FOCUSED TRANSCRANIAL ULTRASOUND SYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR USING THEM
First Claim
1. A compound acoustic lens apparatus having a short focal length for use with a transcranial ultrasound system, the apparatus comprising:
- an ultrasound transducer having a diameter;
a concave lens coupled to the ultrasound transducer, wherein the concave lens has an acoustic velocity that is greater than an acoustic velocity of water; and
a convex lens coupled to the concave lens, wherein the convex lens has an acoustic velocity that is less than the acoustic velocity of water;
further wherein the focal length of the compound acoustic lens is 1.5 times the diameter of the ultrasound transducer or less when a frequency of acoustic energy applied from the compound acoustic lens is between about 0.2 MHz and 1 MHz at a spatial-peak, temporal-average intensity of about 10 watts/cm2 or less.
4 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
Apparatus and methods for focusing transcranial ultrasound. The systems described herein are advantageous for noninvasive neuromodulation and other transcranial ultrasound applications such as high intensity focused ultrasound (HIFU). In particular, described herein are compound acoustic lens apparatus having a short focal length for use with a transcranial ultrasound system, systems including methods of using them. These compound lens assemblies allow transcranial stimulation of even superficial cortical regions of the brain for ultrasound neuromodulation with a compact, single transducer element system at low (e.g., 0.2 to 1 MHz) frequencies with relatively large diameter (e.g., >15 mm) transducers applying 1 to 10 watts/cm2 of acoustic energy (spatial-peak, temporal-average intensity at the target brain region), and short focal length (e.g., between 15 and 35 mm).
-
Citations
32 Claims
-
1. A compound acoustic lens apparatus having a short focal length for use with a transcranial ultrasound system, the apparatus comprising:
-
an ultrasound transducer having a diameter; a concave lens coupled to the ultrasound transducer, wherein the concave lens has an acoustic velocity that is greater than an acoustic velocity of water; and a convex lens coupled to the concave lens, wherein the convex lens has an acoustic velocity that is less than the acoustic velocity of water; further wherein the focal length of the compound acoustic lens is 1.5 times the diameter of the ultrasound transducer or less when a frequency of acoustic energy applied from the compound acoustic lens is between about 0.2 MHz and 1 MHz at a spatial-peak, temporal-average intensity of about 10 watts/cm2 or less. - View Dependent Claims (3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11)
-
-
2. A compound acoustic lens apparatus having a short focal length for use with a transcranial ultrasound system, the apparatus comprising:
-
an ultrasound transducer having a diameter of about 15 mm or greater; a concave lens coupled to the ultrasound transducer, wherein the concave lens has an acoustic velocity that is greater than an acoustic velocity of water; and a convex lens coupled to the concave lens, wherein the convex lens has an acoustic velocity that is less than the acoustic velocity of water; wherein the focal length of the compound acoustic lens is less than twice the diameter of the ultrasound transducer when a frequency of acoustic energy applied through the compound acoustic lens is between about 0.2 MHz and 1 MHz at a spatial-peak, temporal-average intensity of about 10 watts/cm2 or less. - View Dependent Claims (12)
-
-
13. A system for neuromodulation by transcranial ultrasound, the system comprising:
-
an ultrasound transducer having a diameter; a compound acoustic lens having a short focal length, the apparatus comprising; a concave lens coupled to the ultrasound transducer, wherein the concave lens has an acoustic velocity that is greater than an acoustic velocity of water, and a convex lens coupled to the concave lens, wherein the convex lens has an acoustic velocity that is less than the acoustic velocity of water, wherein the focal length of the compound acoustic lens is less than 1.5 times the diameter of the ultrasound transducer during operation of the system; and a driver coupled to the ultrasound transducer and configured to drive the ultrasound transducer to emit a frequency of acoustic energy from the compound acoustic lens between about 0.2 MHz and 1 MHz at a spatial-peak, temporal-average intensity of about 10 watts/cm2 or less. - View Dependent Claims (14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22)
-
-
23. A method for transcranial neuromodulation by applying transcranial ultrasound using a compound acoustic lens having a short focal length, the method comprising:
-
driving an ultrasound transducer having a diameter, to emit a frequency of acoustic energy from between about 0.2 MHz and 1 MHz; passing the acoustic energy through a concave lens of a compound acoustic lens that is attached to the ultrasound transducer, wherein the concave lens has an acoustic velocity that is greater than an acoustic velocity of water; passing the acoustic energy from the concave lens through a convex lens of the compound acoustic lens, wherein the convex acoustic lens has an acoustic velocity that is less than the acoustic velocity of water; and focusing the acoustic energy leaving the compound acoustic lens at a focal length of less than 1.5 times the diameter of the ultrasound transducer to target a brain region and deliver the acoustic energy at a spatial-peak, temporal-average intensity of about 10 watts/cm2 or less to the target brain region. - View Dependent Claims (24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32)
-
Specification