Peripheral Focused Ultrasound Stimulation in Zebrafish

Obesity is a significant global health challenge with established links to diseases such as type 2 diabetes and chronic low-grade inflammation. Recent studies have shown the potential of peripheral focused ultrasound stimulation (pFUS) as an innovative approach to combat obesity. pFUS, a non-invasive technique targeting peripheral nerves, offers promising results in modulating appetite regulation and metabolic processes and has been shown to alleviate obesity-related comorbidities, particularly chronic low-grade inflammation. Zebrafish serve as successful models of obesity as they share similar adipogenic pathways to mammals on a simpler scale. Researchers are currently employing pFUS to target end-organs, reducing inflammation and regulating blood glucose levels in mice. We developed the ultrasound instrumentation, along with the necessary signal processing and imaging software, to facilitate future pFUS experiments. Future studies need to be done to investigate the effect of pFUS on zebrafish models.