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

Claim 4:
5. A system for selecting a patient-specific frequency for ultrasound therapy of a target within the patient, the system comprising:
an ultrasound transducer comprising a plurality of segments, and an associated controller capable of driving each of the transducer segments at any of a plurality of frequencies within a range of frequencies so as to sonicate the target;
a measurement facility for measuring a parameter correlated with an amount of ultrasound energy absorbed in the target; and
a computational facility for (i) causing the ultrasound transducer controller to separately drive each of the segments sequentially at each of a plurality of frequencies within a test range so as to sonicate the target, (ii) causing the measurement facility to measure a parameter correlated with an amount of ultrasound energy absorbed in the target for each of the frequencies, (iii) 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 (iv) 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.