Ultrasound Systems and Associated Devices and Methods for Modulating Brain Activity

Abstract

The present specification discloses a neuromodulation system comprising a transcranially mounted neuromodulation device and a stimulation control computing environment. The disclosed neuromodulation device comprising at least one ultrasound transducer and at least one EEG electrode and the disclosed stimulation control computing environment comprises a stimulation control unit and offline computing device, the disclosed stimulation control unit including associated systems and methods for controlling the neuromodulation device functionality using acoustic simulations performed on brain image data as well as methods and uses of such neuromodulation systems in modulating brain activity using focused ultrasound stimulation of the thalamus and thalamic sub regions during certain phases of slow wave brain oscillations in order to treat various neural-based disorders or conditions including sleep disorders.

1 - 15 . (canceled) 
     
     
         16 . A neuromodulation system comprising:
 a neuromodulation device including a wearable device housing and one or more ultrasound-emitting elements; and   a stimulation control computing environment comprising a stimulation control unit, the stimulation control unit comprising at least one processor coupled to the one or more ultrasound-emitting elements, and configured with one or more data processing functions to focus ultrasound emission to a target brain area that includes at least a portion of a thalamus, the one or more data processing functions configured to:
 use brain image data to identify the target brain area; 
 perform one or more acoustic simulations to determine information for use in focusing ultrasound emissions from the one or more ultrasound-emitting elements to the target brain area; 
 detect a phase of at least one slow wave; and 
 control the ultrasound emissions from the one or more ultrasound-emitting elements, in accordance with the determined information, such that the ultrasound emissions constructively interfere at the target brain area to form at least one ultrasound pulse focused on the target brain area during a certain slow wave phase range for enhancing the at least one slow wave based on the detected phase of the at least one slow wave. 
   
     
     
         17 . The neuromodulation system according to  claim 16 , wherein the ultrasound emissions are phase locked to the at least one slow wave such that the ultrasound pulses have a frequency in a range below 2 Hertz. 
     
     
         18 . The neuromodulation system according to  claim 16 , wherein enhancing the at least one slow wave thereby improves a quality of sleep by the user during a sleep stage. 
     
     
         19 . The neuromodulation system according to  claim 16 , wherein the target brain area further comprises at least a portion of the thalamus. 
     
     
         20 . The neuromodulation system according to  claim 16 , wherein the target brain area further comprises at least a portion of the centromedian thalamus. 
     
     
         21 . The neuromodulation system according to  claim 16 , wherein real-time information processed by the stimulation control unit includes brainwave power spectral distribution and brainwave spectral amplitude to identify a sleep stage. 
     
     
         22 . The neuromodulation system according to  claim 16 , wherein the stimulation control unit adjusts power of the one or more ultrasound-emitting elements based on estimated acoustic attenuation processed from cranial anatomy and/or bone density. 
     
     
         23 . The neuromodulation system according to  claim 16 , wherein the stimulation control unit is configured to determine acoustic impedance and a beam steering parameter using ultrasound generated data and to target the target brain area with the ultrasound emissions from the one or more ultrasound-emitting elements based on the acoustic impedance and the beam steering parameter. 
     
     
         24 . The neuromodulation system according to  claim 23 , wherein the beam steering parameter determination optimizes a power distribution ratio between a point relative to the target area and one or more off-target areas across different steering angles of the one or more ultrasound-emitting elements. 
     
     
         25 . The neuromodulation system according to  claim 16 , further comprising one or more EEG electrodes. 
     
     
         26 . The neuromodulation system according to  claim 25 , wherein detecting a phase of at the at least one slow wave is based on processing real time data acquired by the one or more EEG electrodes. 
     
     
         27 . The neuromodulation system according to  claim 16 , wherein the stimulation control unit controls the one or more ultrasound-emitting elements to deliver the ultrasound emissions during a sleep stage. 
     
     
         28 . The neuromodulation system according to  claim 26 , wherein the stimulation control unit classifies a sleep stage using a gradient boosted decision tree machine learning algorithm. 
     
     
         29 . The neuromodulation system according to  claim 16 , wherein the stimulation control unit further comprises a deep learning model for sleep stage prediction and a deep learning model for regulating ultrasound emissions. 
     
     
         30 . The neuromodulation system according to  claim 16 , wherein the stimulation control unit optimizes the ultrasound emissions based on a current slow wave amplitude reading relative to a baseline slow wave amplitude reading. 
     
     
         31 . A neuromodulation system comprising:
 a neuromodulation device including a wearable device housing, and one or more ultrasound-emitting elements; and   at least one processor coupled to the one or more ultrasound-emitting elements and configured with one or more data processing functions to focus ultrasound emission to a target brain region of a user that includes at least a portion of a thalamus, the one or more data processing functions configured to:
 perform one or more acoustic simulations to determine waveform parameters for use in focusing ultrasound emissions from the one or more ultrasound emitting elements to the target brain region; 
 detect a phase of at least one slow wave of the target brain region; and 
   
       control the waveform parameters of ultrasound emissions from the one or more ultrasound-emitting elements such that the ultrasound emissions constructively interfere at the target brain region of a user to form at least one ultrasound pulse focused on the target brain region during a certain slow wave phase range for enhancing the at least one slow wave based on the detected phase of the at least one slow wave for a specified period of time, wherein the ultrasound emissions are phase locked to the at least one slow wave such that the ultrasound pulses have a spectral frequency component in a range below 2 Hertz. 
     
     
         32 . The neuromodulation system according to  claim 31 , wherein the target brain region further comprises at least a portion of the centromedian thalamus. 
     
     
         33 . The system of  claim 31 , wherein the at least one processor is configured to control the timing of the ultrasound emissions based on the detected phase of the at least one slow wave such that cells of the thalamus are excited by the ultrasound emissions during an up state of the at least one slow wave. 
     
     
         34 . The system of  claim 33 , wherein the at least one processor is configured to control the one or more ultrasound-emitting elements to focus a single one of the ultrasound pulses to the thalamus during the up state. 
     
     
         35 . The system of  claim 31 , further comprising one or more EEG electrodes, wherein detecting a phase of the at least slow wave is based on processing real time data acquired by the one or more EEG electrodes.