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 mood disorder, more technically described as \u201cUnspecified Mood (Affective) disorder\u201d. This novel technology focuses beams of ultrasound energy precisely and accurately on targets deep in the brain without damaging surrounding normal tissue.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
How it Works<\/strong> A clinical trial<\/strong><\/a>\u202fin California that was treating patients with mood disorders has been completed. <\/p>\n\n\n\n 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<\/strong><\/a>, it will take you to the latest information available from https:\/\/www.clinicaltrials.gov\/<\/a><\/strong>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Search for a treatment center or clinical trial near you.<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Focused ultrasound treatment for mood disorders is not yet approved by regulatory bodies or covered by medical insurance companies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Kang Y, Han KM, Ham BJ, Auer DP, Kaiser M, Jung J.\u00a0Transcranial focused ultrasound for emotion regulation: A systematic review and quantitative summary of human studies<\/strong><\/a>. J Affect\u00a0Disord. 2026 Mar\u00a021;405:121621.\u00a0doi: 10.1016\/j.jad.2026.121621. PMID: 41871637\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n Arulpragasam\u00a0AR,\u00a0Theyel\u00a0B, Barredo J, Pouille F, Gillotti JG, Greenberg BD, Wout-Frank MV’, Philip NS.\u00a0Low Intensity Focused Ultrasound Neuromodulation in Psychiatric Disorders: Mechanisms, Models, and Missing Links<\/strong><\/a>. Biol Psychiatry. 2026 Mar\u00a06:S0006-3223(26)00097-1.\u00a0doi: 10.1016\/j.biopsych.2026.02.019. PMID: 41796716\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n De Schlichting E, Huang Y, Jones RM, Meng Y, Cao X, Baskaran A, Hynynen K, Hamani C, Lipsman N, Goubran M, Davidson B. Focused ultrasound capsulotomy: predicting the probability of successful lesioning based on skull morphology<\/strong><\/a>. J Neurosurg. 2026 Jan 1;144(1):94-103. doi: 10.3171\/2025.6.JNS2588. PMID: 41072044 <\/p>\n\n\n\n Arulpragasam AR, Philip NS. Quiet waves, deep impact: acoustic modeling of low-intensity focused ultrasound<\/strong><\/a>. Neuropsychopharmacology. 2026 Jan;51(1):351-353. doi: 10.1038\/s41386-025-02191-3. PMID: 40764758 <\/p>\n\n\n\n Davidson B, Schmidt FA, Bichsel O, Hajiabadi MM, Lozano AM. Transcranial Focused Ultrasound: A Transformative Tool for Intracranial Ablation, Drug Delivery, and Neuromodulation<\/strong><\/a>. IEEE Rev Biomed Eng. 2025 Nov 11;PP. doi: 10.1109\/RBME.2025.3624970. PMID: 41217925 <\/p>\n\n\n\n Barksdale BR, Enten L, DeMarco A, Kline R, Doss MK, Nemeroff CB, Fonzo GA. Low-intensity transcranial focused ultrasound amygdala neuromodulation: a double-blind sham-controlled target engagement study and unblinded single-arm clinical trial<\/strong><\/a>. Mol Psychiatry. 2025 Oct;30(10):4497-4511. doi: 10.1038\/s41380-025-03033-w. Epub 2025 Apr 24. PMID: 40275098 <\/p>\n\n\n\n Martin E, Roberts M, Grigoras IF, Wright O, Nandi T, Rieger SW, Campbell J, den Boer T, Cox BT, Stagg CJ, Treeby BE. Ultrasound\u202fsystem\u202ffor\u202fprecise\u202fneuromodulation\u202fof\u202fhuman\u202fdeep\u202fbrain\u202fcircuits<\/strong><\/a>. Nat Commun. 2025 Sep 5;16(1):8024. doi: 10.1038\/s41467-025-63020-1. PMID:\u202f40913042\u202f <\/p>\n\n\n\n Darmani G, Ramezanpour H, Sarica C, Annirood R, Grippe T, Nankoo JF, Fomenko A, Santyr B, Zeng K, Vetkas A, Samuel N, Davidson B, Fasano A, Lankarany M, Kalia SK, Pichardo S, Lozano AM, Chen R. Individualized\u202fnon-invasive\u202fdeep\u202fbrain\u202fstimulation\u202fof the\u202fbasal\u202fganglia\u202fusing\u202ftranscranial\u202fultrasound\u202fstimulation<\/strong><\/a>. Nat Commun. 2025 Mar 19;16(1):2693. doi: 10.1038\/s41467-025-57883-7.PMID:\u202f40108143 <\/p>\n\n\n\n Hoang-Dang B, Halavi SE, Rotstein NM, Spivak NM, Dang NH, Cvijanovic L, Hiller SH, Vallejo-Martelo M, Rosenberg BM, Swenson A, Becerra S, Sun M, Revett ME, Kronemyer D, Berlow R, Craske MG, Suthana N, Monti MM, Zbozinek TD, Bookheimer SY, Kuhn TP. Transcranial Focused Ultrasound Targeting the Amygdala May Increase Psychophysiological and Subjective Negative Emotional Reactivity in Healthy Older Adults<\/strong><\/a>. Biol Psychiatry Glob Open Sci. 2024 Jun 5;4(5):100342. doi: 10.1016\/j.bpsgos.2024.100342. eCollection 2024 Sep. PMID: 39092138 <\/p>\n\n\n\n Sanguinetti JL, Hameroff S, Smith EE, Sato T, Daft CMW, Tyler WJ, Allen JJB. Transcranial Focused Ultrasound to the Right Prefrontal Cortex Improves Mood and Alters Functional Connectivity in Humans<\/strong><\/a>. Front Hum Neurosci. 2020 Feb 28;14:52. doi: 10.3389\/fnhum.2020.00052. eCollection 2020.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Where the beams converge, focused ultrasound produces neuromodulation of the targeted tissue, which alters the reactivity of stimuli and enables a positive shift in mood. While significant work has been accomplished, there is still much to be done before this technology will be widely available.
Advantages<\/strong>
The primary options for treatment of mood disorder include medication.
Focused ultrasound is non-invasive, so it does not carry added concerns like surgical wound healing or infection. It can reach the desired target without damaging surrounding tissue, and it can be repeated, if necessary.<\/p>\n\n\n\nClinical Trials<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Find a Treatment Site<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Regulatory Approval and Reimbursement<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Notable Papers<\/h2>\n\n\n\n