Focused ultrasound offers new ways to treat eye disease, Pg13

Key Highlights:

• Ultrasound, defined as sound frequencies beyond human hearing, is being explored for treating eye diseases due to its ability to travel through biological tissues.
• Low-intensity ultrasound can modulate neural activity, potentially restoring vision in cases of optic nerve impairment caused by conditions like glaucoma.
• High-intensity focused ultrasound can precisely target and destroy cancer cells by rapidly increasing their temperature without harming surrounding tissues.
• In 2025, Wang et al. from Chongqing Medical University successfully used ultrasound to treat 16 glaucoma patients.
• The Focused Ultrasound Foundation has developed Eye Tech Care, a device that uses ultrasound to decrease intraocular pressure in glaucoma treatment.

Detailed Insights:

• Ultrasound's short wavelength allows it to propagate through tissues at varying speeds, faster in stiff tissues like bone and slower in tissues like fat, enabling its use in imaging.
• Sonogenetics combines genetic engineering with ultrasound to modulate neuron activity by introducing mechanosensitive proteins that can be activated by ultrasound waves.
• Ultrasound stimulation of the visual cortex has shown potential in restoring vision in conditions where the optic nerve is impaired, such as in glaucoma and optic neuropathy.
• High-intensity focused ultrasound (HIFU) offers a non-invasive method for cancer treatment by precisely targeting tumors and elevating their temperature to lethal levels.
• The Eye Tech Care device developed by the Focused Ultrasound Foundation aims to treat glaucoma by focusing ultrasound on the ciliary body to reduce intraocular pressure.

Scientific/Technical Concepts Involved:

• Ultrasound: Sound waves with frequencies beyond the human hearing range, typically measured in kilohertz (kHz) or megahertz (MHz).
• Sonogenetics: A technique using genetic engineering to make neurons sensitive to ultrasound, allowing for non-invasive neural modulation.
• Retinal Ganglion Cells: Neurons located near the inner surface of the retina that transmit visual information from the eye to the brain.