System and method for sensing and locating disturbances in an energy path of a focused ultrasound system
AssigneeInSightec-TxSonics Ltd.
InventorsShuki Vitek, Avner Ezion
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Abstract
A method for sensing a disturbance in a transmission path of a converging ultrasound energy beam transmitted by a transducer in a focussed ultrasound system comprises transmitting a burst of ultrasound energy from the transducer, detecting whether a reflected portion of the ultrasound energy burst is received at the transducer within a certain time period following transmission of the burst, and, if so, analyzing the received reflected portion to determine a characteristic of the disturbance.
Claims33
A method for sensing a disturbance in a transmission path of a converging ultrasound energy beam transmitted by a transducer in a focused ultrasound system, the method comprising:
- transmitting a burst of ultrasound energy from the transducer, along the transmission path, to a focal zone;
- detecting whether a reflected portion of the ultrasound energy burst is received at the transducer within a certain time period following transmission of the burst, wherein receipt within the time period indicates the reflected portion was reflected by a disturbance located in the transmission path proximal of the focal zone;
- and
- determining the location of the disturbance based, at least in part, on a delay time from the transmission of the ultrasound energy burst to the reception of the reflected portions of the ultrasound energy bursts from the proximally located disturbance.
A focused ultrasound system comprising:
- a transducer configured to transmit a burst of ultrasound energy in a converging transmission path to a focal zone, and to received reflected portions of the ultrasound energy burst,
- the system configured to analyze reflected portions of an ultrasound energy burst received by the transducer within a certain time period following transmission of the respective burst and to determine the location of a disturbance located in the transmission path proximal of the focal zone based, at least in part on a delay time from the transmission of the ultrasound energy burst to the reception of the reflected portions of the ultrasound enemy burst from the disturbance.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.