Method and device for heating by means of ultrasound
First Claim
1. A method of irradiating a moving target region within a body by ultrasound comprising:
- performing by a magnetic resonance (MR) device the steps ofgenerating and receiving MR signals in the body,processing the received MR signals,determining automatically movement of the moving target region from the processed MR signals and,generating automatically from the determined movement a control signal representing the determined movement of the moving target region,performing by an ultrasound device the step ofirradiating automatically the body with ultrasound, the ultrasound device being responsive to the generated control signal so that a focal region of the ultrasound is in the moving target region, andrepeating the prior steps in order that the focal region of the ultrasound remains within the moving target region.
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Abstract
A method of heating a target region by ultrasound radiation includes determination of a position of the target region by a magnetic resonance method. The device for carrying out this method includes an ultrasound device and an MR device. By determining movement of the target region utilizing the MR device (100) and an appropriate magnetic resonance method, and by coupling the movement information to the ultrasound device (118) by an electric signal (122, 124), it is achieved that the ultrasound device can be controlled by the movement information. Various possibilities exist for controlling the ultrasound device. According to a first possibility, the focal region is adjusted to be situated within the target region in order to generate ultrasound. Another possibility is to determine from the movement information the instant at which the target region is situated within the focal region of the ultrasound and to generate ultrasound exclusively for a brief subsequent period during which the focal region is still within the target region. Another possibility is to refrain from generating ultrasound when the movement speed is too high. Finally, the movement information can also be used for making the focal region follow the target region during the generation of ultrasound.
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Citations
21 Claims
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1. A method of irradiating a moving target region within a body by ultrasound comprising:
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performing by a magnetic resonance (MR) device the steps of generating and receiving MR signals in the body, processing the received MR signals, determining automatically movement of the moving target region from the processed MR signals and, generating automatically from the determined movement a control signal representing the determined movement of the moving target region, performing by an ultrasound device the step of irradiating automatically the body with ultrasound, the ultrasound device being responsive to the generated control signal so that a focal region of the ultrasound is in the moving target region, and repeating the prior steps in order that the focal region of the ultrasound remains within the moving target region. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13)
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14. A device for irradiating a moving target region within a body by ultrasound comprising:
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a magnetic resonance (MR) device comprising receiving means for generating and MR signals from the body, means for processing the received MR signals and, means for determining automatically movement of the moving target region from the processed MR signals and for generating automatically from the determined movement a control signal representing the determined movement of the moving target region, and an ultrasound device for generating ultrasound to which the generated control signal is applied and which is responsive to the generated control signal so that a focal region of ultrasound radiation is in the moving target region. - View Dependent Claims (15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21)
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Specification