Advance in Ultrasound Super-resolution Imaging, Cell Manipulation and Inter-brain Communication

Ultrasound medicine is an interdisciplinary field that integrates ultrasonics and medicine, encompassing the applications of ultrasound in medical diagnosis, therapy, and basic research. While classical acoustic theories and technologies have reached a developmental bottleneck, their convergence with physics, artificial intelligence (AI), and related advanced technologies has spawned a dynamic research landscape defined by ultra-microscale precision and extreme interdisciplinarity. This paper presents a comprehensive systematic review of sound field modulation theories and their cutting-edge advances in ultra-microscale and highly interdisciplinary biological research. Leveraging acoustic metamaterials, microbubble dynamics, and acoustic streaming coupling effects, breakthroughs have been achieved in deep subwavelength diffraction imaging and precise nanoscale/microscale manipulation at extreme deep subwavelength resolutions. These innovations are fueling biophysical revolutions—including mechanical loading of biomolecules and regulation of ion channel proteins—while enabling breakthroughs in emerging technologies such as sonogenetics and non-invasive ultrasound-based brain-computer interfaces (BCIs). In the future, acoustics is poised to generate disruptive technologies in areas such as artificial structures and devices, non-invasive BCIs, cell and molecular regulation, micro- and nano-imaging/manipulation, and targeted drug delivery. Its unique characteristics—wavelength tunability and cross-scale integration—will continue to drive the deep fusion of physics, biology, and information science, fostering unexploited interdisciplinary synergy.