Computer controlled focused ultrasound positioning system for sequential beam emitting to sonicate discrete and interleaved tissue locations

摘要

A focused ultrasound system includes an ultrasound transducer configured to emit focused ultrasound energy toward a subject and a positioning system configured to position the ultrasound transducer to localize the focused ultrasound energy within a target location. The positioning system includes a drive apparatus to translate the ultrasound transducer along at least one axis of motion and a motor controller to control the drive apparatus. The focused ultrasound system also includes a control system connected to the motor controller that is programmed to receive imaging/location data from an imaging system, determine positional coordinates of the target location based on the imaging/location data, and register the positional coordinates of the target location with the positioning system. The positional coordinates are sent to the motor controller via an input signal to cause the motor controller to control the drive apparatus so as to translate the ultrasound transducer.

主权项

1. A focused ultrasound system for localizing a beam of focused ultrasound energy within a plurality of target locations in a subject, the focused ultrasound system comprising:
an ultrasound transducer configured to emit a beam of focused ultrasound energy toward the subject; a positioning system configured to position the ultrasound transducer to localize the beam of focused ultrasound energy within the plurality of target locations in the subject, the positioning system comprising:
a drive apparatus including an actuator to cause translation of the ultrasound transducer along at least one axis of motion; andone or more motor controllers configured to control the drive apparatus; and a computer connected to each motor controller and to the ultrasound transducer, the computer programmed to:
define a repetition period for emitting beams of focused ultrasound energy from the ultrasound transducer to the plurality of discrete target locations;send control signals to each motor controller to control the drive apparatus to sequentially translate the ultrasound transducer to a series of transducer locations during each repetition period, such that at each transducer location, ultrasound energy emitted by the ultrasound transducer is focused to a respective discrete target location; andcontrol the ultrasound transducer to sequentially emit the beams of focused ultrasound energy during each repetition period, such that a beam of focused ultrasound energy is emitted at each transducer location, and such that each of the discrete target locations is sonicated during each repetition period according to an interleaved sonication pattern.