Patent ID: 9573000
Date: 2017-02-21
CPC Classifications: A61B,A61N,G10K

Claim:
1. A HIFU applicator configured to deliver high intensity focused ultrasound (HIFU) signals to a treatment volume, comprising: a frame; a HIFU transducer movably coupled to the frame and configured to deliver HIFU treatment signals to a focal zone; a mechanism configured to mechanically orient the HIFU transducer with respect to the frame such that the focal zone of the HIFU transducer can be positioned radially outward from a longitudinal axis of the HIFU applicator, wherein the mechanism includes a plurality of movable drive shafts, each drive shaft being connected to a linkage that couples the HIFU transducer to the drive shaft, and wherein at least one of the linkages coupling the HIFU transducer to a drive shaft is not axially aligned with the longitudinal axis of the HIFU applicator; and a housing surrounding the HIFU transducer, wherein the HIFU transducer has a maximum diameter in a transverse plane defined across the HIFU transducer, and wherein the housing has an inner diameter that is not more than 50% larger than the maximum diameter of the HIFU transducer, wherein the mechanism configured to mechanically orient the HIFU transducer provides the HIFU transducer with a center of rotation that is located substantially at the transverse plane of the HIFU transducer, and wherein, when the HIFU transducer is oriented in a centered position in which the transverse plane of the HIFU transducer is perpendicular to the longitudinal axis of the HIFU applicator, the focal zone of the HIFU transducer is positioned within the treatment volume approximately inline with the longitudinal axis of the HIFU applicator.