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Ultrasound Being Investigated as Potential Treatment for SUD
The use of a noninvasive brain stimulation therapy is now being studied as a potential treatment for substance use disorder (SUD).
Researchers from West Virginia University have published 2 small studies of low-intensity focused ultrasound (LIFU) to treat SUD, and the University of Virginia is now seeking patients at least 18 years of age to participate in a pilot study to determine the safety, efficacy, and tolerability of LIFU as a treatment for cocaine use disorder.
LIFU has been considered a potential treatment option for recovery from coma, brain cancer, Alzheimer disease, and other medical conditions because of its ability to target structures deep in the brain with greater precision than other interventions, such as transcranial magnetic stimulation, WVU study author Ali Rezai, MD, professor of neurosurgery, said in an interview with the Washington Post.
In a WVU study published in the journal Frontiers in Psychiatry in September, 4 participants who were receiving comprehensive outpatient treatment for OUD at the time of study enrollment and who had a history of excessive non-opioid substance use, completed the study. During the study, participants received a 10-minute session of sham LIFU, followed by 20 minutes of active LIFU—10 minutes to the left bilateral nucleus accumbens and 10 minutes to the right. (The University of Virginia cocaine addiction study that is currently recruiting patients will target the insular cortex.)
Both LIFU doses were safe and well-tolerated based on reported adverse events, with MRI scans showing no structural changes immediately, 24 hours, and 1 week after procedure. LIFU was found to acutely reduce cravings for several substances, including opioids, heroin, methamphetamine, benzodiazepines, alcohol, and nicotine, with longitudinal reductions in cue-induced cravings persisting during a 90-day post-LIFU follow-up evaluation.
James Mahoney, PhD, West Virginia clinical neuropsychologist and lead author of the WVU studies, told the Washington Post that while LIFU is not currently being considered as a first-line therapy for SUD, it could serve as a complement to existing treatment modalities.
“It’s not meant to just flip the addiction switch,” Dr Mahoney said. “It’s not meant to replace the standard of care treatments, but rather be used in combination.”
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