Device for treatment of a tissue and method of preparation of an image of an image-guided device for treatment of a tissue

A device for treatment of a tissue of a living being, the device comprising:

• a transducer for emitting a beam of ultrasound waves for irradiating the tissue mounted on a movable treatment head, and the beam being focused on or focusable onto a focal point;
• an ultrasonic imaging device mounted on the treatment head and having an imaging plane intersecting the focal point;
• an inflatable balloon, at least partially surrounding the treatment head, containing a coupling fluid and defining a contact surface of the treatment head;
• and
• a control unit for controlling movement of the treatment head (1) and operation of the transducer and the imaging device;
• wherein the treatment head is adjustable along an axis to at least two of a treatment position, a monitoring position and a travel position,
• in the monitoring position, a distance between the transducer and the tissue is smaller than in the treatment position,
• in the travel position, a distance between the contact surface and the tissue or between the transducer and the tissue is larger than in the treatment position or a compression force onto the tissue is reduced, and
• the control unit is adapted to:
• trigger the transducer to emit at least one beam of ultrasound waves when the treatment head is in the treatment position,
• position the treatment head in a plane substantially perpendicular to the axis when the treatment head is in the travel position, and
• perform imaging of an area surrounding the tissue at least when the treatment head is in the monitoring position.

A method of operating a device for treatment of a tissue of a living being, the device comprising:

• a transducer for emitting a beam of ultrasound waves for irradiating the tissue mounted on a movable treatment head, and the beam being focused on or focusable onto a focal point;
• an ultrasonic imaging device, mounted on the treatment head, and having an imaging plane intersecting the focal point;
• an inflatable balloon, at least partially surrounding the treatment head, containing a coupling fluid and defining a contact surface of the treatment head;
• a control unit for controlling movement of the treatment head and operation of the transducer and the imaging device;
• wherein the treatment head is adjustable along an axis to at least two of a treatment position, a monitoring position and a travel position,
• in the monitoring position, the distance between the transducer and the tissue is smaller than in the treatment position,
• in the travel position, a distance between the contact surface and the tissue or between the transducer and the tissue is larger than in the treatment position, or a compression force on the tissue is reduced, and the method comprising the control unit:
• triggering the transducer to emit at least one beam of ultrasound waves when the treatment head is in the treatment position,
• positioning the treatment head in a plane substantially perpendicular to the axis when the treatment head is in the travel position, and
• performing imaging of an area surrounding the tissue at least when the treatment head is in the monitoring position.

A method of preparation of an image of an image-guided therapeutic device comprising a treatment head with a transducer for emitting a beam of ultrasound waves for irradiating a tissue, and the beam being focused on or focusable onto a focal point, and

• an ultrasonic imaging device having an imaging plane optionally intersecting the focal point,
• comprising the following steps:
• providing an image of a treatment region;
• displaying the image on a display;
• choosing a width sector of the treatment region to be analyzed;
• drawing a line representing an artefact and visualizing the line on the display together with the image of the treatment region by:
• determining a skin surface line in the chosen width sector;
• determining a distance between the skin surface line and a beginning of the image corresponding to the ultrasonic imaging device for every width point within the chosen width sector;
• determining an offset value of the image;
• drawing a line at a distance twice the determined distance between the skin surface line and the beginning of the image corresponding to the ultrasonic imaging device plus an optionally determined offset value from the beginning of the image corresponding to the ultrasonic imaging device.

A device including a calculating unit adapted to perform the following steps:

• providing an image of a treatment region;
• displaying the image on a display;
• choosing a width sector of the treatment region to be analyzed;
• determining a skin surface line in the chosen width sector;
• drawing a line representing an artefact and visualizing the line on the display together with the image of the treatment region, by:
• determining the distance between the skin surface line and a beginning of the image corresponding to an ultrasonic imaging device for every width point within the chosen width sector;
• determining an offset value of the image;
• drawing a line at a distance twice the determined distance between the skin surface line and the beginning of the image corresponding to the ultrasonic imaging device plus a optionally determined offset value from the beginning of the image corresponding to the ultrasonic imaging device.