Focused ultrasound system with adaptive anatomical aperture shaping
First Claim
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1. A method of treating body tissue using an ultrasound transducer, the ultrasound transducer comprising a plurality of transducer elements, the method comprising:
- directing the ultrasound transducer towards target body tissue; and
delivering ultrasound energy from the transducer elements in an ultrasound energy path towards the target tissue such that an energy intensity at the target tissue is at or above a prescribed treatment level, while an energy intensity at tissue to be protected in the ultrasound energy delivery path outside of the target tissue is at or below a prescribed safety level.
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Abstract
A method of treating tissue within a body includes directing an ultrasound transducer having a plurality of transducer elements towards target body tissue, and delivering ultrasound energy towards the target tissue from the transducer elements such that an energy intensity at the target tissue is at or above a prescribed treatment level, while an energy intensity at tissue to be protected in the ultrasound energy path of the transducer elements is at or below a prescribed safety level.
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Citations
40 Claims
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1. A method of treating body tissue using an ultrasound transducer, the ultrasound transducer comprising a plurality of transducer elements, the method comprising:
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directing the ultrasound transducer towards target body tissue; and
delivering ultrasound energy from the transducer elements in an ultrasound energy path towards the target tissue such that an energy intensity at the target tissue is at or above a prescribed treatment level, while an energy intensity at tissue to be protected in the ultrasound energy delivery path outside of the target tissue is at or below a prescribed safety level. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8)
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9. A focused ultrasound system, comprising:
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an ultrasound transducer device having a plurality of transducer elements;
drive circuitry coupled to the transducer elements; and
a drive signal controller coupled to the drive circuitry, the drive signal controller configured to control acoustic energy delivered from the transducer elements in an ultrasound energy path towards the target tissue such that an energy intensity at the target tissue is at or above a prescribed treatment level, while an energy intensity at tissue to be protected in the ultrasound energy delivery path outside of the target tissue is at or below a prescribed safety level. - View Dependent Claims (10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16)
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17. A method for creating a treatment plan for treating a patient using a focused ultrasound system, the focused ultrasound system comprising a transducer having a plurality of transducer elements, the method comprising:
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identifying target tissue to be treated;
prescribing a treatment energy level for treating the target tissue by directing ultrasound energy from the transducer elements at the target tissue in an ultrasound energy path;
identifying tissue to be protected in the ultrasound energy path outside of the target tissue;
prescribing a safety energy level for protecting the tissue to be protected; and
determining operational parameters for controlling the transducer elements to deliver ultrasound energy in the ultrasound energy path such that an energy intensity at the target tissue is at or above the prescribed treatment level, while an energy intensity at the tissue to be protected is at or below the prescribed safety level. - View Dependent Claims (18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25)
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26. A method for creating a treatment plan for treating a patient using a focused ultrasound system, the focused ultrasound system comprising a transducer having a plurality of transducer elements, the method comprising:
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creating a model representing energies to be delivered by respective transducer elements of the transducer;
calculating an energy density based on the model at a tissue region in an ultrasound energy path of the transducer elements, the tissue region associated with patient body tissue to be protected from ultrasound energy treatment; and
determining whether the calculated energy density at the tissue region to be protected exceeds a prescribed safety threshold. - View Dependent Claims (27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32)
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33. A method for creating a treatment plan for using a focused ultrasound system, the focused ultrasound system comprising a transducer having a plurality of transducer elements, the method comprising:
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directing the ultrasound transducer towards a first region of a subject;
delivering a sub-lethal ultrasound energy from the transducer elements towards the first region;
obtaining an energy density associated with the delivered ultrasound energy at a second region of the subject;
determining whether the energy density at the second region exceeds a prescribed safety threshold; and
reducing the delivered ultrasound energy from one or more of the transducer elements if the determined energy density at the second region is above the prescribed safety threshold. - View Dependent Claims (34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40)
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Specification