Patent ID: 8979776
Filing Date: 2015-03-17
Classification: A61B

Abstract:
1. A lithotripsy system for the tracking and the destruction of a moving object inside the body of a patient, the system comprising: a lithotripsy head comprising at least one transducer operable to generate shockwaves focused on said moving object, a shockwave steering device and a body-contacting portion wherein the body-contacting portion is configured to contact the body of the patient and to transmit the shockwaves into the body of the patient; a tracking system configured to track the moving object in at least two dimensions, the tracking system comprising a plurality of acoustic detectors configured to sense acoustic reflections from said moving object, and said shockwave steering device configured to variably tilt wavefronts of the shockwaves in response to tracking information from the tracking system to keep said shockwaves focused on said moving object, said shockwave steering device operable to tilt the wavefronts while the body-contacting portion of the lithotripsy head and the at least one transducer remain fixed relative to the body of said patient, and wherein the shockwave steering device comprises a liquid wedge; an acoustic lens located to focus the wavefronts of the shockwaves that have been tilted by the shockwave steering device whereby the tilting of the wavefronts by the shockwave steering device causes a corresponding displacement in a location at which the wavefronts of the shockwaves are focused by the acoustic lens; and, wherein the liquid wedge comprises a plate having a first fluid on one side of the plate and a second fluid on a second side of the plate wherein the speed of sound is different in the first and second fluids and the shockwave steering device comprises a first actuator for tilting the plate.