Focused ultrasound ablation for psychiatric disorders

Modern circuit-based neurosurgical interventions address a critical unmet need for patients with treatment-resistant psychiatric illness. Magnetic resonance-guided high-intensity focused ultrasound (HIFU) enables incisionless, millimeter-precision thermoablation via staged sonications with real-time monitoring, reshaping the risk-benefit profile of traditional neurosurgical interventions for psychiatric disorders. Here, we review the clinical evidence for HIFU ablation and contrast it with alternative platforms, including radiofrequency ablation, radiosurgery, laser interstitial thermal therapy, and deep brain stimulation. Early-phase clinical trials with long-term follow-up demonstrate that HIFU ablation produces clinically meaningful symptom reduction and sustained quality of life improvements in severe, treatment-resistant obsessive-compulsive disorder and major depressive disorder, with a favourable safety profile and stable neurocognitive performance. Current challenges include patient-specific skull characteristics that can constrain transcranial energy delivery and limit lesion creation. Clinical outcomes are heterogenous and the field lacks both treatment predictors and consensus on optimal lesion morphology. Tractography-informed targeting, functional network mapping, and electrophysiologic signatures represent converging approaches to further optimize circuit engagement. Key questions remain about treatment durability, retreatment strategies, and integration into longitudinal psychiatric care pathways alongside psychotherapy, pharmacotherapy and other neuromodulation therapies. A translational roadmap should prioritize multicenter trials, standardized reporting of lesion metrics and international registries. Promising directions include strategic use of low-intensity focused ultrasound to probe circuit responsiveness prior to ablation, and the use of microbubble-mediated ablation to overcome limitations of skull penetration. Moving forward, systems-level frameworks for patient-centered outcomes, equitable access and ongoing trials will define the potential of HIFU treatments to meet broader psychiatric care needs.