50 % seminar: Gold nanoparticles for high-frequency deep brain stimulation

Deep brain stimulation (DBS) is an effective treatment for neurological disorders such as Parkinson’s disease, epilepsy, and severe depression. However, conventional DBS relies on surgically implanted electrodes and is therefore invasive, costly, and associated with surgical risks and other side effects. These limitations motivate the development of non-invasive alternatives capable of providing targeted neuromodulation in deep brain structures. In this seminar, recent advances toward a non-invasive electromagnetic DBS framework based on microwave (MW) field shaping and temporal interference (TI) stimulation will be presented. First, a microwave temporal interference (MW-TI) framework for non-invasive deep brain stimulation is presented, combining iterative time-reversal and antenna-array optimization to generate spatially focused envelope fields in realistic head models. The study provides insights into the field-shaping method and other constraints governing non-invasive MW-TI stimulation. Then, an orientation-selective extension of MW-TI will be presented, where field orientation is explicitly incorporated into the optimization process. This enables selective alignment of the field with the orientation of neural pathways, providing an additional degree of control beyond spatial targeting alone. Together, these studies provide new insights into the physics and optimization of field shaping for MW-TI stimulation. The long-term vision is a wearable and non-invasive DBS technology capable of providing targeted neuromodulation without implanted electrodes.