From Possibility to Practicality: PBS Highlights the Next Stage of Focused Ultrasound for Brain Therapy
PBS’ Resolve to Solve with Miles O’Brien recently featured the WVU Rockefeller Neuroscience Institute (RNI) and its ongoing research exploring focused ultrasound as a non-invasive approach to addiction treatment.
The episode, “Rewiring Addiction,” follows patients, families, and researchers as they examine addiction as a chronic brain disease and explore how advances in neuroscience may expand future treatment options.
Beyond the science itself, the program raises a broader question for the focused ultrasound field:
The future of focused ultrasound is not only about proving what is possible — it is about making those possibilities practical, accessible, and scalable for real-world clinical care.
From Possibility to Practicality
As focused ultrasound continues to advance, its long-term impact will depend not only on clinical potential, but also on whether treatment can fit naturally into real-world healthcare.
That means reducing complexity, improving clinical workflow, and developing systems that can move beyond highly specialized research environments toward broader clinical adoption.
In the PBS program, Ali Rezai, MD, reflects on this challenge directly. Today’s advanced focused ultrasound procedures can require sophisticated infrastructure, complex workflows, and multidisciplinary clinical teams.
The next generation will need to be simpler, more practical, and easier to scale.
As a long-standing research partner of RNI, NaviFUS is encouraged to see focused ultrasound neuromodulation reaching a broader audience and helping shape the conversation around the future of brain therapeutics.
For us, the next stage is clear:
Translating focused ultrasound from scientific possibility into practical clinical care.
Built for the Next Stage of Non-Invasive Brain Therapy
NaviFUS is developing a focused ultrasound platform designed around the needs of real-world clinical use.
Our platform brings together:
- Neuronavigation-guided treatment
Precise targeting without requiring treatment inside an MRI scanner. - Patient-specific targeting
Treatment planning tailored to individual anatomy and therapeutic targets - Outpatient-oriented workflow
Designed to support a practical and efficient treatment environment. - Non-invasive and repeatable treatment
Supporting applications that may require multiple treatment sessions without implants or incisions. - One platform, multiple therapeutic applications
Neuromodulation · Blood–Brain Barrier Opening · Sonodynamic Therapy
These capabilities reflect a broader goal: not only to advance the science of focused ultrasound, but to help make it more practical for clinicians, more accessible for patients, and more scalable for healthcare systems.
Building the Next Generation
For NaviFUS, the future of focused ultrasound is not only about what the technology can do.
It is about building systems that clinicians can use, patients can access, and healthcare systems can realistically adopt.
From possibility to practicality.
NaviFUS | Curing disease with sound.
Watch the PBS Feature
PBS – Resolve to Solve: “Rewiring Addiction”
https://www.pbs.org/video/rewiring-addiction-hud8ea/
⏳ Catch it while it’s available: PBS currently lists the episode as available through October 8, 2026.
Streaming availability may vary by region, and the full episode may only be accessible within the United States.
Related Reading
Focused Ultrasound in the Spotlight: WIRED Highlights the Future of Noninvasive Brain Treatment
https://navifus.com/2026/08/19/focused-ultrasound-in-the-spotlight/
Disclosure
The focused ultrasound research featured in the PBS program was conducted by the WVU Rockefeller Neuroscience Institute. NaviFUS and its technology were not featured in the PBS episode.