Multiple-frequency ultrasonic phased array driving system

• US 8,485,974 B2
• Filed: 11/15/2010
• Issued: 07/16/2013
• Est. Priority Date: 11/15/2010
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: National Health Research Institutes
• Original Assignee: National Health Research Institutes
• Inventors: Liu, Hao-Li, Chang, Hsu, Chen, Sheng-Fu
• Primary Examiner(s): Jung, Unsu
• Assistant Examiner(s): Lamprecht, Joel
• Application Number:
  US12/946,256
• Publication Number:
  US 20120123302A1
• Time in Patent Office: 974 Days
• Field of Search: 600/407, 600/437, 600/441, 600/443, 600/447
• US Class Current: 600/437
• CPC Class Codes: A61N 2007/0073 using multiple frequencies
• CPC Class Codes: A61N 2007/0078 with multiple treatment transducers
• CPC Class Codes: A61N 7/00 Ultrasound therapy lithotripsy A61B17/22, A61B17/225; massage using supersonic vibration A61H23/00 ; using ultrasound for introducing media into the body A61M37/0092
• CPC Class Codes: B06B 1/0284 with consecutive, i.e. sequential generation, e.g. with frequency sweep
• CPC Class Codes: B06B 1/0622 on one surface

Abstract

An apparatus for sonicating a patient includes an ultrasound array having a plurality of transducers; a driving module for driving said transducers; and a control kernel for causing said driving module to drive said transducers concurrently at two different frequencies.

Claims

1. An apparatus for sonicating a patient, said apparatus comprising:

an ultrasound array having a plurality of transducers;

a driving module for driving said transducers;

a control kernel configured to cause said driving module to drive said transducers concurrently at two different frequencies, wherein the control kernel comprises;

a master microcontrol unit and a plurality of slave microcontrol units, each of said slave microcontrol units configured to control a subset of said transducers, wherein said master microcontrol unit provides instructions to said slave microcontrol units;

and a dual stage voltage controlled oscillator/phase locked loop (VCO/PLL) circuit comprising;

a first stage that receives a waveform having a first particular frequency and scales that first particular frequency by a first scale factor, and a second stage that receives a waveform having a second particular frequency and scales that second particular frequency by a second scale factor.

2. The apparatus of claim 1, further comprising:

a plurality of floating point gate arrays, and wherein each of the slave microcontrol units is in data communication with a subset of said gate arrays.

3. The apparatus of claim 1, further comprising a plurality of multiplexers, each of which receives waveforms having different frequencies, and wherein each of said slave microcontrollers is configured to select, from each of a subset of said multiplexers, a waveform having a particular frequency.

4. The apparatus of claim 1, further comprising a power sensing circuit for providing, to the control kernel, information concerning an extent to which power is output by said transducers.

5. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein said control kernel is further configured to drive at least one of said transducers at at least two frequencies simultaneously.

6. An apparatus for sonicating a patient, said apparatus comprising:

an ultrasound array having a plurality of transducers;

a driving module for driving said transducers;

means for causing said driving module to drive said transducers concurrently at two different frequencies;

and a dual stage voltage controlled oscillator/phase locked loop (VCO/PLL) circuit comprising;

a first stage that receives a waveform having a first particular frequency and scales that first particular frequency by a first scale factor, and a second stage that receives a waveform having a second particular frequency and scales that second particular frequency by a second scale factor.

7. A method for sonicating a target, said method comprising:

directing an ultrasound array having a plurality of transducers toward said target;

selecting a plurality of frequencies;

causing said array to concurrently illuminate said target using each of said frequencies by providing a master and a plurality of slave, each slave being configured to control a subset of transducers, said master being configured to provide instructions to a slave for causing said slave to control said transducers;

and providing a dual stage voltage controlled oscillator/phase locked loop (VCO/PLL) circuit comprising;

a first stage that receives a waveform having a first particular frequency and scaling that first particular frequency by a first scale factor, and a second stage that receives a waveform having a second particular frequency and scaling that second particular frequency by a second scale factor.

8. The method of claim 7, wherein causing said array to concurrently illuminate comprises causing different transducers to be excited at different frequencies.

9. The method of claim 7, wherein causing said array to concurrently illuminate comprises causing a transducer to be concurrently excited at different frequencies.

10. The method of claim 7, further comprising providing feedback indicative of an extent to which power is output by said array.

11. The method of claim 7, further comprising providing floating point gate arrays, and providing data communication between each slave and a subset of said gate arrays.