Therapeutic ultrasonic transducers for the emission of focused ultrasound waves
AssigneesInstitut National De La Sante Et De La Recherche Medicale (Inserm), Universite Claude Bernard Lyon 1, Centre Leon Berard
InventorsDavid Melo De Lima, Sophie Cambronero
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
The disclosure relates to ultrasonic transducers for therapeutic ultrasound techniques, such as high-intensity focused ultrasound (HIFU) techniques. A challenge is to design ultrasound transducers capable of delivering the required pressure, deep enough in the biological tissue, and with enough precision to deliver the required pressure within the targeted volume of the tissue and without destroying the surrounding tissue. Thus, it is proposed to use a transducer with several ultrasound emitting zones capable of being activated independently. This enables the transducer to deliver the required pressure at a target location that is not aligned with the emission axis.
Claims17
An ultrasonic transducer, comprising a base portion having a surface, the base portion displaying a rotational symmetry relative to the emission axis of the ultrasonic transducer, the emission axis being in a central position of the base portion,
- wherein said surface of the base portion is divided into several ultrasound emission zones, the several ultrasound emission zones having, collectively, a total area and comprising one or more central ultrasound emission zones and one or more other ultrasound emission zones, each of the one or more other ultrasound emission zones being adjacent to and separated by respective rectilinear cutout lines from at least one of the one or more central ultrasound emission zones, each of the one or more central ultrasound emission zones having a rectilinear band shape, being arranged centrally on said surface of the base portion, and being distributed on both sides of the emission axis of the ultrasonic transducer, and the one or more central ultrasound emission zones have respective areas that, collectively, comprise between 25% and 50% of the total area of the several ultrasound emission zones, and
- wherein the ultrasonic transducer comprises a layer of piezoelectric material and at least one electrically conductive electrode layer arranged in contact with the layer of piezoelectric material, wherein the electrode layer is divided in a plurality of contact pads, the association of each contact pad with the piezoelectric layer forming an ultrasound emitter element, wherein each emission zone of the electronic transducer comprises one or more of said contact pads;
- wherein the ultrasonic transducer is configured so that the one or more other ultrasound emission zones can be activated independently from the one or more central ultrasound emission zones.
A device comprising an ultrasonic transducer and a control unit connected to the ultrasonic transducer,
- wherein the ultrasonic transducer comprises a base portion having a surface, the base portion displaying a rotational symmetry relative to the emission axis of the ultrasonic transducer, the emission axis being in a central position of the base portion,
- wherein said surface is divided into several ultrasound emission zones, the several ultrasound emission zones having, collectively, a total area and comprising one or more central ultrasound emission zones and one or more other ultrasound emission zones, each of the one or more other ultrasound emission zones being adjacent to and separated by respective rectilinear cutout lines from at least one of the one or more central ultrasound emission zones, each of the one or more central ultrasound emission zones having a rectilinear band shape, being arranged centrally on said surface of the base portion, and being distributed on both sides of the emission axis of the ultrasonic transducer, and the one or more central ultrasound emission zones have respective areas that, collectively, comprise between 25% and 50% of the total area of the several ultrasound emission zones,
- wherein the ultrasonic transducer comprises a layer of piezoelectric material and at least one electrically conductive electrode layer arranged in contact with the layer of piezoelectric material, wherein the electrode layer is divided in a plurality of contact pads, the association of each contact pad with the piezoelectric layer forming an ultrasound emitter element, wherein each emission zone of the electronic transducer comprises one or more of said contact pads;
- wherein the ultrasonic transducer is configured so that the one or more other ultrasound emission zones of the ultrasonic transducer can be activated independently from the one more central ultrasound emission zones, and
- wherein said control unit comprises at least one signal generator configured to generate electrical signals for driving the ultrasound emission zones.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.