Transcranial ultrasound is emerging as a noninvasive tool for targeted treatments of brain disorders. Transcranial ultrasound has been used for remotely mediated surgeries, transient opening of the blood–brain barrier, local drug delivery, and neuromodulation. However, all applications have been limited by the severe attenuation and phase distortion of ultrasound by the skull. Here, we characterized the dependence of the aberrations on specific anatomical segments of the skull. In particular, we measured ultrasound propagation properties throughout the perimeter of intact human skulls at 500 kHz. We found that the parietal bone provides substantially higher transmission (average pressure transmission 31 ± 7%) and smaller phase distortion (242 ± 44 degrees) than frontal (13 ± 2%, 425 ± 47 degrees) and occipital bone regions (16 ± 4%, 416 ± 35 degrees). In addition, we found that across skull regions, transmission strongly anti-correlated ($R=-0.79$) and phase distortion correlated ($R=0.85$) with skull thickness. This information guides the design, positioning, and skull correction functionality of next-generation devices for effective, safe, and reproducible transcranial focused ultrasound therapies.

经颅超声正在成为一种针对脑部疾病进行靶向治疗的无创工具。经颅超声已被用于远程介导的手术、血脑屏障的瞬时打开、局部给药和神经调节。然而，所有应用都受到颅骨超声严重衰减和相位失真的限制。在这里，我们描述了像差对颅骨特定解剖部分的依赖性。特别是，我们以 500 kHz 的频率测量了整个人类头骨周边的超声传播特性。我们发现顶骨提供比额骨 (13 ± 2%, 425 ± 47 度) 和枕骨区域 (16 ± 4 %, 416 ± 35 度）。此外，我们发现跨颅骨区域，传播强烈反相关（$\mathrm{电阻}=-0.79$) 和相位失真相关 ($\mathrm{电阻}=0.85$) 具有颅骨厚度。该信息指导下一代设备的设计、定位和颅骨矫正功能，以实现有效、安全和可重复的经颅聚焦超声治疗。