Systems and methods for enhanced focused ultrasound ablation using microbubbles
First Claim
1. A system for performing a therapeutic procedure in a target tissue region of a patient, comprising:
- a transducer;
drive circuitry coupled to the transducer for providing drive signals to the transducer such that the transducer transmits acoustic energy towards a focal zone; and
a controller coupled to the drive circuitry, the controller configured for sequentially changing intensities of the drive signals provided by the drive circuitry from an intensity sufficient to generate microbubbles in tissue within the focal zone, to an intensity sufficient to heat the tissue within the focal zone without causing collapse of the generated microbubbles.
1 Assignment
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A system for performing a therapeutic procedure using focused ultrasound includes a piezoelectric transducer, drive circuitry coupled to the transducer for providing drive signals to the transducer, and a controller coupled to the drive circuitry for alternating an intensity of the drive signals between a plurality of intensities. Acoustic energy above a threshold intensity is transmitted by the transducer towards a target region to generate microbubbles in tissue within the target region. The intensity of the acoustic energy is reduced to discontinue generating microbubbles and heat the tissue, e.g., to necrose the tissue, without collapsing the generated microbubbles, the microbubbles enhancing the ability of the tissue in the target region to absorb the acoustic energy.
-
Citations
26 Claims
-
1. A system for performing a therapeutic procedure in a target tissue region of a patient, comprising:
-
a transducer;
drive circuitry coupled to the transducer for providing drive signals to the transducer such that the transducer transmits acoustic energy towards a focal zone; and
a controller coupled to the drive circuitry, the controller configured for sequentially changing intensities of the drive signals provided by the drive circuitry from an intensity sufficient to generate microbubbles in tissue within the focal zone, to an intensity sufficient to heat the tissue within the focal zone without causing collapse of the generated microbubbles. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8)
-
-
9. A method for performing a therapeutic procedure in a target tissue region of a patient using focused ultrasound, the method comprising:
-
directing acoustic energy of a first intensity at a focal zone to generate microbubbles in tissue within the focal zone; and
directing acoustic energy of a second intensity at the focal zone to heat tissue within the focal zone, the second intensity being less than the first intensity and less than a threshold intensity necessary to cause collapse of the microbubbles generated in the tissue. - View Dependent Claims (10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21)
-
-
22. A method for performing a therapeutic procedure in a target tissue region of a patient using focused ultrasound, the method comprising:
-
(a) directing acoustic energy at a tissue region of sufficient intensity to generate microbubbles within the target tissue region;
(b) reducing the intensity to heat tissue within the target tissue region while avoiding collapsing the microbubbles until the microbubbles have at least partially dissipated; and
(c) sequentially repeating steps (a) and (b) for a sufficient amount of time to necrose tissue within the target tissue region. - View Dependent Claims (23, 24, 25, 26)
-
Specification