Patent ID: 11872413
Assignee: CARTHERA
Field: Medical technology (Instruments)
Classification: CPC A | IPC A

Claim 14:
15. A device for treating a brain tumor comprising an acoustic window made of an acoustically transparent material and configured to be implanted at an opening arranged in the cranium of a patient, and a probe including a plurality of ultrasonic waves generation transducers, the probe being intended to be positioned in line with the acoustic window, wherein the device comprises a control device for implementing a method for controlling the probe, wherein the method comprises:
in a detection phase:
detecting which transducers of the probe are situated above the cranium of the patient,
detecting which transducers of the probe are situated above the acoustic window,
determining a barycentre of all probe transducers of the probe,
determining a barycentre of the transducers of the probe situated above the acoustic window,
determining a distance between the barycentre of all probe transducers and the barycentre of the transducers of the probe situated above the acoustic window, and
after determining that the distance between the barycentre of all probe transducers and the barycentre of the transducers of the probe situated above the acoustic window is greater than a predefined threshold value, causing the probe to be displaced,
wherein the detecting which transducers of the probe are situated above the cranium of the patient and which transducers are situated above the acoustic window comprises:
emitting, for each transducer, an ultrasonic measurement wave toward the patient's skull from the probe,
measuring, for each transducer, an ultrasonic echo wave reflected from the probe,
processing each ultrasonic echo wave to detect whether the associated transducer is situated above the acoustic window or above the cranium, and
processing each ultrasonic wave to estimate an acoustic coupling quality between the probe and the brain tumor; and

in a treatment phase:
deactivating the transducers of the probe situated above the cranium of the patient, and
activating the transducers of the probe situated above the acoustic window, said transducers being able to generate ultrasonic treatment waves in order to treat the brain tumor.