Patent ID: 11872412
Assignee: INSIGHTEC LTD.
Field: Medical technology (Instruments)
Classification: CPC A | IPC A

Claim 0:
1. A patient-specific frequency-optimization method for ultrasound therapy of a target within the patient, the method comprising:
defining a plurality of segments within an ultrasound transducer array; and
separately for each of the segments, driving the segment at each of a plurality of frequencies successively within a test frequency range so as to sonicate the target, and measuring a parameter correlated with an amount of ultrasound energy absorbed in the target for each of the frequencies; and
for each of the plurality of frequencies, combining values of the parameter measured for the plurality of segments into a total parameter value correlated with a total amount of ultrasound energy absorbed in the target, including combining a first value of the parameter measured for a first of the plurality of segments with a second value of the parameter measured for a second of the plurality of segments; and
selecting for subsequent focused-ultrasound therapy, among the plurality of frequencies, an optimal frequency corresponding to a value of the measured total parameter that itself corresponds to a maximum total amount of ultrasound energy absorbed in the target, wherein each of the plurality of segments is driven at the optimal frequency during the subsequent focused-ultrasound therapy, and wherein selecting the frequency includes optimizing the frequencies for transducer segments whose acoustic beams pass through tissue regions with different acoustic impedances.