ULTRASONIC APPARATUS AND METHOD FOR REAL-TIME SIMULTANEOUS THERAPY AND DIAGNOSIS

摘要

For noninvasive treatment of tissue using high intensity focused ultrasound, composite imaging and therapy acoustic techniques are described. Embodiments include an integrated multi-functional confocal array and a strategy to perform both imaging and therapy simultaneously with this array by using coded excitation techniques with/without a notch filter. An exemplary array embodiment includes a triple-row phased array with one array in the center row for imaging and two arrays in the outer rows for therapy. Different types of piezoelectric materials and stack configurations may be employed to maximize the respective therapy and imaging functionalities. Reflected therapeutic signals that would otherwise corrupt the quality of imaging signals received by the center-row array can be mitigated or removed by use of the coding and/or a notch filter when B-mode images are formed during therapy. A 13-bit Barker code is preferred for implementing coded excitation, although other codes or compression techniques may be used.