Patent ID: 8038631

Claim:
An apparatus for treating a targeted area of tissue, the apparatus comprising: a probe having a probe tip and a housing formed to include an aperture therein, a transducer coupled to the probe, the transducer being configured to emit ultrasound energy through the aperture in the housing to provide HIFU Therapy to the targeted area, the probe tip being positionable to provide HIFU Therapy to the targeted area, an expandable membrane coupled to the housing, the membrane being configured to expand in a treatment direction to acoustically couple the transducer to the targeted area; and a controller configured to move the transducer to provide HIFU Therapy within a preselected treatment area, wherein the controller moves the transducer so that HIFU energy is provided along a treatment path in the preselected treatment area at about a constant speed, wherein the controller moves the transducer so that the distance between adjacent portions of the treatment path are substantially constant, and wherein the controller moves the transducer so that HIFU energy is provided to intersect a portion of the treatment path.