──What prompted your involvement in the development of radical, cutting-edge medical treatments using ultrasonic therapy to prevent and treat dementia? As a cardiologist the heart in my area of specialty. I fi rst looked to impulse waves as a potential way to treat heart disease using sound waves for patients unable to receive an operation. As the result of basic research into this area, I found that impulse waves around 1/10th the strength used to break down ureteral stones and renal stones eff ectively increased blood vessels. This method of treatment was recognized as an advanced medical treatment in Japan in 2010. Following this, I wondered if there was a way to reproduce this eff ect with ultrasonic waves, and this kicked off a round two years of basic research with one of the world authorities in the fi eld of ultrasonic waves - Professor Kanai from the School of Engineering. As a result of these eff orts, we found that ultrasonic waves could produce an almost identical vascularization eff ect as that with impulse waves under special conditions. We have now gotten to a stage where treatments on patients with severe cases of angina are almost at an end, with reports coming in nationwide that such a treatment has been incredibly effective. We have heard no reports of condition deterioration, with the safety of the treatment held in high regard. When arriving at the idea to apply ultrasound therapy for heart diseases, I also pondered on the potential to apply this to dementia. While the pathology of heart and brain diseases diff er, both are based on circulatory disorders. Angina occurs in the heart, and dementia occurs in the brain because of a lack of blood fl ow in the veins. Therefore, I had an idea that ultrasound therapy could work on dementia provided that the circulatory disorder in the brain could be mended. In experiments using mice, I irradiated model mice with dementia with ultrasonic waves. This led to the formation of new blood vessels, and the condition of the mice improved. This led to advanced, detailed reviews into reproducing this eff ect in the human brain, and the development of specialized equipment before therapy treatments fi nally began in 2018. ──What were the clinical trial results? The clinical trial we are running is split into two components. The fi rst component has fi nished, which was a trial on fi ve patients focused on the safety of the treatment. As of now no patients have shown any signs of side eff ects. With safety With there being no standout eff ective treatment for dementia, all eyes turn to Tohoku University Hospital as they begin trials aimed at the practical implementation of this radical new treatment. We heard from Professor Hiroaki Shimokawa, the person in charge of this astonishing new development. Build up of amyloid β (black dots) protein clearly reduced with the application of ultrasound therapy (Model mice with Alzheimer dementia) （Eguchi K, Shimokawa H, et al. Brain Stimulation. 2018;11:959-973.） Improving dementia with ultrasonic therapy. Shining a bright ray of hope for an increasing number of patients with cognitive diseases. 4