Patent ID: 6506171
Filing Date: 2003-01-14
Classification: A61H,A61N,G10K

Abstract:
A system for performing a therapeutic procedure in a target tissue region of a patient using focused ultrasound, comprising:a transducer array comprising a plurality of transducer elements disposed about a central axis, each transducer element having an angular position in a circumferential direction about the central axis; drive circuitry coupled to the transducer elements, the drive circuitry configured for providing respective drive signals to the transducer elements; and a controller coupled to the drive circuitry, the controller configured for controlling the drive circuitry to drive the transducer elements with respective drive signals that have phase shift values based upon the angular position of each respective transducer element, the phase shift values being based upon an oscillation function that oscillates between minimal and maximal phase shift values, and that repeats itself a predetermined number of times about the circumferential direction, the oscillation function having an amplitude defined by a difference between the minimal and maximal phase shift values that is other than an integer multiple of one hundred eighty (180) degrees.