Real-Time Ultrasound Monitoring of Heat-Induced Tissue Interactions
First Claim
1. An apparatus to monitor and control radiation therapy comprising:
- a radiative source that emits energy that enters a tissue and is absorbed at or a near a target site in the tissue to heat the tissue;
an ultrasound transmitter directed at the target site, wherein the ultrasound transmitter emits ultrasound signals to the tissue that has been heated by the radiative source;
an ultrasound receiver directed at the target site, wherein the ultrasound receiver receives ultrasound signals emitted from the ultrasound transmitter and reflected from the tissue that has been heated by the radiative source; and
a signal processor that processes the received ultrasound signals to calculate a tissue composition scan or tissue temperature scan.
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Abstract
The present invention includes an apparatus, method and system for monitoring and controlling radiation therapy, the system including a radiative source that emits energy that enters a tissue and is absorbed at or a near a target site in the tissue to heat the tissue; an ultrasound transmitter directed at the target site, wherein the ultrasound transmitter emits ultrasound signals to the tissue that has been heated by the radiative source; an ultrasound receiver directed at the target site, wherein the ultrasound receiver receives ultrasound signals emitted from the ultrasound transmitter and reflected from the tissue that has been heated by the radiative source; and a signal processor that processes the received ultrasound signal to calculate a tissue composition scan or tissue temperature scan.
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Citations
25 Claims
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1. An apparatus to monitor and control radiation therapy comprising:
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a radiative source that emits energy that enters a tissue and is absorbed at or a near a target site in the tissue to heat the tissue; an ultrasound transmitter directed at the target site, wherein the ultrasound transmitter emits ultrasound signals to the tissue that has been heated by the radiative source; an ultrasound receiver directed at the target site, wherein the ultrasound receiver receives ultrasound signals emitted from the ultrasound transmitter and reflected from the tissue that has been heated by the radiative source; and a signal processor that processes the received ultrasound signals to calculate a tissue composition scan or tissue temperature scan. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24)
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12. A method of generating a tissue composition scan or tissue temperature scan comprising:
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transmitting an ultrasound signal and recording a first ultrasound scan of a tissue target;
heating a targeted tissue with a radiative source;transmitting an ultrasound signal and recording a second ultrasound scan after or during a first radiative heating of the tissue; and generating a tissue composition scan or a tissue temperature scan, or both by calculating the difference between the first ultrasound scan and the second ultrasound scan or an accumulation of multiple successive ultrasound scans, wherein the ultrasound changes correlate with changes in tissue temperature variation.
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25. A method of guiding a therapeutic regimen in real-time comprising:
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transmitting and recording a first ultrasound scan of a tissue target; heating the tissue target with a radiative source without thermal denaturation of tissue proteins; transmitting and recording a second ultrasound scan after or during heating the tissue; generating a tissue composition scan or a tissue temperature scan, or both by calculating the difference between the first ultrasound scan and the second ultrasound scan or an accumulation of multiple successive ultrasound scans, wherein the ultrasound changes correlate with changes in tissue temperature variation; determining a therapeutic radiative dose based on the tissue composition scan or the tissue temperature scan; and modifying the radiative dose of the tissue target based on the tissue composition scan or the tissue temperature scan.
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Specification