Thirteen of 24 patients with chronic disorders of consciousness showed improved conscious behaviour after focused ultrasound, according to Chinese state broadcaster CCTV. A team including the Chinese Academy of Sciences’ Shenzhen Institutes of Advanced Technology and Kunming Medical University ran the preliminary study.Â
The method uses MRI to pick its targets, chiefly the thalamus. That region plays a central role in awareness and in communication between neural networks. Ultrasound pulses will be targeted at that point without any form of surgery and any implanted electrodes. The objective is to re-establish the networks required for consciousness.
The subjects had three 20-minute treatments every week for four weeks. The most remarkable patient was a man who spent three months in a coma as a result of brain haemorrhage.Â
After thirty days of being exposed to ultrasound therapy and rehabilitation, he regained the ability to talk, eat by himself and even walk with support.
Why it’s important: Rehabilitation went hand in hand with the ultrasound therapy; therefore, the study does not tell us how much each one contributed.
There was no mention from CCTV if there was a control group in the experiment. Without a control group, spontaneous recovery cannot be ruled out, as it may appear as the effect of the treatment in cases of severe brain injuries.
In a case report by the same group published in Frontiers in Psychiatry and accepted in February 2026, the clinical improvement of one patient undergoing the treatment of transcranial focused ultrasound treatment was described. In this case, the researchers stressed the need for further controlled studies to generalise from one case.
A multicentre study led by UCLA and conducted in the United States has 60 patients with severe brain injuries with a sham-stimulation control group.
