Patent application number | Description | Published |
20100030076 | Systems and Methods for Simultaneously Treating Multiple Target Sites - The emission intensities of groupings of transducer elements of an ultrasound transducer array are controlled based on targeting criteria in such a manner as to simultaneously create multiple discontiguous foci, each corresponding to one of a plurality of target sites. | 02-04-2010 |
20100056962 | Acoustic Beam Forming in Phased Arrays Including Large Numbers of Transducer Elements - A focused ultrasound system includes a transducer array, a controller for providing drive signals to the transducer array, and a switch. The transducer array includes a plurality of “n” transducer elements, and the controller includes a plurality of “m” output channels providing sets of drive signals having respective phase shift values, “m” being less than “n.” The switch is coupled to the output channels of the controller and to the transducer elements, and is configured for connecting the output channels to respective transducer elements. The controller may assign the transducer elements to respective output channels based upon a size and/or shape of a desired focal zone within the target region, to steer or otherwise move a location of the focal zone, and/or to compensate for tissue aberrations caused by tissue between the transducer array and the focal zone, geometric tolerances and/or impedance variations of the transducer elements. | 03-04-2010 |
20100146713 | Method and Apparatus for Washing Fabrics Using Focused Ultrasound - Systems and methods in accordance with the invention cause substantially the entire area of a fabric article to be laundered is efficiently and completely exposed to focused ultrasound. In this way, the benefits of cavitation are applied to the article as a whole rather than on a “spot” basis. | 06-17-2010 |
20100241036 | CONTROLLED, NON-LINEAR FOCUSED ULTRASOUND TREATMENT | 09-23-2010 |
20100268088 | MULTIMODE ULTRASOUND FOCUSING FOR MEDICAL APPLICATIONS - Systems and methods for focusing ultrasound through the skull into the brain for diagnostic or therapeutic purposes may be improved by utilizing both longitudinal and shear waves. The relative contribution of the two modes may be determined based on the angle of incidence. | 10-21-2010 |
20100318002 | Acoustic-Feedback Power Control During Focused Ultrasound Delivery - Ultrasound energy is delivered to a patient in a controlled manner using a focused ultrasound system, thus maintaining the desired therapeutic effect without causing unwanted damage to surrounding tissue. An ultrasound transducer device includes multiple transducer elements, each of which is controlled by drive circuitry and a drive signal controller. An acoustic detector detects signals indicative of cavitation in tissue targeted by the transducer elements, and the drive signal controller manages the delivery of acoustic energy from the transducer elements based on the detected cavitation signals such that a therapeutic effect at the target tissue remains within an efficacy range. | 12-16-2010 |
20110034800 | ESTIMATION OF ALIGNMENT PARAMETERS IN MAGNETIC-RESONANCE-GUIDED ULTRASOUND FOCUSING - A magnetic-resonance-guided focused ultrasound system may be calibrated by generating ultrasound foci using ultrasound transducers, establishing coordinates of the foci and of magnetic-resonance trackers associated with the transducers, and determining a geometric relationship between the trackers and the transducers. | 02-10-2011 |
20110046472 | TECHNIQUES FOR TEMPERATURE MEASUREMENT AND CORRECTIONS IN LONG-TERM MAGNETIC RESONANCE THERMOMETRY - Techniques for temperature measurement and correction in long-term MR thermometry utilize a known temperature distribution in an MR imaging area as a baseline for absolute temperature measurement. Phase shifts that arise from magnetic field drifts are detected in one or more portions of the MR imaging area, facilitating correction of temperature measurements in an area of interest. | 02-24-2011 |
20110066032 | ASYMMETRIC ULTRASOUND PHASED-ARRAY TRANSDUCER - An asymmetric ultrasound transducer array may include multiple regions or groups of transducer elements. The regions may be configured to generate respective ultrasound beams with different capabilities, such as, e.g., focusing at varying focal depths and lateral steering, and/or focusing into different volumes. | 03-17-2011 |
20110270075 | MULTI-SEGMENT ULTRASOUND TRANSDUCERS - Disclosed are systems and methods for focusing ultrasound transducers that include multiple separate, independently movable transducer segments. | 11-03-2011 |
20110270136 | EFFICIENT ULTRASOUND FOCUSING - Ultrasound focusing may be improved by combining knowledge of the target tissue and/or focusing arrangement with focus measurements. | 11-03-2011 |
20120029396 | MOTION COMPENSATION FOR NON-INVASIVE TREATMENT THERAPIES - Treatment of moving tissue may be facilitated by identifying voxels within a volume of the tissue, associating treatment-related attributes with the voxels, and shifting positions of the voxels based on the tissue movement. One or more treatment parameters may then be altered based on the treatment-related attributes of the shifted voxels. | 02-02-2012 |
20120071746 | MAGNETIC RESONANCE THERMOMETRY USING PRF SPECTROSCOPY - During the thermal treatment of an anatomical zone of interest, tissue temperature within the zone may be determined with a computational model whose parameters are adjusted using spectroscopy-based temperature measurements at interfaces of fat and non-fat tissues. | 03-22-2012 |
20120101412 | ADAPTIVE ACTIVE COOLING DURING FOCUSED ULTRASOUND TREATMENT - Disclosed are thermal treatment methods that involve monitoring and/or actively adjusting the temperature of targeted and/or non-targeted tissues. | 04-26-2012 |
20120191020 | UNIFORM THERMAL TREATMENT OF TISSUE INTERFACES - Systems and methods for heating a surface substantially uniformly are provided. In various embodiments, the uniform heating is achieved by moving an ultrasound beam across the surface and/or by sequentially irradiating individual meshes of a mesh grid defined over the surface. | 07-26-2012 |
20130053678 | Avoiding MRI-Interference with Co-existing Systems - MRI interference with a co-existing treatment system may be reduced or avoided by carrying out RF-sensitive operations of the treatment system only when gradient field activity of the MRI system is suppressed. | 02-28-2013 |
20130150704 | MAGNETIC RESONANCE IMAGING METHODS FOR RIB IDENTIFICATION - A method for spatially localizing a rib cage prior to transcostal ultrasound treatment of visceral tissue includes computationally refining a three-dimensional model of the rib cage based on image slices taken at multiple locations along the ribs with orientations dependent on local rib orientations. | 06-13-2013 |
20130150756 | RIB IDENTIFICATION FOR TRANSCOSTAL FOCUSED ULTRASOUND SURGERY - A method for transcostal ultrasound treatment of tissues includes determining rib locations, e.g., based on ultrasound reflections off the ribs or acoustic radiation force signals, and transcostally focusing ultrasound into the tissue while minimizing damage to the ribs. | 06-13-2013 |