Evidence map›Paper›PMID 41301116›Full record

ArticleBioengineering (Basel, Switzerland)2025

A Frequency-Dependent and Nonlinear, Time-Explicit Five-Layer Human Head Numerical Model for Realistic Estimation of Focused Acoustic Transmission Through the Human Skull for Noninvasive High-Intensity and High-Frequency Transcranial Ultrasound Stimulation: An Application to Neurological and Psychiatric Disorders.

Shivam Sharma, Nuno A T C Fernandes, Óscar Carvalho

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Bioengineering (Basel, Switzerland), 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.

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0cells of the map it votes in
0citing papers in PubMed
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1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

0 citing papers in PubMed.

No citing paper in PubMed yet.

4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

3 authors.

Shivam SharmaCenter for Micro-Electro Mechanical Systems (CMEMS), University of Minho, 4800-058 Guimarães, Portugal.ORCID 0000-0002-6935-0223
Nuno A T C FernandesCenter for Micro-Electro Mechanical Systems (CMEMS), University of Minho, 4800-058 Guimarães, Portugal.ORCID 0000-0003-1848-726X
Óscar CarvalhoCenter for Micro-Electro Mechanical Systems (CMEMS), University of Minho, 4800-058 Guimarães, Portugal.ORCID 0000-0002-9447-8739

Funding

Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia 2022.11063.BDFundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia PTDC/EME-EME/1681/2021Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia UIDB/04436/2020Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia UIDP/04436/2020
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Transcranial focused ultrasound is a promising noninvasive technique for neuromodulation in neurological and psychiatric disorders, but accurate prediction of acoustic transmission through the skull remains a major challenge. In this study, we present a five-layer numerical human head model that integrates frequency-dependent acoustic parameters with nonlinear time-explicit dynamics to realistically capture ultrasound propagation. The model explicitly represents skin, trabecular bone, cortical bone, and brain, each assigned experimentally derived acoustic properties across a clinically relevant frequency range (0.5-5 MHz). Numerical simulations were performed in the frequency domain and time-explicit to quantify sound transmission loss and focal depth under high-intensity and high-frequency stimulation. The results show the effect of frequency, radius of curvature, and skull thickness on maximum pressure ratio, focal depth, and focus zone inside the brain tissue. Findings indicate that skull geometry, particularly radius of curvature and thickness, strongly influences the focal zone, with thinner skull regions allowing deeper penetration and reduced transmission loss. Comparison of the frequency-domain model with the time-explicit model demonstrated broadly similar trends; however, the frequency-domain approach consistently underestimated transmission loss and was unable to capture nonlinear effects such as frequency harmonics. These findings highlight the importance of nonlinear, time-explicit modeling for accurate transcranial ultrasound planning and suggest that the proposed framework provides a robust tool for optimizing stimulation parameters and identifying ideal target zones, supporting the development of safer and more effective neuromodulation strategies.

Indexed as

acousticsattenuationCOMSOL Multiphysicsneurorehabilitationnon-invasive brain stimulationnonlinearitytranscranial focused ultrasound simulationwave propagation

Identifiers

PMID41301116
PMCPMC12649367

What Socratic holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the Socratic graph.