Disclosed herein is a novel technique that employs non-invasive ultrasound for spatiotemporal modulation of the refractive index in a medium to define and control the trajectory of light within the medium itself, thereby creating a virtual sculpted lens. By varying the amplitude of ultrasonic waves in the medium, the numerical aperture (NA) value of the virtual sculpted lens can be changed. The location of the focus of the virtual sculpted lens can be precisely scanned within a scattering tissue.

Disclosed herein is a novel reconfigurable spatial and temporal light modulation method that exploits the imaging medium itself by employing a multi-element ultrasonic transducer array as an in-situ acoustic modulator. The medium density can be modulated using different ultrasonic pressure patterns to pattern an incident collimated beam of light.

A nerve modulation device includes a first ultrasound transducer and a second ultrasound transducer. The first and second ultrasound transducers are configured to emit a first and second ultrasound waves, respectively, that exhibit different frequencies. The first and second ultrasound transducers can emit the first and second ultrasound waves in directions that are selected to cause the first and second ultrasound waves to intersect with each other at an intersection site that is at or near a selected nerve. At the intersection site, the first and second ultrasound waves can non-linearly interact to form an acoustic wave exhibiting a frequency that is less than the frequencies of the first and second ultrasound waves. The acoustic wave can modulate a selected nerve.

An ultrasound-sensing protein is disclosed, which is a mutant of Prestin in cochlear outer hair cells of non-sonar mammals. The mutant of Prestin has a substitution of serine for asparagine at position 308 and selectively has a substitution of threonine for asparagine at position 7.

Methods of treating tumors by administering compounds to a patient are provided. Compounds such as drugs, may be administered to the patient orally, by injection, intravenously, or topically, which then accumulate as compounds such as a protoporphyrin compound in tumor cells. After such accumulation, such compounds are then activated in various aspects to treat tumors cells, thereby treating cancer. Cancers such as glioblastoma may be treated.

Among the various aspects of the present disclosure is the provision of a noninvasive and localized brain liquid biopsy using focused ultrasound. Briefly, therefore, the present disclosure is directed to methods and systems to identify brain lesion or tumor characteristics without the need for a solid brain biopsy.

An ultrasound transducer array is incorporated in a light-weight, conformable, and wearable patch that may be used to deliver, monitor, and control localized transcranial focused ultrasound (tFUS). The patch may include full-duplex transmit-receive circuitry that may be used for continuous monitoring of transcranial focused ultrasound (tFUS) application. The circuitry may include a circulator. The ultrasound transducer array may be coupled to an aperture interface having irregularly sized or shaped channel conductors to provide a coarse aperture for the array. The coarse aperture may be designed using a method that provides a reduced channel count.

Systems and methods for treating skin and subcutaneous tissue with energy such as ultrasound energy are disclosed. In various embodiments, ultrasound energy is applied at a region of interest to affect tissue by cutting, ablating, micro-ablating, coagulating, or otherwise affecting the subcutaneous tissue to conduct numerous procedures that are traditionally done invasively in a non-invasive manner. Lifting sagging tissue on a face, neck, and/or body are described. Treatment with heat is provided in several embodiments.

Disclosed are methods of producing randomized ultrasound waves for providing sonodynamic therapy. The method includes coupling a sonodynamic therapy device with an array of piezoelectric transducer elements to a skin surface. A controller is configured to generate an electrical drive signal to produce ultrasound waves to activate a sonosensitizer in a treatment region without damaging healthy cells in the treatment region.

Disclosed are methods of using planar or defocused acoustic waves for providing non-invasive sonodynamic therapy. The method includes acoustically coupling an array of piezoelectric transducers to a patient. A controller is configured to generate an electrical drive signal at a frequency selected from a range of frequencies, modulate the drive signal, and drive the transducer with the modulated drive signal at the frequency to produce modulated acoustic waves to produce an average acoustic intensity sufficient to activate a sonosensitizer in a treatment region without damaging healthy cells in the treatment region.