METHOD AND DEVICE FOR OBTAINING INFORMATION ABOUT A MAMMALIAN BODY

• US 20090192383A1
• Filed: 08/17/2007
• Published: 07/30/2009
• Est. Priority Date: 08/22/2006
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Koninklijke Philips Electronics N.V. (Koninklijke Philips N.V.)
• Original Assignee: Koninklijke Philips Electronics N.V. (Koninklijke Philips N.V.)
• Inventors: Pananakis, Dimitrios, Harvey, Paul Royston
• Granted Patent: US 8,335,554 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 600/411
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/015 By temperature mapping of body part
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/055 involving electronic [EMR] or nuclear [NMR] magnetic resonance, e.g. magnetic resonance imaging
• CPC Class Codes: A61N 1/403 for thermotherapy, e.g. hyperthermia
• CPC Class Codes: G01R 33/4804 Spatially selective measurement of temperature or pH

Abstract

This invention relates to a device for retrieving information about one or more states of a mammalian body comprising: (a) a magnetic resonance imaging device comprising a first set of one or more radio-frequency coils for measuring the body temperature Ti at a selected location of a mammalian body, (b) a local heating means including a second set of one or more radio-frequency coils, said second set comprising at least two channels for delivering focused radio frequency energy to said selected location of said mammalian body and raising the temperature Ti thereof, and (c) means for modulating said radio-frequency energy delivered by said second set of coils as a function of said temperature Ti in order to reach and maintain a predefined temperature Tp above the normal mammalian body temperature Tb.

Claims

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21. A radio frequency unit, comprising:

(i) a magnetic resonance imaging device comprising a radio-flrequency monitoring coil operating at a frequency v₁ for measuring the temperature T₁ at a selected location of a mammalian body, wherein v₁ is the Larmor frequency of the ¹H nucleus and is comprised between 120 and 130 MHz,

(ii) a second set of one or more radio-frequency focusing coils, said second set comprising at least two channels, wherein said set of one or more radio-frequency focusing coils operates at a frequency v₂ at least 50 kHz apart and at most 25000 kHz apart from the operation frequency v₁ of said radio-frequency monitoring coil, for delivering focused energy to said selected location of said mammalian body and raising the temperature T₁ thereof, and

(iii) means for modulating said energy delivered by said set of one or more radio-frequency focusing coils as a function of said temperature T₁ in order to reach and maintain a predeflned temperature T_p above the normal mammalian body temperature T_b.

22. A radop freqeuncy unit according to claim 21, wherein said set of one or more radio-fiequency focussing coils comprises radio-freiquency emitting means for providing energy at said selected location, and radio-frequency receiving means for receiving signals containing location-dependent phase information and location-dependent amplitude information.

23. A radio frequency unit according to claim 21, further comprising an additional monitoring coil operating at a frequency v₃ is the Larmor frequency of a nucleus other than ¹H and is at least 50 kHz apart and at most 25000 khz apart from v₂.

24. A radio frequencyunit according to claim 21, further comprising means for determining from said location-dependent phase information and location dependant amplitude information, for each channel of said set of one or more radio-frequency focussing coils, a phase and/or an amplitude required for emitting radio-frequency energy from said each channel to produce maximal radio-frequency energy from said each channel at said selected location of said mammalian body.

27. A radio frequency unit according to claim 21, wherein said magnetic resonance imaging device is adapted to utilise an enhanced proton shift technique.

28. An arrangement for thermodynamic therapy comprising a radio frequency according to claim 21, and a thermally activatable delivery system able to release an effective amount of one or more agents having been administered to said mammalian body before said temperature of said selected location of said mammalian body has been raised, said agents being able to be released at a selected location when the temperature T₁ of said selected location of said mammalian body is raised to a predefined temperature T_p above the normal mammalian body temperature T_b, wherein said radio frequency unit is adapted to monitor the transient concentration of said one or more agents at said selected location of said mammalian body by means of a Magnetic Resonance Imaging technique involving said radio-frequency monitoring coil.

29. An arrangement according to claim 28, wherein one or more of the agents are enclosed within a temperature sensitive structure being able to release said one or more agents when T₁ is raised to a predefined temperature T_p above the normal mammalian body temperature T_b.

30. An arrangement according to claim 28, wherein 36°

C.≦

T_p≦

45°

C.

31. An arrangement according to claim 28, wherein 37°

C.≦

T_p≦

41°

C.

32. An arrangement according to claim 30, wherein said temperature sensitive structure is a temperature sensitive membrane.

33. An arrangement according to claim 32, wherein said temperature sensitive membrane comprises a liposome.

34. An arrangement according to claim 33, wherein said liposome comprises a lysolipid-containing liposome.

35. An arrangement according to claim 28, wherein said one or more agents is selected froim the group consisting of antineoplastic agents, antitumor agents, antibiotics agents antifungals agents, anti-inflammatory agents, immunosuppressive agents, anti-infective agents, antivirals agents, anthelminthic agents, gene for gene therapy and antiparasitic agents.

36. An arrangement according to claim 28, wherein said radio frequency unit is adapted to monitor said transient concentration of said one or more agents at said selected location of said mammalian body by means of Magnetic Resonance spectroscopy.

37. An arrangement according to claim 28, wherein said thermally activatable delivery system includes one or more agent concentration markers.

38. An arrangement according to claim 37 wherein said one or more agent concentration markers are selected from the group consisting of gadolinium solutions, gadotliium-im-npregniated microspheres, ¹³C, ¹⁵N, ³¹P, ²³Na and ¹⁹F containing species.

39. An arrangement according to claim 37, wherein the radio frequency unit is adapted to control the agent concentration by monitoring said one or more markers by means of a Magnetic Resonance Imaging technique.

40. An arrangement according to claim 28, wherein said set of one or more radio-frequency focusing coils consists of two or more mono-channel radio-frequency coils.

41. An arrangement according to claim 28, wherein said set of one or more radio-frequency focusing coils consists of one or more multi-channel radio-frequency coils.

25. A system for thermodynamic therapy comprising:

(i) a set of one or more radio-frequency focussing coils able to focus energy at a frequency v₂ at a selected location of a mammalian body to thereby locally raise the temperature T₁ of said mammalian body until a predefined temperature T_p is obtained, and

iii) means for monitoring the temperature T₁ of a selected location of a mammalian body by a Magnetic Resonance Imaging technique operating at a frequency v₁ simultaneously with said raising of said temperature T₁ of said selected location of the body, wherein |v₂−

v₁| is from 50 to 25000 kHz and wherein v₁ is a ¹H Larmor frequency comprised between 120 and 130 MHz.

26. A system according to claim 25 for use with a thermally activatable delivery system, the thermally activatable delivery system releasing one or more agents at a selected location of a mnammalian body when the temperature T₁ of said selected location of said mammalian body is raised to a predefined temperature T_p above the normal mammalian body temperature T_bb, wherein the Magnetic Resonance Imaging technique operates in order to monitor the transient concentration of said one or more agents at said selected location of said mammalian body.