Performance of a transcranial ultrasound array designed for 4D acoustoelectric brain imaging in humans

Noninvasive electrical brain imaging in humans often suffers from poor spatial resolution due to the uncertain spread of electric fields through the head. To overcome this limitation, we propose 4D transcranial acoustoelectric brain imaging (tABI) for mapping current densities at a spatial resolution confined to the ultrasound (US) focus. Acoustoelectric (AE) imaging exploits an interaction between a pressure wave and tissue resistivity, which was demonstrated for mapping the cardiac activation wave in the rabbit heart. Our goal is to extend this modality for mapping the human brain noninvasively. This study describes the performance of a 2D US array designed for tABI in humans.