Focused ultrasound is a rapidly evolving, therapeutic technology that could transform the quality of life and decrease the cost of care for patients with retinal tumors. This novel technology focuses beams of ultrasound energy precisely and accurately on targets deep in the body without damaging surrounding normal tissue. 

How it Works 

Where the beams converge, low intensity focused ultrasound produces a cascade of events that result in the starvation of the tumor from essential nutrients.  This has been shown in a preclinical model. While significant work has been accomplished, there is still much to be done before this technology will be widely available. 

The primary options for treatment of retinal tumors include medication and invasive surgery.  

For certain patients, focused ultrasound could provide a non-invasive alternative to existing therapies.  

Advantages 

• Focused ultrasound is non-invasive, so it does not carry added concerns like surgical wound healing or infection.  

• Focused ultrasound can reach the desired target without damaging surrounding tissue. 

• It can be repeated, if necessary. 

Clinical Trials 

At the present time, there are no clinical trials recruiting patients for focused ultrasound treatment of retinal tumors.  

The Foundation updates these pages regularly, but with the increasing number of clinical trials, we want to be sure that our audience has the latest information available. Therefore, we also added the website search information for the above trials. If you click here, it will take you to the latest information available from https://www.clinicaltrials.gov/.  

Regulatory Approval and Reimbursement  

Focused ultrasound treatment for retinal tumors is not yet approved by regulatory bodies or covered by medical insurance companies. 

Notable Papers 

Ye Y. Advances in Ultrasound-Responsive Radiopharmaceutical Systems for the Management of Ocular Malignancies. Cancer Biother Radiopharm. 2025 Oct 24. doi: 10.1177/10849785251388246. PMID: 41131980 

Quan L, Wang M, Wang Z, Du Z.  LIFU (Low-Intensity Focused Ultrasound) Activated Tumor-Starvation/Oxidative-Stress Combined Therapy for Treating Retinoblastoma. Int J Nanomedicine. 2025 Apr 3;20:4085-4103. doi: 10.2147/IJN.S506179. eCollection 2025. PMID: 40196026 

Bae WH, Maraka S, Daher A. Challenges and advances in glioblastoma targeted therapy: the promise of drug repurposing and biomarker exploration. Front Oncol. 2024 Oct 8;14:1441460. doi: 10.3389/fonc.2024.1441460. eCollection 2024. PMID: 39439947  

Wang M, Yang Q, Li M, Zou H, Wang Z, Ran H, Zheng Y, Jian J, Zhou Y, Luo Y, Ran Y, Jiang S, Zhou X. Multifunctional Nanoparticles for Multimodal Imaging-Guided Low-Intensity Focused Ultrasound/Immunosynergistic Retinoblastoma Therapy. ACS Appl Mater Interfaces. 2020 Feb 5;12(5):5642-5657. doi: 10.1021/acsami.9b22072. Epub 2020 Jan 27. PMID: 31940169 

Wang S, Mahesh SP, Liu J, Geist C, Zderic V. Focused ultrasound facilitated thermo-chemotherapy for targeted retinoblastoma treatment: a modeling study. Exp Eye Res. 2012 Jul;100:17-25. doi: 10.1016/j.exer.2012.04.009. Epub 2012 Apr 28. PMID: 22564972 

Click here for additional references from PubMed.

Focused ultrasound is a rapidly evolving, therapeutic technology that could transform the quality of life and decrease the cost of care for patients that are blind. This novel technology focuses beams of ultrasound energy precisely and accurately on targets deep in the body without damaging surrounding normal tissue. 

How it Works 
Where the beams converge, focused ultrasound produces several therapeutic effects that are being evaluated. This is an involved process and typically includes prosthetic devices such as a retina, optic nerve and cortex. There has been work done in rat models using both high and low intensity focused ultrasound to stimulate vision. The mechanism of action is not clear, but the combination of focused ultrasound with the retinal prosthesis has given hope that one day in the future this will be a viable option for those who have lost their sight. While significant work has been accomplished, there is still much to be done before this technology will be widely available. 

Advantages

• Focused ultrasound is non-invasive, so it does not carry added concerns like surgical wound healing or infection.  

• Focused ultrasound can reach the desired target without damaging surrounding tissue. 

• It can be repeated, if necessary. 

Clinical Trials 

At the present time, there are no clinical trials recruiting patients for focused ultrasound treatment of blindness.  

The Foundation updates these pages regularly, but with the increasing number of clinical trials, we want to be sure that our audience has the latest information available. Therefore, we also added the website search information for the above trials. If you click here, it will take you to the latest information available from https://www.clinicaltrials.gov/. 

Regulatory Approval and Reimbursement  

Focused ultrasound treatment for blindness is not yet approved by regulatory bodies or covered by medical insurance companies. 

Notable Papers 

Lu G, Gong C, Sun Y, Qian X, Rajendran Nair DS, Li R, Zeng Y, Ji J, Zhang J, Kang H, Jiang L, Chen J, Chang CF, Thomas BB, Humayun MS, Zhou Q . Noninvasive imaging-guided ultrasonic neurostimulation with arbitrary 2D patterns and its application for high-quality vision restoration. Nat Commun. 2024 May 27;15(1):4481. doi: 10.1038/s41467-024-48683-6. PMID: 38802397  

Badadhe JD, Roh H, Lee BC, Kim JH, Im M. Ultrasound stimulation for non-invasive visual prostheses. Front Cell Neurosci. 2022 Aug 3;16:971148. doi: 10.3389/fncel.2022.971148. eCollection 2022. PMID: 35990889 

Italiano ML, Guo T, Lovell NH, Tsai D. Improving the spatial resolution of artificial vision using midget retinal ganglion cell populations modeled at the human fovea. J Neural Eng. 2022 Jun 8;19(3). doi: 10.1088/1741-2552/ac72c2. Italiano ML, Guo T, Lovell NH, Tsai D.PMID: 35609556 

Click here for additional references from PubMed.   

Focused ultrasound is a noninvasive, therapeutic technology with the potential to improve the quality of life and decrease the cost of care for patients with dry eye disease. This novel technology focuses beams of ultrasound energy precisely and accurately on targets in the body without damaging surrounding normal tissue.

How it Works
Where the beams converge, focused ultrasound stimulates the meibomian glands, causing an increase in their tear production that can last for weeks after a treatment in preclinical studies.

Advantages
The primary options for treatment of dry eye disease include frequent medication dosing or possibly invasive surgery.

For certain patients, focused ultrasound could provide a more effective alternative to conventional therapy. While significant work has been accomplished, there is still much to be done before this technology will be widely available.

Focused ultrasound could provide a noninvasive alternative to surgery with less risk of complications – such as surgical wound healing or infection – at a lower cost. It can reach the desired target without damaging surrounding tissue and is repeatable, if necessary.

Clinical Trials

At the present time, there are no clinical trials recruiting patients for focused ultrasound treatment of dry eye disease.

The Foundation updates these pages regularly, but with the increasing number of clinical trials, we want to be sure that our audience has the latest information available. Therefore, we also added the website search information for the above trials. If you click here, it will take you to the latest information available from https://www.clinicaltrials.gov/.

Regulatory Approval and Reimbursement 

Focused ultrasound treatment for dry eye disease is not yet approved by regulatory bodies or covered by medical insurance companies.

Notable Papers

Lu G, Gollapudi S, Li R, Pfeiffer ML, Mehta P, Jiang L, Hamm-Alvarez S, Humayun M, Zhou Q, Zhang-Nunes SX. Focused ultrasound stimulation on meibomian glands for the treatment of evaporative dry eye. Exp Biol Med (Maywood). 2021 Oct 14:15353702211052035. doi: 10.1177/15353702211052035.

Click here for additional references from PubMed.

Focused ultrasound is a noninvasive, therapeutic technology with the potential to improve the quality of life and decrease the cost of care for patients with macular degeneration, and a number of other ocular diseases where microvessel accumulation is problematic. This novel technology focuses beams of ultrasound energy precisely and accurately on targets in the eye without damaging surrounding normal tissue.

How it Works
Histotripsy is applied to the targeted microvessels in combination with low energy laser, resulting in the destruction of the microvessels. While significant preclinical work has been accomplished, there is still much to be done before this technology will be widely available.

Advantages
The primary options for treatment of macular degeneration include other combinations of medication and light, which have a higher risk for side effects.

For certain patients, focused ultrasound could provide a noninvasive alternative to surgery with less risk of complications at a lower cost. It can reach the desired target without damaging surrounding tissue and is repeatable, if necessary.

Clinical Trials

At the present time, there are no clinical trials recruiting patients for focused ultrasound treatment of macular degeneration. 

The Foundation updates these pages regularly, but with the increasing number of clinical trials, we want to be sure that our audience has the latest information available. Therefore, we also added the website search information for the above trials. If you click here, it will take you to the latest information available from https://www.clinicaltrials.gov/. 

Regulatory Approval and Reimbursement 

Focused ultrasound treatment for macular degeneration. is not yet approved by regulatory bodies or covered by medical insurance companies.

Notable Papers

Park Y, Shin J, Park J, Kim S, Park JH, Kim J, Kim CS, Chang JW, Schuurmans C, Aubert I, Chang WS, Eom K. Focused Ultrasound as a Novel Non-Invasive Method for the Delivery of Gold Nanoparticles to Retinal Ganglion Cells. Transl Vis Sci Technol. 2024 May 1;13(5):5. doi: 10.1167/tvst.13.5.5. PMID: 38713474 

Zhang H, Xie X, Li J, Qin Y, Zhang W, Cheng Q, Yuan S, Liu Q, Paulus YM, Wang X, Yang X. Removal of choroidal vasculature using concurrently appliedultrasound bursts and nanosecond laser pulses. Sci Rep. 2018 Aug 27;8(1):12848. doi: 10.1038/s41598-018-31045-w.

Click here for additional references from PubMed.

Focused ultrasound is a noninvasive, therapeutic technology with the potential to improve the quality of life and decrease the cost of care for patients with neuromyelitis optica, (also known as Devic’s Disease) which is an autoimmune, inflammatory, demyelinating disease of the central nervous system (CNS). This novel technology focuses beams of ultrasound energy precisely and accurately on targets in the CNS without damaging surrounding normal tissue.

How it Works
Where the beams converge, the ultrasound produces a temporary opening of the blood-central nervous system barrier (similar to the blood-brain barrier) which allows the delivery of remyelinating cells and an antibiotic, which can decrease the severity of the disease. All of this can occur without any surgery. While early preclinical results are promising, there is still much to be done before this technology will be widely available for patients.

Advantages
The primary options for treatment of neuromyelitis optica include plasmapheresis, but this is temporary, and patients typically have recurrent disease and eventual disability. There is no cure for the disease.

For certain patients, focused ultrasound could provide an improved treatment option for this otherwise debilitating disease. Focused ultrasound has less risk of complications – such as surgical wound healing or infection. It can reach the desired target without damaging surrounding tissue and is repeatable, if necessary.

Clinical Trials

At the present time, there are no clinical trials recruiting patients for focused ultrasound treatment of neuromyelitis optica.

The Foundation updates these pages regularly, but with the increasing number of clinical trials, we want to be sure that our audience has the latest information available. Therefore, we also added the website search information for the above trials. If you click here, it will take you to the latest information available from https://www.clinicaltrials.gov/.

Regulatory Approval and Reimbursement

Focused ultrasound treatment for neuromyelitis optica is not yet approved by regulatory bodies or covered by medical insurance companies.

Notable Papers

Yao X, Adams MS, Jones PD, Diederich CJ, Verkman AS. Noninvasive, Targeted Creation of Neuromyelitis Optica Pathology in AQP4-IgG Seropositive Rats by Pulsed Focused Ultrasound. J Neuropathol Exp Neurol. 2018 Nov 30. doi: 10.1093/jnen/nly107.

Click here for additional references from PubMed. 

Focused ultrasound is a noninvasive, therapeutic technology with the potential to improve the quality of life and decrease the cost of care for patients with myopia (nearsightedness) or hyperopia (farsightedness). This novel technology focuses beams of ultrasound energy precisely and accurately on targets deep in the brain without damaging surrounding normal tissue.

How it Works
Where the beams converge, the ultrasound produces neuromodulation of the ocular cortex, potentially enabling myopia and hyperopia to be treated without surgery. While initial work has been accomplished, there is still much to be done before this technology will be widely available.

Advantages
The primary options for treatment of myopia and hyperopia are very limited to external corrections (glasses, contacts or invasive surgical corrections), and this could be a novel solution.

Focused ultrasound can reach the desired target without damaging surrounding tissue and is repeatable, if necessary.

Clinical Trials

At the present time, there are no clinical trials recruiting patients for focused ultrasound treatment of myopia and hyperopia.

The Foundation updates these pages regularly, but with the increasing number of clinical trials, we want to be sure that our audience has the latest information available. Therefore, we also added the website search information for the above trials. If you click here, it will take you to the latest information available from https://www.clinicaltrials.gov/.

Regulatory Approval and Reimbursement 

Focused ultrasound treatment for myopia and hyperopia is not yet approved by regulatory bodies or covered by medical insurance companies.

Notable Papers

Lu G, Qian X, Castillo J, Li R, Jiang L, Lu H, Shung KK, Humayun MS, Thomas BB, Zhou Q. Transcranial Focused Ultrasound for Non-invasive Neuromodulation of the Visual Cortex. IEEE Trans Ultrason Ferroelectr Freq Control. 2020 Jun 29;PP. doi: 10.1109/TUFFC.2020.3005670.

Gong C, Li R, Lu G, Ji J, Zeng Y, Chen J, Chang C, Zhang J, Xia L, Nair DSR, Thomas BB, Song BJ, Humayun MS, Zhou Q. Non-Invasive Hybrid Ultrasound Stimulation of Visual Cortex In Vivo. Bioengineering (Basel). 2023 May 10;10(5):577. doi: 10.3390/bioengineering10050577. PMID: 37237647 

Badadhe JD, Roh H, Lee BC, Kim JH, Im M. Ultrasound stimulation for non-invasive visual prostheses. Front Cell Neurosci. 2022 Aug 3;16:971148. doi: 10.3389/fncel.2022.971148. eCollection 2022. PMID: 35990889  

Qian X, Lu G, Thomas BB, Li R, Chen X, Shung KK, Humayun M, Zhou Q. Noninvasive Ultrasound Retinal Stimulation for Vision Restoration at High Spatiotemporal Resolution. BME Front. 2022 Feb 21;2022:9829316. doi: 10.34133/2022/9829316. eCollection 2022. PMID: 37850175  

Click here for additional references from PubMed.

Focused ultrasound is a noninvasive, therapeutic technology with the potential to improve the quality of life and decrease the cost of care for patients with retinal injury. This novel technology focuses beams of ultrasound energy precisely and accurately on targets deep in the brain without damaging surrounding normal tissue.

How it Works
Where the beams converge, focused ultrasound produces several therapeutic effects that are being evaluated. One mechanism is to temporarily open the blood-brain barrier, which can be used to allow genetic material or therapeutic agents to enter the region. A second mechanism is using focused ultrasound for neuromodulation of the retinal ganglion cells. While significant preclinical work has been accomplished, there is still much to be done before this technology will be widely available.

Advantages
The primary options for treatment of retinal injury are primarily surgical.

For certain patients, focused ultrasound could provide a noninvasive alternative to surgery with less risk of complications – such as surgical wound healing or infection – at a lower cost. It can reach the desired target without damaging surrounding tissue and is repeatable, if necessary.

Clinical Trials

At the present time, there are no clinical trials recruiting patients for focused ultrasound treatment of retinal injury.

The Foundation updates these pages regularly, but with the increasing number of clinical trials, we want to be sure that our audience has the latest information available. Therefore, we also added the website search information for the above trials. If you click here, it will take you to the latest information available from https://www.clinicaltrials.gov/.

Regulatory Approval and Reimbursement 

Focused ultrasound treatment for retinal injury is not yet approved by regulatory bodies or covered by medical insurance companies.

Notable Papers

Park Y, Shin J, Park J, Kim S, Park JH, Kim J, Kim CS, Chang JW, Schuurmans C, Aubert I, Chang WS, Eom K. Focused Ultrasound as a Novel Non-Invasive Method for the Delivery of Gold Nanoparticles to Retinal Ganglion Cells. Transl Vis Sci Technol. 2024 May 1;13(5):5. doi: 10.1167/tvst.13.5.5. PMID: 38713474 

Bourdin A, Ortoli M, Karadayi R, Przegralek L, Sennlaub F, Bodaghi B, Guillonneau X, Carpentier A, Touhami S. Efficacy and Safety of Low-Intensity Pulsed Ultrasound-Induced Blood-Retinal Barrier Opening in Mice. Pharmaceutics. 2023 Jul 6;15(7):1896. doi: 10.3390/pharmaceutics15071896. PMID: 37514082  

Xu C, Lu G, Kang H, Humayun MS, Zhou Q. Design and Simulation of a Ring Transducer Array for Ultrasound Retinal Stimulation. Micromachines (Basel). 2022 Sep 16;13(9):1536. doi: 10.3390/mi13091536.

Lu G, Qian X, Castillo J, Li R, Jiang L, Lu H, Kirk Shung K, Humayun MS, Thomas BB, Zhou Q. Transcranial Focused Ultrasound for Noninvasive Neuromodulation of the Visual Cortex. IEEE Trans Ultrason Ferroelectr Freq Control. 2021 Jan;68(1):21-28. doi: 10.1109/TUFFC.2020.3005670. Epub 2020 Dec 23.

Touahri Y, Dixit R, Kofoed RH, Miloska K, Park E, Raeisossadati R, Markham-Coultes K, David LA, Rijal H, Zhao J, Lynch M, Hynynen K, Aubert I, Schuurmans C. Focused ultrasound as a novel strategy for noninvasive gene delivery to retinal Müller glia. Theranostics. 2020 Feb 10;10(7):2982-2999. doi: 10.7150/thno.42611. eCollection 2020.

Click here for additional references from PubMed.

Focused ultrasound is a noninvasive, therapeutic technology with the potential to improve the quality of life and decrease the cost of care for patients with glaucoma. This innovative technology focuses beams of ultrasound energy precisely and accurately on the ciliary body in the eye without damaging surrounding normal tissue.

How it Works
There are a couple of ways in which focused ultrasound is being investigated to address glaucoma.

With the Eye Tech Care device, the focused ultrasound produces precise coagulation of a portion of the ciliary body, which decreases the intraocular pressure by reducing the production of aqueous humor. The result is a non-incisional treatment of glaucoma. The procedure does need to be done in the operating room, as anesthesia is needed.

A second mechanism of action is found in the device made by EyeSonix, which treats open angle glaucoma. The focused ultrasound energy is applied at several locations around the eye, which offer a mild inflammatory trigger to the trabecular meshwork and anterior chamber angle resulting in enhanced drainage of the aqueous humor.

Advantages
The primary options for treatment of glaucoma includes a variety of medications, trabeculoplasty or more extensive surgery that may include implantation of a foreign body into the eye.

For certain patients, focused ultrasound could provide a noninvasive alternative to surgery with less risk of complications – such as surgical wound healing, infection, or implantation of foreign bodies into the eye – at a lower cost. It can reach the desired target without damaging surrounding tissue and is repeatable, if necessary.

Clinical Trials

There are currently no focused ultrasound clinical trials recruiting patients with glaucoma. 

The Foundation updates these pages regularly, but with the increasing number of clinical trials, we want to be sure that our audience has the latest information available. Therefore, we also added the website search information for the above trials. If you click here, it will take you to the latest information available from https://www.clinicaltrials.gov/.

See a list of treatment sites >
See a list of laboratory research sites >

Find a Treatment Site

Search for a treatment center or clinical trial near you.

Regulatory Approval and Reimbursement 

The Eye Tech Care device has regulatory approvals for use in Europe, the Middle East, China, Latin America (Mexico), and multiple locations in South-East Asia (Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand, Philippines, Indonesia, and Vietnam).

See a video about EyeTechCare’s UCP Treatment >

Notable Papers

Wang W, Wang C, Zhou Y, Yan S, Li X, Xie L. Preliminary study on the treatment of acute angle closure glaucoma with high intensity focused ultrasound cycloplasty. Sci Rep. 2025 Sep 29;15(1):33574. doi: 10.1038/s41598-025-18675-7. PMID: 41022980 

Ge P, Yang J, Xi JW, Sang W, Yang XX, Fu ZW, Jia J, He Y. Efficacy of ultrasound cyclo-plasty in treatment of glaucoma in Asian population. Int J Ophthalmol. 2025 Mar 18;18(3):549-556. doi: 10.18240/ijo.2025.03.23. eCollection 2025. PMID: 40103949

Almobarak FA, Alrubean A, Alsarhani WK, Aljenaidel A. Ultrasound cyclo plasty in advanced glaucoma: Intermediate-term success, predictors for failure and complications. Eur J Ophthalmol. 2024 Nov;34(6):1949-1956. doi: 10.1177/11206721241235430. Epub 2024 Feb 29. PMID: 38425194 

Ruixue W, Wenjun D, Le J, Fangfang F, Ning L, Xiaoya C, Suyan L. A comparative study of ultrasound cycloplasty and endoscopic cyclophotocoagulation in the treatment of secondary glaucoma. Sci Rep. 2023 Dec 27;13(1):23073. doi: 10.1038/s41598-023-50157-6. PMID: 38155225 

Almobarak FA, Alrubean A, Alsarhani WK, Aljenaidel A, Osman EA. Two-Year Outcomes of Ultrasound Cyclo Plasty as a First Procedure in Glaucoma. Semin Ophthalmol. 2023 Jul;38(5):482-489. doi: 10.1080/08820538.2023.2170715. Epub 2023 Feb 10. PMID: 36762779 

Bolek B, Wylęgała A, Wylęgała E. Ultrasound ciliary plasty in glaucoma treatment: A long-term follow-up study. Acta Ophthalmol. 2023 May;101(3):293-300. doi: 10.1111/aos.15290. Epub 2022 Nov 30.

Almobarak FA, Alrubean A, Alsarhani WK, Aljenaidel A, Osman EA. Two-Year Outcomes of Ultrasound Cyclo Plasty as a First Procedure in Glaucoma. Semin Ophthalmol. 2023 Feb 10:1-8. doi: 10.1080/08820538.2023.2170715.

Figus M, Palma A, Covello G, Agnifili L, Posarelli C. Ultrasound Cyclo Plasty in Patients with Open Angle Glaucoma and High Myopia. J Glaucoma. 2023 Feb 10. doi: 10.1097/IJG.0000000000002185.

Click here for additional references from PubMed.

Focused ultrasound is a noninvasive, therapeutic technology with the potential to improve the quality of life and decrease the cost of care for patients with poor vision who desire reshaping of the cornea (keratoplasty). This novel technology focuses beams of ultrasound energy precisely and accurately on targets in the eye without damaging surrounding normal tissue.

How it Works
Where the beams converge, focused ultrasound produces precise energy that results in reshaping of the cornea. While significant preclinical work has been accomplished, there is still much to be done before this technology will be widely available.

Advantages
The primary options for treatment of poorly shaped corneas include surgery. While LASIK is less invasive that other surgeries, it still requires an incision. 

For certain patients, focused ultrasound could provide a noninvasive alternative to surgery with less risk of complications – such as surgical wound healing or infection – at a lower cost. It can reach the desired target without damaging surrounding tissue and is repeatable, if necessary.

Clinical Trials

At the present time, there are no clinical trials recruiting patients for focused ultrasound keratoplasty treatments.

The Foundation updates these pages regularly, but with the increasing number of clinical trials, we want to be sure that our audience has the latest information available. Therefore, we also added the website search information for the above trials. If you click here, it will take you to the latest information available from https://www.clinicaltrials.gov/.

Regulatory Approval and Reimbursement 

Focused ultrasound treatment for keratoplasty is not yet approved by regulatory bodies or covered by medical insurance companies.

Notable Papers

Strauss RW, Bolz M. Lens Opacity Following High-Intensity Focused Ultrasound. JAMA Ophthalmol. 2019 Dec 12. doi: 10.1001/jamaophthalmol.2019.4963. 

Wang M, Li M, Yan P, Luo Q, Zhang Y, Du Z. The Effect of High Intensity Focused Ultrasound Keratoplasty on Rabbit Anterior Segment. J Ophthalmol. 2017;2017:6067890. doi: 10.1155/2017/6067890. Epub 2017 Feb 9.

Du Z, Yan P, Luo Q, Zhang D, Zhang Y. Keratorefractive Effect of High Intensity Focused Ultrasound Keratoplasty on Rabbit Eyes. J Ophthalmol. 2016;2016:5260531. doi: 10.1155/2016/5260531. Epub 2016 Jun 13.

Click here for additional references from PubMed.