In a first, scientists have used ultrasound waves to peer inside a person’s brain. The man’s brain activity was recorded as he completed tasks outside a medical facility, including playing a video game.
To achieve this feat, researchers implanted a material into the man’s skull that allowed ultrasound waves to pass into his brain.
After entering through this “acoustically transparent” window, these waves bounced off boundaries between tissues. Some of the bouncing waves then returned to the ultrasound probe, which was connected to a scanner. The data allowed scientists to build a picture of what was going on in the man’s brain, similar to how ultrasound scans can visualize a fetus in the womb.