In vivo acoustoelectric neural recording in mice enabled by ultrasound-induced frequency mixing
File(s)
Published version
Author(s)
Rintoul, Jean
Howard, Jonathan
Dzialecka1, Patrycja
Zhu, Xiaoqi
Grossman, Nir
Type
Journal Article
Abstract
There is a long-standing need in neuroscience for non-invasive methods that can record neural electrical activity with focal precision to diagnose brain disorders and interrogate circuit function. Here, we introduce acoustoelectric neural recording, which exploits ultrasound-induced frequency mixing to recover electrophysiological signals in vivo. Building on recent
insights into the acoustoelectric interaction, we extend earlier work in cardiac tissue to demonstrate neural signal recovery in a living mouse brain. At the ultrasound focus, neural activity is shifted to frequencies near the acoustic carrier and can be retrieved by amplitude demodulation analogous to radio transmission. We further show that acoustoelectric neural recording is robust to artefacts and permits single-trial electrophysiological measurements.
These results establish a pathway toward a real-time, portable, and non-invasive neural recording modality with the spatial precision of ultrasound.
insights into the acoustoelectric interaction, we extend earlier work in cardiac tissue to demonstrate neural signal recovery in a living mouse brain. At the ultrasound focus, neural activity is shifted to frequencies near the acoustic carrier and can be retrieved by amplitude demodulation analogous to radio transmission. We further show that acoustoelectric neural recording is robust to artefacts and permits single-trial electrophysiological measurements.
These results establish a pathway toward a real-time, portable, and non-invasive neural recording modality with the spatial precision of ultrasound.
Date Issued
2026-02-10
Date Acceptance
2026-01-26
Citation
Communications Engineering, 2026, 5 (1)
ISSN
2731-3395
Publisher
Nature Portfolio
Journal / Book Title
Communications Engineering
Volume
5
Issue
1
Copyright Statement
©TheAuthor(s) 2026 OpenAccessThis article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, which permits use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproductionin anymediumorformat,aslong as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons licence, and indicate if changes were made. The images or other third party material in this article are included in the article’s Creative Commons licence, unless indicated otherwise in a credit line to the material. If material is not included in the article’s Creative Commonslicenceandyourintendeduseisnotpermitted by statutory regulation or exceeds the permitted use, you will need to obtainpermissiondirectly fromthecopyrightholder.Toviewacopyofthis licence, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
License URL
Identifier
10.1038/s44172-026-00598-4
Publication Status
Published
Article Number
37
Date Publish Online
2026-02-10