Ultrasonic beam path determination and targeting
OwnerDavid Andrew Shoudy, Jeffrey Michael Ashe +2inventors
InventorsDavid Andrew Shoudy, Jeffrey Michael Ashe, Warren Lee, Ying Fan
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Abstract
The present discussion relates to the delivery of ultrasonic therapy energy to a target region in conjunction with a clear path determination that may assess one or more of: (1) presence of non-soft tissue regions within the therapy beam path (e.g., bone or bone-like structures, gas-filled cavities, and so forth), (2) partial “lift-off” of the probe head; or (3) sufficiency of acoustic coupling. Upon determination or confirmation of at least a partial clear path with respect to some or all of these factors, the therapy beam may be delivered to the target region.
Claims20
A neuromodulation system, comprising:
- an ultrasound energy application device configured to deliver a neuromodulating energy dose to a target region in a subject;
- and,
- a controller configured to:
- receive real-time ultrasound image data of an internal tissue of the subject, wherein the ultrasound image data depicts anatomical structures when reconstructed;
- analyze the ultrasound image data to determine and update a percent visibility of the target region within the ultrasound image data over time;
- compare, in real-time, the percent visibility of the target region to a threshold target region visibility specific to a treatment protocol being administered to the subject;
- based on the comparison:
- when the percent visibility of the target region meets or exceeds the threshold target region visibility, apply the neuromodulating energy dose to the target region in the subject via a therapy ultrasound beam emitted by the ultrasound energy application device;
- when the percent visibility of the target region is below the threshold target region visibility, cause or prompt a remediating act to be performed.
A neuromodulation method, comprising the acts of:
- operating an ultrasound energy application device to generate real-time ultrasound image data of an internal tissue of a subject, wherein the ultrasound image data depicts anatomical structures when reconstructed;
- analyzing the ultrasound image data to determine and update a percent visibility of a target region within the ultrasound image data over time;
- comparing, in real-time, the percent visibility of the target region to a threshold target region visibility specific to a treatment protocol being administered to the subject;
- based on the comparison:
- when the percent visibility of the target region meets or exceeds the threshold target region visibility, applying a neuromodulating energy dose to the target region in the subject via a therapy ultrasound beam emitted by the ultrasound energy application device;
- when the percent visibility of the target region is below the threshold target region visibility, causing or prompting a remediating act to be performed.
One or more tangible, machine-readable media storing processor-executable routines, wherein the processor-executable routines, when executed by a processor, cause acts to be performed comprising:
- generating real-time ultrasound image data of an internal tissue of a subject, wherein the ultrasound image data depicts anatomical structures when reconstructed;
- analyzing the ultrasound image data to determine and update a percent visibility of a target region within the ultrasound image data over time;
- comparing, in real-time, the percent visibility of the target region to a threshold target region visibility specific to a treatment protocol being administered to the subject;
- based on the comparison:
- when the percent visibility of the target region meets or exceeds the threshold target region visibility, applying a neuromodulating energy dose to the target region in the subject via a therapy ultrasound beam emitted by an ultrasound energy application device;
- when the percent visibility of the target region is below the threshold target region visibility, causing or prompting a remediating act to be performed.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.