RIB IDENTIFICATION FOR TRANSCOSTAL FOCUSED ULTRASOUND SURGERY

• US 20130150756A1
• Filed: 12/12/2011
• Published: 06/13/2013
• Est. Priority Date: 12/12/2011
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: InSightec Ltd.
• Original Assignee: InSightec Ltd.
• Inventors: Vitek, Shuki, Medan, Yoav, Levy, Yoav
• Granted Patent: US 10,449,395 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 601/2
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 2090/374 NMR or MRI
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 2090/378 using ultrasound
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/0035 adapted for acquisition of images from more than one imaging mode, e.g. combining MRI and optical tomography
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/0036 including treatment, e.g., using an implantable medical device, ablating, ventilating
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/055 involving electronic [EMR] or nuclear [NMR] magnetic resonance, e.g. magnetic resonance imaging
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/113 occurring during breathing
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/4836 Diagnosis combined with treatment in closed-loop systems or methods A61B5/0036 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 8/0875 for diagnosis of bone A61B5/4504 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 8/4416 related to combined acquisition of different diagnostic modalities, e.g. combination of ultrasound and X-ray acquisitions
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 8/4483 characterised by features of the ultrasound transducer
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 8/485 involving measuring strain or elastic properties
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 8/5207 involving processing of raw data to produce diagnostic data, e.g. for generating an image reconstruction G06T11/00
• CPC Class Codes: A61N 2007/0052 using the same transducer for therapy and imaging
• 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
• CPC Class Codes: G01R 33/4814 MR combined with ultrasound

Abstract

A method for transcostal ultrasound treatment of tissues includes determining rib locations, e.g., based on ultrasound reflections off the ribs or acoustic radiation force signals, and transcostally focusing ultrasound into the tissue while minimizing damage to the ribs.

Claims

1. A method for transcostal ultrasound treatment of target tissue, the method comprising:

determining rib locations based on ultrasound reflections off the ribs; and

based on the determined rib locations, treating the target tissue by focusing ultrasound into the target tissue substantially without damaging the ribs.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein, during the treatment, the ultrasound is focused in a pattern that substantially avoids the ribs.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein determining the rib locations comprises scanning an estimated rib zone with an ultrasound focus and analyzing ultrasound reflections resulting therefrom.

4. The method of claim 3, wherein analyzing the ultrasound reflections comprises associating ribs with reflections above a specified intensity threshold.

5. The method of claim 3, wherein a focused-ultrasound pulse energy during scanning is lower than a focused-ultrasound pulse energy during treatment.

6. The method of claim 3, wherein the ultrasound focus is a point focus.

7. The method of claim 3, wherein the ultrasound focus is a line focus.

8. The method of claim 3, wherein multiple portions of the estimated rib zone are scanned in parallel with multiple ultrasound foci.

9. The method of claim 8, wherein the multiple ultrasound foci are generated by multiple sub-arrays of a phased-array ultrasound transducer.

10. The method of claim 1, wherein determining the rib locations comprises irradiating the ribs with ultrasound waves and, based on ultrasound reflections resulting therefrom, volumetrically reconstructing a reflected ultrasound field.

11. The method of claim 10, wherein the ultrasound waves are selected from the group consisting of plane waves, omni-directional waves, and focused waves.

12. The method of claim 10, wherein the volumetric reconstruction utilizes at least one of time-of-flight correlation, Raleigh integrals, or Fast Fourier Transform.

13. The method of claim 10, wherein determining the rib locations further comprises associating ribs with ultrasound field strengths above a specified intensity threshold.

14. The method of claim 1, wherein determining the rib locations comprises modeling the rib locations using at least one parameter, and estimating the at least one parameter based on the ultrasound reflections.

15. The method of claim 14, wherein modeling the rib locations comprises obtaining geometric data of the ribs by at least one of computed tomography, magnetic resonance imaging, ultrasound scans, or a generic anatomical model.

16. The method of claim 1, further comprising tracking rib motion during treatment based, at least in part, on changes in the ultrasound reflections.

17. The method of claim 16, wherein the rib motion tracking is further based on a computational model of the rib motion.

18. The method of claim 1, further comprising validating ultrasound beam apodization prior to treatment based on ultrasound reflections.

19. A system for transcostal ultrasound treatment of target tissue, the system comprising:

a transducer array, comprising a plurality of transducer elements, for transmitting acoustic energy to the target tissue and receiving reflections thereof;

a processor coupled to the array for determining locations of ribs based on the acoustic reflections from the target tissue; and

a controller for driving the transducer elements to acoustically treat the target tissue based at least in part on the locations of the ribs.

20. A method for transcostal ultrasound treatment of target tissue, the method comprising:

determining rib locations based on imaging of tissue displacements between the ribs; and

based on the determined rib locations, treating the target tissue by focusing ultrasound into the target tissue substantially without damaging the ribs.

21. The method of claim 20, wherein the imaging comprises acoustic radiation force impulse imaging.

22. The method of claim 20, wherein the ultrasound is focused along a path that substantially avoids the ribs.

23. The method of claim 20, wherein determining the rib locations comprises creating an ultrasound focus across the ribs, and analyzing tissue displacements resulting therefrom.

24. The method of claim 23, wherein multiple ultrasound foci are created at different locations along an elongated dimension of the ribs.

25. The method of claim 23, wherein analyzing the tissue displacements comprises associating ribs with tissue displacements below a specified threshold.

26. The method of claim 20, wherein a focused-ultrasound pulse energy during determination of the rib locations is lower than a focused-ultrasound pulse energy during treatment.

27. The method of claim 20, wherein determining the rib locations comprises scanning an estimated rib zone with an ultrasound focus.

28. The method of claim 27, wherein the ultrasound focus is a point focus.

29. The method of claim 27, wherein the ultrasound focus is a line focus.

30. The method of claim 27, wherein multiple portions across the ribs are scanned in parallel with multiple ultrasound foci.

31. The method of claim 20, wherein the rib locations are determined based on magnetic-resonance acoustic radiation force impulse imaging.

32. The method of claim 20, wherein the rib locations are determined based on ultrasound-based acoustic radiation force impulse imaging.

33. A system for transcostal ultrasound treatment of target tissue, the system comprising:

a transducer array, comprising a plurality of transducer elements, for transmitting acoustic energy to the target tissue;

an imaging unit for capturing at least one of displacement or a mechanical property of target tissue resulting from the acoustic energy transmitted thereon;

a processor, responsive to the imaging unit, for determining locations of ribs based on the displacement of the target tissue; and

a controller for driving the transducer elements to acoustically treat the target tissue based at least in part on the locations of the ribs.

34. The system of claim 33, wherein the imaging unit comprises an MRI unit.

35. The system of claim 33, wherein the imaging unit comprises and ultrasound detector.

36. The system of claim 33, wherein the mechanical property comprises an elasticity of the target tissue.