Method and apparatus for the treatment of tissue

摘要

A method and apparatus is disclosed for determining the success of a proposed HIFU Treatment, of an ongoing HIFU Treatment, and/or of a completed HIFU Treatment. An energy density of a given HIFU Treatment may be used as a comparison factor between the given HIFU Treatment and other HIFU Treatments and as a predictor of the success of the given HIFU Treatment. One exemplary energy density is the amount of energy deposited in the treatment region divided by the volume of the treatment region. Another exemplary energy density is the amount of energy deposited in the treatment region divided by the pre-treatment mass of the treatment region. A method and apparatus is disclosed to detect the presence of focal hyperechoic features and non-focal hyperechoic features. A method and apparatus is disclosed to detect the presence of an acoustic obstruction.

主权项

1. A method of providing treatment to a treatment region of tissue, the method comprising:
providing a system comprising a monitor, a surgical tool having a ultrasound transducer, and a processor, the ultrasound transducer being configured to provide imaging of the treatment region and administer high intensity focused ultrasound (“HIFU”) Treatment; positioning the ultrasound transducer proximate to tissue of the treatment region; the processor being programmed to perform the steps of: generating a visual representation of the tissue on the monitor; identifying an ultrasound treatment site on the treatment region from the visual representation of the tissue; calculating a proposed ultrasound energy density for a proposed HIFU Treatment, wherein the energy density for the proposed HIFU Treatment is calculated by estimating an amount of energy to be deposited at the ultrasound treatment site and dividing the amount of energy to be deposited by one of a volume of the treatment region and a mass of the treatment region; comparing the calculated ultrasound energy density for the proposed HIFU Treatment to a reference ultrasound energy density; and administering HIFU to the ultrasound treatment site by the ultrasound transducer when the calculated ultrasound energy density is greater than or equal to the reference ultrasound energy density.