Patent ID: 8517962

Claim:
A system for treatment, comprising: a focused ultrasound energy source for placement outside a patient; wherein the focused ultrasound energy source is configured to deliver ultrasound energy from outside the patient towards a region inside the patient containing one or more nerves that are parts of an autonomic nervous system inside the patient, the one or more nerves surrounding a blood vessel; wherein the focused ultrasound energy source is configured to deliver the ultrasound energy to a plurality of locations sequentially around a reference location; wherein the system further comprises a processor configured to (1) determine a coordinate of the reference location, (2) use the coordinate of the reference location to compute a first coordinate for one of the plurality of locations that has a probability of including the one or more nerves, and (3) compute a second coordinate for another one of the plurality of locations that has a probability of including the one or more nerves; and wherein the focused ultrasound energy source is configured to deliver the ultrasound energy to the plurality of locations sequentially around the reference location by delivering the ultrasound energy to the one of the plurality of locations, and delivering the ultrasound energy to the other one of the plurality of locations.