NON-INVASIVE THERMAL TREATMENT MONITORING

摘要

A method for thermal monitoring of HIFU and other thermal treatments, utilizing electro-magnetic radiation signal detection or image processing. The images or detectors output signals show the attenuation at the target tissue, and changes in the attenuation level may be correlated to changes in the tissue temperature and condition during treatment and the subsequent cooling down period. Additionally, the point at which denaturation and coagulation of the tissue occurs can be determined. Analysis of the functional change in attenuation with time of treatment enables the accumulated tissue damage to be quantified. The advantage of this method is that it indicates the level of damage in the tissue directly, instead of displaying tissue temperatures only. The method provides a cost effective non-invasive method for thermal monitoring during ablation, as an alternative to MRI monitoring or to CT monitoring based on temperature determination.