Various surgical techniques and pha

Various surgical techniques and pharmaceutical treatments have been developed toimprove the current technologies of treating brain diseases. Focused ultrasound (FUS)is a new brain stimulation modality that can exert a therapeutic effect on diseased braincells, with this effect ranging from permanent ablation of the pathological neural circuit totransient excitatory/inhibitory modulation of the neural activity depending on the acousticenergy of choice. With the development of intraoperative imaging technology, FUS hasbecome a clinically available noninvasive neurosurgical option with visual feedback.Over the past 10 years, FUS has shown enormous potential. It can deliver acousticenergy through the physical barrier of the brain and eliminate abnormal brain cells totreat patients with Parkinson’s disease and essential tremor. In addition, FUS can helpintroduce potentially beneficial therapeutics at the exact brain region where they needto be, bypassing the brain’s function barrier, which can be applied for a wide range ofcentral nervous system disorders. In this review, we introduce the current FDA-approvedclinical applications of FUS, ranging from thermal ablation to blood barrier opening, aswell as the emerging applications of FUS in the context of pain control, epilepsy, andneuromodulation. We also discuss the expansion of future applications and challenges.Broadening FUS technologies requires a deep understanding of the effect of ultrasoundwhen targeting various brain structures in diverse disease conditions in the context ofskull interface, anatomical structure inside the brain, and pathology.