UNIFORM THERMAL TREATMENT OF TISSUE INTERFACES

• US 20120191020A1
• Filed: 01/25/2011
• Published: 07/26/2012
• Est. Priority Date: 01/25/2011
• Status: Abandoned Application

• Current Assignee: InSightec Ltd.
• Original Assignee: InSightec Ltd.
• Inventors: Vitek, Shuki, Rachmilevitch, Itay, Pekelny, Yuri
• Application Number:
  US13/013,449
• Publication Number:
  US 20120191020A1
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 601/3
• CPC Class Codes: A61N 2007/0065 Concave transducers
• CPC Class Codes: A61N 2007/0078 with multiple treatment transducers
• CPC Class Codes: A61N 2007/0095 by modifying an excitation signal
• CPC Class Codes: A61N 2007/027 with multiple foci created simultaneously
• CPC Class Codes: A61N 7/02 Localised ultrasound hyperthermia hyperthermia in general A61F7/00

Abstract

Systems and methods for heating a surface substantially uniformly are provided. In various embodiments, the uniform heating is achieved by moving an ultrasound beam across the surface and/or by sequentially irradiating individual meshes of a mesh grid defined over the surface.

Claims

1. A method for heating a surface substantially uniformly within a specified area, the method comprising the steps of:

generating an ultrasound beam and directing the beam at the surface, thereby locally heating the surface; and

moving the beam across the surface within the specified area so as to heat the area to a substantially homogeneous temperature.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the beam has a zero-order beam mode.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the beam has a higher-order beam mode.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein directing the beam at the surface comprises focusing the beam in at least one dimension.

6. The method of claim 4, wherein the beam is focused at the surface.

7. The method of claim 4, wherein the beam is focused at a distance removed from the surface.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein moving the beam comprises sequentially irradiating the surface at discrete locations along a path.

9. The method of claim 8, wherein a time between sequential irradiations is between about 0.3 seconds and about 1 second.

10. The method of claim 8, wherein irradiated surface portions at the discrete locations are substantially non-overlapping and collectively conform substantially to the area.

11. The method of claim 1, wherein the beam is moved continuously across the surface along a path.

12. The method of claim 11, wherein the beam is moved at a velocity between about 2 mm per second and about 10 mm per second.

13. The method of claim 1, further comprising moving the beam across the surface in multiple areas that form, together with the specified area, a contiguous total treatment area.

14. The method of claim 13, wherein each of the multiple areas is conformal to the specified area.

15. The method of claim 1, wherein step (a) comprises driving a phased-array ultrasound transducer.

16. The method of claim 1, wherein the beam is directed at the surface at an oblique angle.

17. The method of claim 1, wherein the surface area is non-planar.

18. The method of claim 1, wherein the surface is a bone surface.

5. The method of claim 5, wherein the beam is focused in two dimensions.

19. A method for heating a non-planar bone surface substantially uniformly, the method comprising:

mapping a uniform planar mesh grid onto the non-planar surface, thereby creating a surface mesh grid having surface meshes; and

sequentially heating the individual surface meshes to substantially homogeneous temperatures.

20. The method of claim 19, wherein at least one of the individual surface meshes is heated without substantially heating surrounding surface meshes.

21. The method of claim 19, wherein heating an individual surface mesh comprises directing an ultrasound beam at the surface mesh.

22. The method of claim 21, wherein the mesh has a size that remains consistent over the non-planar surface.

23. The method of claim 22, wherein the sequential heating step comprises focusing the beam within each mesh at a number of locations that remains consistent over the non-planar surface.

24. The method of claim 21, wherein the surface meshes have uniform specified shape.

25. The method of claim 23, wherein the sequential-heating step comprises utilizing a beam mode that substantially conforms to the specified shape at the intersection of the beam with the surface.

26. The method of claim 24, wherein the meshes have variable size.

27. The method of claim 26, wherein the sequential-heating step comprises adjusting the beam cross-section at the surface to the corresponding mesh size by focusing the beam beyond the surface.

28. The method of claim 21, wherein the sequential-heating step comprises moving the beam along a path across the surface mesh to create a substantially homogeneous temperature distribution of the surface within the mesh.

29. A system for heating a surface substantially uniformly, the system comprising:

a phased-array ultrasound transducer for generating an ultrasound beam and directing the beam at the surface so as to heat the surface;

an imaging apparatus for determining three-dimensional coordinates of the surface; and

in communication with the imaging apparatus and the phased-array ultrasound transducer, a control module for driving the phased-array ultrasound transducer, based at least in part on the three-dimensional coordinates, to uniformly heat a specified area of the surface.

30. The system of claim 29, wherein the control module maps a uniform planar mesh grid onto the surface so as to create a surface mesh grid.

31. The system of claim 30, wherein the control module drives the phased-array ultrasound transducer array so as to sequentially direct the beam at individual meshes of the surface mesh grid.

32. The system of claim 29, wherein the ultrasound beam is focused beyond the surface.

33. The system of claim 29, wherein the ultrasound beam has a higher-order beam mode.

34. The system of claim 29, wherein the control module drives the phased-array ultrasound transducer array so as to sequentially irradiate discrete locations along a path across the specified area of the surface.