MONITORING AND CONTROL OF MICROBUBBLE CAVITATION IN THERAPEUTIC ULTRASOUND

摘要

An ultrasonic diagnostic imaging system performs microbubble-mediated therapy such as sonothrombolysis or encapsulated drug delivery. The site of the therapeutic procedure is imaged by harmonic imaging. The type and amount of cavitation present in the image field is detected by performing cavitation imaging, which detects echo characteristics indicative of different types of cavitation at locations in the image field. A colorized image overlay is produced, with one color indicating locations of stable cavitation and another indicating locations of inertial cavitation. The colorized image is overlaid or combined with a B mode image to indicate the cavitation locations and its type to a user. The user can adjust the transmit power of the ultrasound system until the desired amount and type of cavitation is produced at the therapy site.