Ultrasound device for use in a thermotherapy apparatus

• US 5,522,869 A
• Filed: 03/08/1995
• Issued: 06/04/1996
• Est. Priority Date: 05/17/1994
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Everette C. Burdette, Goran K. Svensson, Michael H. Slayton, Xing-Qi Lu
• Original Assignee: Everette C. Burdette, Goran K. Svensson, Michael H. Slayton, Xing-Qi Lu
• Inventors: Slayton, Michael H., Svensson, Goran K., Lu, Xing-Qi, Burdette, Everette C.
• Primary Examiner(s): Sykes, Angela D.
• Assistant Examiner(s): NASSER, ROBERT L
• Application Number:
  US08/399,063
• Time in Patent Office: 454 Days
• Field of Search: 128/915, 128/916, 128/660.03, 128/661.02, 607/97, 310/315, 310/322, 310/334, 310/341, 310/369
• US Class Current: 601/3
• CPC Class Codes: A61N 7/02 Localised ultrasound hyperthermia hyperthermia in general A61F7/00

Abstract

A thermotherapy device for use in treating cancer. The thermotherapy device includes a radio frequency power source for energizing transducers to output ultrasound waves to heat a patient treatment site. The transducers are arranged in a cylindrical shape to treat the patient and a variable number of ultrasound transducers can provide a customized therapy treatment.

Claims

1. A thermotherapy treatment apparatus having ultrasound transducers for applying ultrasound energy to a patient treatment site, comprising:

means for providing radio frequency power to said ultrasound transducers;

means for measuring temperature of the patient treatment site; and

means for controlling radio frequency power being provided to said ultrasound transducers responsive to temperatures being measured by said means for measuring temperature, said ultrasound transducers forming a plurality of cylindrical transducer element rings stacked to form a treatment cavity for encompassing the patient treatment site.

2. The thermotherapy treatment apparatus as defined in claim 1 wherein said plurality of said cylindrical transducer element rings comprises individual rings having a different number of individual ultrasound transducers making up each of said rings than other ones of said rings.

3. The thermotherapy treatment apparatus as defined in claim 1 wherein said transducers can be powered at different radio frequencies.

4. The thermotherapy treatment apparatus as defined in claim 3 wherein each of said transducer elements rings consists of an even number of said ultrasound transducers.

5. The thermotherapy treatment apparatus as defined in claim 4 wherein said ultrasound transducers are operated at two different radio frequency bands and within each of said transducer element rings every other one of said ultrasound transducers are driven by the same radio frequency band.

6. The thermotherapy treatment apparatus as defined in claim 5 wherein said ultrasound transducers are operated at two different radio frequency bands consisting of 1.5-2.5 MHz and 4.0-4.5 MHz.

7. The thermotherapy treatment apparatus as defined in claim 6 wherein selected ones of said transducer rings comprise 48 different ones of said ultrasound transducers with 24 thereof operated at one radio frequency band and the remaining 24 of said ultrasound transducers operated at another radio frequency band.

8. The Thermotherapy treatment apparatus as defined in claim 1 further including means for activating selected transducers in each of said transducer element rings.

9. The thermotherapy treatment apparatus as defined in claim 1 further including means for delivering the ultrasound energy from said transducer element rings defining a plane in which a certain point of the patient treatment site is located.

10. The thermotherapy treatment apparatus as defined in claim 9, further comprising a computer for controlling said means for delivering the ultrasound energy.

11. The thermotherapy apparatus as defined in claim 9 wherein said means for delivering the ultrasound energy to selected rings further operates to choose selected ones of said ultrasound transducers in each of said transducer element rings to output the ultrasound energy.

12. A method of performing thermotherapy treatment on a patient treatment site, comprising:

providing cylindrically stacked transducer element rings having a plurality of transducers for generating ultrasound waves as an output;

providing radio frequency power to said ultrasound transducer element rings to generate the ultrasound waves for heating the patient treatment site and also for intermittently generating the ultrasound waves for reflecting the ultrasound waves from the exterior of the patient treatment site, thereby enabling measurement of the location of the patient treatment site being treated;

measuring temperature of the patient treatment site increased responsive to irradiation by the ultrasound waves;

controlling radio frequency power provided to said ultrasound transducers, said transducers being arranged as a plurality of individual elements forming a treatment cylinder for the patient treatment site.

13. The method as defined in claim 12 further including the step of determining therapy temperature of the patient treatment site by performing selectively time of flight and pulse amplitude measurements on the ultrasound waves passed through the patient treatment site.

14. The method as defined in claim 12 further including varying the number of activated ones of said ultrasound transducers, thereby varying the temperature contour applied to the patient treatment site.

15. The method as defined in claim 12 wherein the step of measuring temperature of the patient treatment site comprises intermittently measuring change of velocity of the ultrasound waves passed through the patient treatment site.

16. The method as defined in claim 15 wherein measuring the change of amplitude of the ultrasound waves comprises using oppositely disposed transducers in at least one of said transducer element rings.

17. The method as defined in claim 12 further including the step of measuring ultrasound wave absorption by the patient'"'"'s tissue by measuring attenuation of power output from selected ones of ultrasound transducers in said transducer element rings.

18. The method as defined in claim 12 further including the step of obtaining a three-dimensional spatial map for the patient treatment site from the ultrasound waves by accumulating information from said ultrasound waves reflected from the patient treatment site.

19. The method as defined in claim 18 wherein determining the three-dimensional data map comprises individually pulsing selected ones of said ultrasound transducers and detecting at least one of a reflected and transmitted ultrasound wave by said selected ones of said ultrasound transducers.

20. A thermotherapy treatment apparatus having ultrasound transducers for applying ultrasound energy to a patient treatment site, comprising;

means for providing radio frequency power to said ultrasound transducers;

means for measuring temperature of the patient treatment site;

means for controlling radio frequency power being provided to said ultrasound transducers responsive to temperature being measured by said means for measuring temperature, said ultrasound transducers forming a plurality of cylindrical transducer element rings stacked to form a treatment cavity for encompassing the patient treatment site; and

means for intermittently activating a selected ultrasound transducer for obtaining a three-dimensional map of the patient treatment site, said selected ultrasound transducer upon activation generating an ultrasound wave pulse and at least one of said ultrasound transducers sensing at least one of a transmitted and a reflected ultrasound wave pulse.