Functional ultrasound imaging of the brain activity in human neonates

The recent introduction of functional ultrasound (fUS) based on ultrafast Doppler imaging for blood flow detection unveiled a gigantic field of applications in Neuroimaging. Its considerable sensitivity, temporal and spatial resolution enabled to image the neurovascular coupling in unprecedented situations such as olfactory stimulation or spatial representation in an awake animal. However, to date those applications have been restricted to small animal studies. Here we present for the first time fUS imaging in human. We were able to image a broad spectrum of cerebral activity in neonates, from quiet sleep to epileptic seizures, and we could even detect undescribed phenomenon under the form of slowly propagating vascular changes.