Method and system for guided shielding of a patient volume from ultrasound energy

摘要

In order to decrease collateral heating of ribs and tissue surrounding the ribs in a patient during high-intensity focused ultrasound (HIFU) therapy, shielding material may be positioned on or adjacent to an external surface of the patient and aligned with ribs to be protected using a magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) system. The MRI system may be used to image the shielding material and the ribs to be protected, and an error of alignment between the ribs to be protected and the shielding material may be determined based on the images. The shielding or masking material may be repositioned based on the determined error of alignment, images of the shielding material and the ribs to be protected may be reacquired, and the error of alignment may be redetermined based on the reacquired images until the shielding material is aligned with the ribs to be protected.

主权项

1. A method for image-guided shielding a volume of a patient from high-intensity focused ultrasound (HIFU) energy of an ultrasound beam, the method comprising:
positioning a shielding material in a first position relative to the patient, wherein the shielding material is a preformed shielding material, and the first position is outside of the patient; imaging at least part of the shielding material and the volume of the patient; determining an error of alignment between the shielding material and the volume of the patient based on the imaging; positioning the shielding material in a second position relative to the patient based on the determined error of alignment; and verifying the volume of the patient is shielded from the HIFU energy.