EEG-US – a novel brain imaging and stimulation method for epilepsy.

PH.D. PROJECT

About the project

Epilepsy is a neurological disease with high socioeconomic burden. It affects 70 million people worldwide. One of the challenges remaining is drug resistant epilepsy, which requires interventional therapy. In this context, focused ultrasound stimulation is emerging as a promising novel treatment, supported by evidence that low-intensity ultrasound may suppress epileptic activity, while high-intensity ultrasound can potentially ablate epileptogenic brain tissue. In the AEGEUS project, a novel medical device is developed, which is 1) designed to provide radically novel images of functional brain activity through ultrasound combined with the electroencephalogram (EEG) that non-invasively penetrates the scull, and 2) integrates focused ultrasound stimulation at a low intensity with the EEG to allow for targeted stimulation to potentially suppress epileptic activity. In the future, this device might be able to replace MRI for imaging, and interventional techniques, which will substantially lower the costs of diagnosis and treatment.

The PhD project is centered on a clinical study evaluating this novel device. The study comprises four phases and will involve a total of 210 participants, with 120 participants recruited at UNAK and 90 at the Christian Doppler Klinikum in Salzburg.

Doctoral Candidate

  • Vugar Valizada

Doctoral committee

  • Yvonne Höller - Professor at the Faculty of Psychology - University of Akureyri
  • Björn Gunnarsson – Associate Professor at the Faculty of Health Science - University of Akureyri
  • Eugen Trinka - Professor and chair of the Department of Neurology – Paracelsus Medical University, Salzburg
  • Sándor Beniczky – Professor, Head of Clinical Neurophysiology Department, Danish Epilepsy Centre - Aarhus University

Publication

Valizada V, Sesseljuson LD, Nardone R, Thomschewski A, Trinka E and Höller Y (2026) Roles in brain stimulation, recording and interpreting neuroimaging data: a systematic survey of 26 countries on current practices in EEG, MRI, TCD, TMS and FUS. Front. Med. Technol. 8:1917621.

Press

Social Media

https://www.linkedin.com/showcase/aegeus-project