Ultrasound hyperthermia apparatus
First Claim
1. An ultrasound hyperthermia apparatus comprising:
- a tomographic ultrasound probe for irradiating a living organism with ultrasound and for receiving reflected ultrasound therefrom in order to obtain a tomographic image of the living organism;
a heating applicator for irradiating a desired portion in the living organism with focused ultrasound so as to heat the desired portion;
tomographic image signal generating means, coupled to said tomographic ultrasound probe, for generating a tomographic image signal representative of reflected signal intensity of said reflected ultrasound;
focusing point detecting means, coupled to said heating applicator, for detecting the position of a focusing point of the heating ultrasound to generate a focusing point position information signal indicating the position of the focusing point of the ultrasound; and
tomographic image display means, coupled to said focusing point detecting means and said tomographic image signal generating means, for displaying the tomographic image and the focusing point of the ultrasound in the tomographic image.
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Accused Products
Abstract
An ultrasound hyperthermia apparatus has a tomographic ultrasound probe for obtaining a tomographic image and a heating applicator for heating a tumor portion. A position detector is provided to detect the positional relationship of the tomographic ultrasound probe and the heating applicator with respect to a living organism, and a hot spot detector detects the position of a focusing point, i.e., a hot spot of the ultrasound radiated from the heating applicator in accordance with position data from the position detector, thereby generating an image signal indicating the hot spot. The image signal indicating the hot spot is superimposed on a tomographic image signal, and the hot spot is displayed on a TV monitor together with the tomographic image.
353 Citations
13 Claims
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1. An ultrasound hyperthermia apparatus comprising:
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a tomographic ultrasound probe for irradiating a living organism with ultrasound and for receiving reflected ultrasound therefrom in order to obtain a tomographic image of the living organism; a heating applicator for irradiating a desired portion in the living organism with focused ultrasound so as to heat the desired portion; tomographic image signal generating means, coupled to said tomographic ultrasound probe, for generating a tomographic image signal representative of reflected signal intensity of said reflected ultrasound; focusing point detecting means, coupled to said heating applicator, for detecting the position of a focusing point of the heating ultrasound to generate a focusing point position information signal indicating the position of the focusing point of the ultrasound; and tomographic image display means, coupled to said focusing point detecting means and said tomographic image signal generating means, for displaying the tomographic image and the focusing point of the ultrasound in the tomographic image. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4)
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5. An ultrasound hyperthermia apparatus comprising:
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a tomographic ultrasound probe for irradiating a living organism with ultrasound and for receiving reflected ultrasound therefrom in order to obtain a tomographic image of the living organism; a heating applicator for irradiating a desired portion in the living organism with focused ultrasound so as to heat the desired portion; tomographic image signal generating means, coupled to said tomographic ultrasound probe, for generating a tomographic image signal representative of reflected signal intensity of said reflected ultrasound; heat portion detecting means, coupled to said tomographic ultrasound probe, for detecting a heated portion in the living organism based upon the ultrasound radiated from said heating applicator so as to generate a heated portion position information signal indicating the position of the heated portion; and tomographic image display means, coupled to said heated portion detecting means and said tomographic image signal generating means, for displaying the tomographic image and the heated portion in the tomographic image. - View Dependent Claims (6, 7, 8, 9, 10)
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11. An ultrasound hyperthermia apparatus comprising:
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a tomographic ultrasound probe for irradiating a living organism with ultrasound and for receiving reflected ultrasound therefrom in order to obtain a tomographic image of the living organism; a heating applicator for irradiating a desired portion in the living organism with focused ultrasound so as to heat the desired portion; tomographic image signal generating means, coupled to said tomographic ultrasound probe, for generating a tomographic image signal representative of reflected signal intenisity of said reflected ultrasound; heat portion detecting means, coupled to said tomographic ultrasound probe, for detecting a heated portion in the living organism based upon burst wave ultrasound radiated from said heating applicator so as to generate a heated portion position information signal indicating the position of the heated portion; and tomographic image display means, coupled to said heated portion detecting means and said tomographic image signal generating means, for displaying the tomographic image and the heated portion in the tomographic image. - View Dependent Claims (12, 13)
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Specification