Motion compensated image-guided focused ultrasound therapy system

• US 8,251,908 B2
• Filed: 10/01/2007
• Issued: 08/28/2012
• Est. Priority Date: 10/01/2007
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: InSightec Ltd.
• Original Assignee: InSightec Ltd.
• Inventors: Vortman, Jacob, Medan, Yoav, Assif, Benny
• Primary Examiner(s): Casler, Brian
• Assistant Examiner(s): Lamprecht, Joel
• Application Number:
  US11/865,662
• Publication Number:
  US 20090088623A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,793 Days
• Field of Search: 600/407, 600/410, 600/411, 600/420, 600/421, 600/422, 600/423, 600/424, 600/415, 606/34, 601/2, 324/315, 324/314, 324/309, 324/312, 324/322
• US Class Current: 600/439
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 2017/00084 Temperature
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 2017/00694 with means correcting for movement of or for synchronisation with the body
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 2090/363 Use of fiducial points
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 2090/374 NMR or MRI
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 34/20 Surgical navigation systems; Devices for tracking or guiding surgical instruments, e.g. for frameless stereotaxis
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/015 By temperature mapping of body part
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/055 involving electronic [EMR] or nuclear [NMR] magnetic resonance, e.g. magnetic resonance imaging
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/416 the spleen
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/7207 of noise induced by motion artifacts
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 8/0841 for locating instruments
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 8/4245 involving determining the position of the probe, e.g. with respect to an external reference frame or to the patient
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 8/5276 due to motion
• CPC Class Codes: A61N 7/02 Localised ultrasound hyperthermia hyperthermia in general A61F7/00
• CPC Class Codes: G01R 33/4804 Spatially selective measurement of temperature or pH
• CPC Class Codes: G01R 33/4814 MR combined with ultrasound

Abstract

An image-guide therapy system comprises a thermal treatment device (e.g., an ultrasound transducer) configured for transmitting a therapeutic energy beam, and The system further comprises an imaging device (e.g., a magnetic resonant imaging (MRI) device) configured for acquiring images of the target tissue mass and the thermal treatment device. The system further comprises a controller configured for controlling thermal dose properties of the thermal treatment device to focus the energy beam on a target tissue mass located in an internal body region of a patient, and a processor configured for tracking respective positions of the thermal treatment device and the target tissue mass in a common coordinate system based on the acquired images. The system may optionally comprise a display configured for displaying the acquired images.

Claims

1. An image-guided therapy system for applying thermal treatment to a target tissue mass notwithstanding non-periodic relative motion between the target tissue mass and a thermal treatment device, the system comprising:

a thermal treatment device configured for transmitting a therapeutic energy beam;

an imaging device configured for acquiring images of the target tissue mass and the thermal treatment device;

a processor configured for tracking respective positions of the thermal treatment device and the target tissue mass in a common coordinate system based on the acquired images of the target tissue mass and the thermal treatment device, and indirectly tracking a focus position based on (i) the respective positions of the thermal treatment device and the target tissue and (ii) a correlation between the focus position and the position of the treatment device; and

a controller configured for controlling the thermal treatment device to focus the energy beam on the target tissue mass, at a distance from the thermal treatment device, the controller being responsive to the processor so as to automatically maintain the focus of the energy beam on the target tissue mass notwithstanding the non-periodic relative motion.

2. The system of claim 1, wherein the thermal treatment device is an external thermal treatment device configured for transcutaneously transmitting the energy beam into the patient.

3. The system of claim 1, wherein the thermal treatment device is an ultrasound transducer, and the energy beam is an ultrasound energy beam.

4. The system of claim 1, wherein the imaging device is a magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) device.

5. The system of claim 1, wherein the thermal treatment device and the imaging device are the same device.

6. The system of claim 1, wherein the common coordinate system is a three-dimensional

7. The system of claim 1, wherein the processor is configured for tracking the respective positions of the thermal treatment device and the target tissue mass by analyzing fiducial markers associated with one or both of the thermal treatment device and the target tissue mass within the acquired images.

8. The system of claim 1, wherein the processor is configured for tracking the respective positions of the thermal treatment device and the target tissue mass by transmitting or receiving signals to or from a localization element associated with one or both of the thermal treatment device and the target tissue mass.

9. The system of claim 1, wherein the processor is configured for tracking the respective positions of the thermal treatment device and the target tissue mass by comparing the acquired images with one or more reference images.

11. The system of claim 1, wherein the processor is configured for tracking treated regions and untreated regions of the target tissue mass based on the tracked positions of the thermal treatment device and the target tissue mass.

12. The system of claim 3, wherein the ultrasound transducer is a phased-array transducer.

13. The system of claim 12, further comprising an electrical driver coupled to the phased-array ultrasound transducer, the controller controlling a location of the focus of the energy beam via the electrical driver.

14. The system of claim 1, wherein the imaging device acquires images within a scanning window, a location of the scanning window being adjusted based on control signals from the processor to correspond with a location of the target tissue mass.

10. The system of claim l, further comprising a user interface configured for allowing a system operator to define a treatment boundary of the target tissue mass using the acquired images, wherein the controller is configured for automatically controlling the thermal treatment device to focus the energy beam within the defined treatment boundary of the target tissue mass.