Therapy apparatus for locating and treating a zone located in the body of a life form with acoustic waves
First Claim
1. A therapy apparatus for locating and treating a zone situated in the body of a subject with acoustic waves, said apparatus comprising:
- electro-acoustic transducer means for converting incoming electrical signals into outgoing acoustic waves and for converting incoming acoustic waves into outgoing electrical signals;
means for operating said transducer means in a therapy mode for generating acoustic waves at a first frequency focused onto a zone of action;
means for operating said transducer means in a locating mode for generating diagnostic acoustic waves at a second frequency which is higher than said first frequency and for receiving incoming diagnostic acoustic waves reflected in the body of said subject, said transducer means generating outgoing diagnostic electrical signals corresponding to said incoming diagnostic acoustic waves; and
evaluation means for generating an image from said diagnostic electrical signals, said image including a zone of said subject to be treated with said therapeutic acoustic waves.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A therapy apparatus for locating and treating a zone situated in the body of a subject life form with ultrasound includes an ultrasound transducer which can be optionally operated in a therapy mode or a locating mode, and which generates therapeutic ultrasound waves having a first frequency focused onto a zone of action in the therapy mode and generates diagnostic ultrasound having a second frequency in the locating mode. The ultrasound transducer also receives portions of the diagnostic ultrasound reflected in the body of the subject in the locating mode and converts them into electrical signals that are supplied to an evaluation electronics which provides image information about the zone to be treated.
405 Citations
17 Claims
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1. A therapy apparatus for locating and treating a zone situated in the body of a subject with acoustic waves, said apparatus comprising:
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electro-acoustic transducer means for converting incoming electrical signals into outgoing acoustic waves and for converting incoming acoustic waves into outgoing electrical signals; means for operating said transducer means in a therapy mode for generating acoustic waves at a first frequency focused onto a zone of action; means for operating said transducer means in a locating mode for generating diagnostic acoustic waves at a second frequency which is higher than said first frequency and for receiving incoming diagnostic acoustic waves reflected in the body of said subject, said transducer means generating outgoing diagnostic electrical signals corresponding to said incoming diagnostic acoustic waves; and evaluation means for generating an image from said diagnostic electrical signals, said image including a zone of said subject to be treated with said therapeutic acoustic waves. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9)
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10. A method for locating and treating a zone situated in the body of a subject with acoustic waves, said method comprising the steps of:
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using an electro-acoustic transducer for converting incoming electrical signals into outgoing acoustic waves and for converting incoming acoustic waves into outgoing electrical signals; operating said transducer in a therapy mode for generating acoustic waves at a first frequency focused onto a zone of action; operating said transducer in a locating mode for generating diagnostic acoustic waves at a second frequency which is higher than said first frequency and for receiving incoming diagnostic acoustic waves reflected in the body of said subject, said transducer generating outgoing diagnostic electrical signals corresponding to said incoming diagnostic acoustic waves; and generating an image from said diagnostic electrical signals, said image including a zone of said subject to be treated with said therapeutic acoustic waves. - View Dependent Claims (11, 12, 13, 14, 15)
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16. A therapy apparatus for locating and treating a zone situated in the body of a subject with acoustic waves, said apparatus comprising:
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a phased array consisting of a plurality of ultrasound transducer elements forming electro-acoustic transducer means for converting incoming electrical signals into outgoing acoustic waves and for converting incoming acoustic waves into outgoing electrical signals said transducer elements comprising a sequence including a plurality of sub-sequences; means for operating said transducer means in a therapy mode for generating acoustic waves at a first frequency focused onto a zone of action including means for oscillating all transducer elements in a sub-sequence without phase difference during said therapy mode; means for operating said transducer means in a locating mode for generating diagnostic acoustic waves at a second frequency and for receiving incoming diagnostic acoustic waves reflected in the body of said subject, said transducer means generating outgoing diagnostic electrical signals corresponding to said incoming diagnostic acoustic waves, said means for operating said transducer means in said locating mode including a first set of delay elements respectively connected to said ultrasound transducer elements; said means for operating said transducer elements in said therapy mode including a second set of delay elements respectively connected to all ultrasound transducer elements in each sub-sequence; and evaluation means for generating an image including a zone of said subject to be treated with said therapeutic acoustic waves from said diagnostic electrical signals.
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17. A method for locating and treating a zone situated in the body of a subject with acoustic waves, said method comprising the steps of:
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providing an electro-acoustic transducer formed by a phased array including a plurality of transducer elements comprising a sequence including a plurality of sub-sequences; using said electro-acoustic transducer for converting incoming electrical signals into outgoing acoustic waves and for converting incoming acoustic waves into outgoing electrical signals; providing a first set of delay elements including a plurality of delay elements respectively connectable to said transducer elements and providing a second set of delay elements respectively connectable to all transducer elements in each sub-sequence; operating said transducer in a therapy mode by oscillating all transducers in each sub-sequence without delay by connecting said transducer elements to said second set of delay elements for generating acoustic waves at a first frequency focused onto a zone of action; operating said transducer in a locating mode by oscillating all of said transducers with a delay by connecting said transducers to said first set of delay elements for generating diagnostic acoustic waves at a second frequency and for receiving incoming diagnostic acoustic waves reflected in the body of said subject, said transducer generating outgoing diagnostic electrical signals corresponding to said incoming diagnostic acoustic waves; and generating an image from said diagnostic electrical signals, said image including a zone of said subject to be treated with said therapeutic acoustic waves.
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Specification