# Focused Ultrasound Neurostimulation of the Dorsal Root Ganglion for Neuropathic Pain Therapeutics

> **NIH NIH R36** · COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY HEALTH SCIENCES · 2021 · $52,786

## Abstract

Project Summary
Neuropathic pain can severely debilitate and lower individual quality of life, leading to more clinical
visits and an increased dependence on opioids for pain management. The dorsal root ganglion has
been shown to be an effective therapeutic target due to its T-junction filtering yet alternatives to
pharmacology have large drawbacks in invasiveness, locality, and effectiveness. Focused ultrasound
is a unique noninvasive and spatially focused neuromodulation modality, poised to transform current
neuropathic pain therapeutic paradigms. However, application of focused ultrasound for pain
treatment is limited by the lack of tools for investigation ex vivo and in vivo. In this proposal, I will
develop new ex vivo and in vivo tools to study the application of focused ultrasound to the dorsal root
ganglion for improving neuropathic pain conditions. Specifically, I will engineer a new protocol for
dissecting and recording central afferents past the DRG and measure T-junction filtering under
optimal FUS sonication parameters (Aim 1). I will then establish an in vivo experimental setup to
determine whether FUS sonication to the dorsal root ganglion can improve neuropathic pain
behaviors in awake-behaving mice (Aim 2). The proposed work will generate novel in vivo and ex vivo
tools for exploration of focused ultrasound treatment of neuropathic pain and facilitate clinical
translation.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10288826
- **Project number:** 1R36DA054475-01
- **Recipient organization:** COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY HEALTH SCIENCES
- **Principal Investigator:** Stephen Alexander Lee
- **Activity code:** R36 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2021
- **Award amount:** $52,786
- **Award type:** 1
- **Project period:** 2021-09-30 → 2023-08-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10288826

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10288826, Focused Ultrasound Neurostimulation of the Dorsal Root Ganglion for Neuropathic Pain Therapeutics (1R36DA054475-01). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-26 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10288826. Licensed CC0.

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