ULTRA2: a novel system for multi-focal, low-intensity focused ultrasound neuromodulation and whole-brain, ultra-high field MRI at 7T

Motivation: More than 970 million people worldwide suffer from neuropsychiatric disorders. This calls for novel and effective treatment strategies, which would lighten the socio-economic burden and improve the quality of human life. Goal(s): To develop ULTRA2 - an innovative hardware system for high-precision, multi-focal, low-intensity focused ultrasound neuromodulation and whole-brain MRI at 7T. Approach: Numerical simulations, hydrophone measurements and 7T MRI experiments were carried out to evaluate performance of both subsystems (radio frequency and ultrasound). Results: The data showed that ULTRA2 can be used for focused ultrasound experiments and artifact-free MRI at 7T with impressively high transmit field efficiency and SNR. Impact: ULTRA2 will enable multi-focal, high-precision LIFU neuromodulation guided using advanced UHF neuroimaging strategies, thereby adding a new dimension to developing non-invasive treatment strategies for neurological and neuropsychiatric diseases.