Functional ultrasound imaging from scratch: 10x fMRI resolution, cheaper and no magnet
patrickmineault · x · 2026-10-01
Patrick Mineault publishes a deep dive into functional ultrasound imaging (fUSI), an emerging brain-imaging modality just entering human studies.
- How it works: an ultrasound probe films brain tissue rapidly; computation isolates pixels tracking blood-flow changes tied to neural activity (same hemodynamic contrast as fMRI, first shown by Macé et al. 2011 in rats).
- Why it matters: 10x the linear resolution of fMRI (1000x voxels), smaller and cheaper with no magnet, and higher SNR.
- Extensions: pairing with low-intensity focused ultrasound (LIFU) to modulate brain regions for neuropsychiatric treatment; contrast agents or gene therapies could push to super-resolution vasculature imaging or direct neural-activity measurement.
- In humans: demonstrated intraoperatively and via an acoustically transparent cranial implant despite skull-penetration limits. Covers the physics, the computational pipeline, and how readers can improve it.
Related event: Functional Ultrasound Brain Imaging: 10x fMRI Resolution at Lower Cost(2 posts)→
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