FOCUSED ULTRASOUND | TARGETING AND SAFETY | IMAGING | NEUROMODULATION
The Laboratory for Acoustic Therapy and Imaging develops focused ultrasound technologies for noninvasive interaction with biological systems. Our work integrates precise targeting, imaging, and mechanistic insight to make ultrasound a controllable and interpretable platform for therapy and neuroscience.
Explore research | Google Scholar
Our research is organized around a central idea: ultrasound can become a controllable therapeutic and neuroscience platform only when targeting, safety, imaging, and biological response are treated as one integrated measurement problem.
Developing imaging, simulation, tracking, and validation workflows that make ultrasound therapies precise, reproducible, and clinically credible.
Using Doppler imaging, passive acoustic mapping, and physiologic ultrasound biomarkers to guide interventions and monitor tissue response.
Applying focused ultrasound to modulate brain circuits and studying how acoustic energy can be used to interact with and modulate cells, networks, and behavior.
| Reliable therapy and rigorous neuroscience both depend on knowing where the acoustic field goes and what it does. We develop quantitative methods to localize, simulate, validate, and monitor ultrasound exposure.
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| 2. Casual neuromodulation of brain circuits | Focused ultrasound can modulate neural activity without implants or incisions. We use this capability to probe casual relationships in sensory, pain, cognitive, and affective networks.
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| 3. Mechanisms of ultrasound-biological interaction | To make ultrasound therapies controllable, we study how acoustic parameters produce biological responses. This includes cellular, pharmacological, and imagaing-based experiments that connect pulse design to mechanism.
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| 4. Ultrasound imaging and therapy monitoring | Beyond delivering acoustic energy, ultrasound can provide real-time information about vascular physiology, microbubble activity, and treatment response. We develop and apply ultrasound imaging approaches that help guide therapy and quantify biological change in the brain and cancer.
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We build tools, but not for their own sake. Our goal is to make ultrasound a quantitative intervention and measurement platform: a way to target tissue, image response, test casual hypotheses, and translate those insights into safe, controllable therapies.
Current work is supported by the National Institutes of Health and collaborative foundation-supported proejcts in focused ultrasound and neurotechnology.
Our publications span targeting and safety systems, ultrasound imaging and therapy monitoring, casusal brain circuit modulation, and mechanisms of ultrasound bioeffects. A complete and current publication list is available through Google Scholar.
In addition to experimental research, the lab engages with the broader focused ultrasound and neurotechnology community through discussions, collaborations, and public-facing work.
FUS Forward is a podcast on focused ultrasound neruomodutation exploring current challenges, emerging ideas, and perspectives from across academia and industry. The podcast is co-hosted by Charles Caskey and Keith Murphy (Attune Neurosciences)
Listen to FUS Forward
The lab contributes to broader efforts to define safe and reproducible ultrasound practices. This includes participation in international consensus initiatives on the biophysical safety of transcranial ultrasound stimulation (ITRUSST).
The lab works at the intersection of acoustics, ultrasound imaging, MRI, neuroscience, and translational neurotechnology. We collaborate closely with engineers, neuroscientists, clinicians, imaging scientists, and domain experts in preclinical and human studies.
| Charles Caskey, PhD Principal Investigator Focused ultrasound, ultrasound imaging, image-guilded therapy, neuromodulation, quantitative validation, and translational neurotechnology. |
 | Jiro Kusunose, PhD Imaging Research Specialist Research focuses on diagnostic and therapeutic ultrasound, contrast agents, and image-guided cancer therapy and neuromodulation. Current projects investigate ultrasound-enhanced particle delivery to breast tumors and focused ultrasound approaches for neuronal activation in the brain. |
 | Tony Phipps, PhD Imaging Research Specialist Interested in image-guided focused ultrasound for neuromodulation, with a focus on the safety, targeting, and validation of transcranial ultrasound stimulation experiments. |
 | Jad El Harake, PhD Postdoctoral Scholar Research description. |
 | Allie Dockum Graduate Student Interested in transcranial focused ultrasound for studying complex cognition. Develops neuromodulation treatment pipelines using simulation and optical tracking, with a focus on thalamic ultrasound interactions. |
 | Jixin "Andy" Xia Graduate Student PhD candidate in Biomedical Engineering focused on the design and application of focused ultrasound neuromodulation systems. Develops ultrasound-guided neuromodulation platforms, low-cost transcranial FUS arrays, and novel targeting methods, with collaborative work spanning fuctional ultrasound imaging, immunomodulation, and preclinical neuroscience. |
 | Ainsley McDonald-Boyer Graduate Student Brief research description. |
 | Malachy Newman Graduate Student Researches therapeutic ultrasound-mediated drug delivery with a focus on transcranial blood-brain barrier opening. Current projects investigate ultrasound-enabled neuromodulation wiht neuroactive agents monitored by fMRI, as well as novel contrasts agents to improve blood-brain barrier opening. |
 | Boqun Yang Master of Imaging Science Student Skull attenuation during transcranial ultrasound. |
 | Cooper Donavan Undergraduate Researcher Undergraduate researcher focused on transcranial focused ultrasound simulation and aberration correction. Contributed to studies of through-transmit skull compensation methods in preclinical models and developed GPU-accelerated acoustic simulation and signal processing workflows. |
Past lab members and trainees
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We welcome conversations with students, postdoctoral researchers, clinicians, engineers, imaging scientists, and collaborators interested in rigorous ultrasound therapy and neuromodulation research.
Potential projects span biomedical imaging, ultrasound physics, neuroscience, device development, computation, and experimental validation.
Strong fits may include focused ultrasound, MRI, neurotechnology, computational modeling, systems neuroscience, or translational experimental systems.
We are especially interested in partnerships that connect quantitative perturbation with meaningful biological, behavioral, or clinical questions.
Laboratory for Acoustic Therapy and Imaging
Director: Charles Caskey, PhD
Professor, Radiology & Radiological Sciences and Biomedical Engineering
Director of Ultrasound, Vanderbilt University Istitute of Imaging Science
Contact
charles.f.caskey@vumc.org
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