# US 11,896,253 B2 · System and method for detecting and aligning acoustic beam in situ to a target using wide-beam, low frequency (<1 mhz) ultrasound

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- Number: US 11,896,253 B2
- Document ID: US11896253B2
- Status: Granted
- Kind: B2
- Application number: 17/652,769
- Filed: 2022-02-28
- Published: 2022-06-09
- Granted: 2024-02-13
- Earliest claimed: 2016-12-30
- Assignees: Applaud Medical, Inc.
- Applicants: Applaud Medical, Inc.
- Inventors: William Behnke-Parks; Daniel Laser
- Web page: https://patentgrep.com/patent/US11896253B2

## CPC

- A61B 8/0833: {involving detecting or locating foreign bodies or organic structures}
- A61B 17/2256: {with means for locating or checking the concrement, e.g. X-ray apparatus, imaging means (A61B17/2255 takes precedence)}
- A61B 8/085: {for locating body or organic structures, e.g. tumours, calculi, blood vessels, nodules}
- A61B 8/5207: {involving processing of raw data to produce diagnostic data, e.g. for generating an image}
- A61B 8/5223: {for extracting a diagnostic or physiological parameter from medical diagnostic data (for algorithms to analyse biomedical images G06T7/0012)}
- G01S 15/42: Simultaneous measurement of distance and other co-ordinates (indirect measurement G01S15/46)
- G16H 50/30: for calculating health indices; for individual health risk assessment
- A61B 8/4477: {using several separate ultrasound transducers or probes}
- A61B 8/4494: {characterised by the arrangement of the transducer elements}
- A61B 8/481: {involving the use of contrast agents, e.g. microbubbles introduced into the bloodstream}
- A61B 2017/00106: {ultrasonic}
- A61N 2007/0039: {using microbubbles}
- Y02A 90/10: Information and communication technologies [ICT] supporting adaptation to climate change, e.g. for weather forecasting or climate simulation
- A61B: DIAGNOSIS; SURGERY; IDENTIFICATION (usefulness limited to only animals A61D)
- G01S: RADIO DIRECTION-FINDING; RADIO NAVIGATION; DETERMINING DISTANCE OR VELOCITY BY USE OF RADIO WAVES; LOCATING OR PRESENCE-DETECTING BY USE OF THE REFLECTION OR RERADIATION OF RADIO WAVES; ANALOGOUS ARRANGEMENTS USING OTHER WAVES
- G16H: HEALTHCARE INFORMATICS, i.e. INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGY [ICT] SPECIALLY ADAPTED FOR THE HANDLING OR PROCESSING OF MEDICAL OR HEALTHCARE DATA
- A61N: ELECTROTHERAPY; MAGNETOTHERAPY; RADIATION THERAPY; ULTRASOUND THERAPY (measurement of bioelectric currents A61B; surgical instruments, devices or methods for transferring non-mechanical forms of energy to or from the body A61B18/00; anaesthetic apparatus in general A61M; incandescent lamps H01K; infrared radiators for heating H05B)
- Y02A: TECHNOLOGIES FOR ADAPTATION TO CLIMATE CHANGE

## Abstract

The present invention is directed to a novel target detecting device comprising an excitation transducer generating a low frequency pulses of weakly focused ultrasonic energy and a sensing transducer. The present invention also includes a method of aligning a treatment transducer to a target by mapping the target in situ by sending a low frequency ultrasound signal and receiving reflected signals from the target. These inventions provide a simpler way of determining the location of a target and aligning a treatment transducer without the need to generate and interpret an image and then translate the image back onto the target.

## Claims

### Claim 1

A system for locating a target in situ comprising:
an excitation transducer emitting pulses of ultrasonic energy waves having one or more frequencies ranging from 100 kHz to 1 MHz, wherein an average wavelength of said ultrasonic energy waves is greater than a size of the target,
wherein said ultrasonic energy waves are approximately collimated in a volume away from an aperture; and
a sensing transducer receiving a component of the pulses of said ultrasonic energy waves emitted by said excitation transducer after reflection from the target,
wherein said component of the pulses of said ultrasonic energy waves has an average wavelength greater than the size of the target and is related to a position of the target.

### Claim 2 (depends on 1)

The system of claim 1, further comprising a processor that operates on the received, reflected component of the pulses of the ultrasonic energy waves and outputs a signal related to the position of the target.

### Claim 3 (depends on 2)

The system of claim 2, further comprising a treatment aligner that aligns a treatment transducer based on the signal related to the position of the target.

### Claim 4 (depends on 3)

The system of claim 3, wherein the treatment transducer emits energy to the target.

### Claim 5 (depends on 4)

The system of claim 4, wherein the energy emitted from the treatment transducer has a magnitude sufficient to cause breakage of the target.

### Claim 6 (depends on 2)

The system of claim 2, wherein the processor further measures a temporal delay between emission of pulses of the ultrasonic energy waves by the excitation transducer and reception of the reflected component of the pulses of the ultrasonic energy waves by the sensing transducer.

### Claim 7 (depends on 6)

The system of claim 6, wherein the temporal delay is used to determine the position of the target relative to the excitation transducer.

### Claim 8 (depends on 6)

The system of claim 6, wherein the temporal delay is used to determine the position of the target relative to the sensing transducer.

### Claim 9 (depends on 1)

The system of claim 1, wherein the pulses of the ultrasonic energy waves emitted from the excitation transducer have different frequencies.

### Claim 10 (depends on 1)

The system of claim 1, wherein the target is selected from the group consisting of a kidney stone, a gall stone, a foreign object of sufficiently different acoustic impedance than a natural tissue, and an accumulation of microbubbles.

### Claim 11

A method for locating a target in situ, comprising the steps of:
emitting pulses of ultrasonic energy waves having one or more frequencies ranging from 100 kHz to 1 MHz by an excitation transducer, wherein an average wavelength of said ultrasonic energy waves is greater than a size of the target,
wherein said ultrasonic energy waves are approximately collimated in a volume away from an aperture; and
receiving, by a sensing transducer, a component of the pulses of the ultrasonic energy waves emitted by said excitation transducer after reflection from the target,
wherein said component of the pulses of the ultrasonic energy waves has an average wavelength greater than the size of the target and is related to a position of the target.

### Claim 12 (depends on 11)

The method of claim 11, further comprising the steps of operating on the received, reflected component of the pulses of the ultrasonic energy waves and outputting a signal related to the position of the target.

### Claim 13 (depends on 12)

The method of claim 12, further comprising a step of aligning a treatment transducer based on the signal related to the position of the target.

### Claim 14 (depends on 13)

The method of claim 13, further comprising a step of emitting energy from the treatment transducer to the target.

### Claim 15 (depends on 14)

The method of claim 14, wherein the energy emitted from the treatment transducer has a magnitude sufficient to cause breakage of the target.

### Claim 16 (depends on 11)

The method of claim 11, further comprising the step of measuring a temporal delay between emission of the pulses of the ultrasonic energy waves by the excitation transducer and reception of the reflected component of the pulses of the ultrasonic energy waves by the sensing transducer.

### Claim 17 (depends on 16)

The method of claim 16, wherein the temporal delay is used to determine the position of the target relative to the excitation transducer.

### Claim 18 (depends on 16)

The method of claim 16, wherein the temporal delay is used to determine the position of the target relative to the sensing transducer.

### Claim 19 (depends on 11)

The method of claim 11, wherein the pulses of the ultrasonic energy waves emitted from the excitation transducer have different frequencies.

### Claim 20 (depends on 11)

The method of claim 11, wherein the target is selected from the group consisting of a kidney stone, a gall stone, a foreign object of sufficiently different acoustic impedance than a natural tissue, and an accumulation of microbubbles.