SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR MEASURING AND CORRECTING ULTRASOUND PHASE DISTORTIONS INDUCED BY ABERRATING MEDIA

摘要

A system and method for efficiently transmitting and receiving focused ultrasound through a medium, such as bone, is provided. The focal region of the focused ultrasound is iteratively updated to provide an improved focus through the medium. This method may be carried out using a transducer assembly that includes two or more transmit arrays each operating at a different frequency. An initial focus is set and updated by delivering focused ultrasound with a lower frequency transmit array. The phase corrections determined in the first iteration are applied to subsequently higher frequency transmit arrays and received signals, and the process repeated until a desired focus or image resolution is achieved.

主权项

1. A focused ultrasound system, comprising:
a transducer assembly that includes:
a plurality of transmit arrays composed of transmit transducer elements, each transmit array operating at a different frequency;at least one receive array composed of receive transducer elements; a processor in communication with the transducer assembly and configured to:
set a focal region for the transducer assembly;iteratively update the focal region for each transmit array in the transducer assembly by:
selecting the transmit array having the lowest remaining operating frequency;directing the selected transmit array to excite the initial focal region for that transmit array;directing the at least one receive array to receive signals from the initial focal region;reconstructing an image of the focal region from the received signals;computing phase correction values from the reconstructed image; andapplying the computed phase correction values to the selected transmit array and to the transmit array having the next highest operating frequency.