The complex structure of the human skull makes it very difficult to use ultrasound for the diagnosis and treatment of brain disease or injury. This project supports fundamental research on vibroacoustics and wave propagation in the skull-brain system to enable the development of new medical imaging and therapy techniques for the diagnosis and treatment of brain tumors, detection of traumas and skull-related defects, mapping of brain function, and neurostimulation. The dynamics of the coupled skull-brain system will be explored over a wide frequency range to improve the transmission of ultrasound and control the sound and vibration fields created in the brain. Such control can impact focused ultrasound surgery and transform neurology via neuromodulation. This research may also have implications for using ultrasound to deliver drugs through the blood-brain barrier, which may be critical for the management and treatment of Alzheimer's Disease, and might lead to fast and simple diagnosis of skull damage due to trauma, impacting emergency medicine and enabling self-contained, low-cost and portable medical equipment for that purpose.
The objective of the research project is to investigate the dynamics of the skull and brain as a coupled vibroacoustic system to lay a foundation for enhanced imaging, diagnosis, and therapy. The research will investigate: (1) how guided (Lamb) waves can be employed to image and detect anomalies in the brain, (2) how mode conversion between bulk and Lamb waves can be exploited for efficient ultrasound transmission to inaccessible brain regions without causing unacceptable temperature rise in the skull, (3) whether low frequency skull vibrations coupled with high frequency parametric array excitation can provide feedback/guidance for focused ultrasound and potentially eliminate the need for magnetic resonance image guidance, and(4) whether nonlinear dynamic effects can be harnessed for various medical purposes, including enhanced therapeutic ultrasound and evaluation of the structural integrity of the skull. The team will conduct a comprehensive study of the coupled skull-brain system over a broad frequency range to evaluate the vibrational/modal behavior and vibroacoustics of the coupled skull-brain system and the application of both guided Lamb waves and bulk waves in the ultrasound regime.
This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.
