors such as locomotion, social interaction, or spatial navigation. The advent of ultrafast ultrasound imaging brings us closer to this goal with functional ultrasound imaging (fUSi), a mobile neuroimaging technique. Here, we present real-time fUSi monitoring of brain activity during walking in a subject with a clinically approved sonolucent skull implant. Our approach uses personalized 3D-printed fUSi helmets for stability, optical tracking for cross-modal validation with functional magnetic resonance imaging, advanced signal processing to estimate hemodynamic responses, and facial tracking of a lick licking paradigm. These combined efforts allowed us to show consistent fUSi signals over 20 months, even during high motion activities such as walking. These results demonstrate the feasibility of fUSi for monitoring brain activity in real-world contexts, marking an important milestone for fUSi-based insights in clinical and neuroscientific research.
Authors
- Michael Brown (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0153-7403)
- Arnaud J.P.E. Vincent (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0865-8272)
- Luuk Verhoef (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0006-5741-9293)
- Borbála Hunyadi (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9333-9024)
- Bastian S. Generowicz (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0002-0103-5910)
- Pieter Kruizinga (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2278-1218)
- Chris I. De Zeeuw (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5628-8187)
- Marion Smits (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5563-2871)
- Djaina Satoer (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5751-8113)
- Frits Mastik (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9160-4077)
- Sadaf Soloukey (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7711-3271)
- Clemens M.F. Dirven (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0713-2722)
- Sebastiaan K. E. Koekkoek (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8790-5501)
- Geert Springeling (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0003-9511-9716)
Institutions
- Netherlands Institute for Neuroscience (NL)
- Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences (NL)
- Erasmus MC (NL)
- St George Hospital (AU)
- Erasmus University Rotterdam (NL)
- Delft University of Technology (NL)
Publication Details
- Journal
- Science Advances
- Published
- 2025-06-18
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1126/sciadv.adu9133
- Citations
- 4
- Primary Topic
- Optical Imaging and Spectroscopy Techniques
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 5.44