Concentric-Ring and Sector-Vortex Phased-Array Applicators for Ultrasound Hyperthermia

Concentric-ring phased arrays subdivided into sectors (radial slices) can, with appropriate phasing, produce power absorption patterns useful for hyperthermia cancer therapy. The ability of a concentric-ring array to move a focal region along the central axis of the transducer is well known. Less well known is the ability of such an array to produce variable diameter annular (or ring) focal regions. Such focal rings can be effective in heating some tumors if directed around the tumor periphery. These focal rings have been produced in the past by fixed annular focus lenses, or effectively by mechanical scanning of "point" focus ultrasonic transducers. Production of these focal rings by a concentric-ring phased array has the advantage of allowing the focal ring diameter and focal length to be easily changed and scanned by phasing providing much greater heating flexibility. However, under some conditions such arrays produce very large secondary focus effects along the central axis of the amay. Concentric-ring arrays can also provide only patterns of circular symmetry. These problems can be partially solved by dividing the disk of the array into sectors. By appropriate phasing of the sectors, the intensity along the central axis can be greatly reduced. Moreover, appropriate phasing of the rings and sectors can produce patterns that are circularly asymmetric. By controlling these asymmetries, nonspherical tumors can be heated more optimally. Power absorption patterns in Iossy media for this class of applicators are analyzed numerically allowing a quantitative evaluation of both advantages and limitations of this approach. A thermal model based on the bioheat equation is also used to predict temperature distributions in volumes where important thermal parameters, particularly blood flow, are varied.     

Feasibility of Using Lateral Mode Coupling Method for a Large Scale Ultrasound Phased Array for Noninvasive Transcranial Therapy

A hemispherical-focused, ultrasound phased array was designed and fabricated using 1372 cylindrical piezoelectric transducers that utilize lateral coupling for noninvasive transcranial therapy. The cylindrical transducers allowed the electrical impedance to be reduced by at least an order of magnitude, such that effective operation could be achieved without electronic matching circuits. In addition, the transducer elements generated the maximum acoustic average surface intensity of $hbox{27 W/cm}^{2}$. The array, driven at the low (306-kHz) or high frequency (840-kHz), achieved excellent focusing through an ex vivo human skull and an adequate beam steering range for clinical brain treatments. It could electronically steer the ultrasound beam over cylindrical volumes of 100-mm in diameter and 60-mm in height at 306 kHz, and 30-mm in diameter and 30-mm in height at 840 kHz. A scanning laser vibrometer was used to investigate the radial and length mode vibrations of the element. The maximum pressure amplitudes through the skull at the geometric focus were predicted to be 5.5 MPa at 306 kHz and 3.7 MPa at 840 kHz for RF power of 1 W on each element. This is the first study demonstrating the feasibility of using cylindrical transducer elements and lateral coupling in construction of ultrasound phased arrays.      

Ultrasound applicators with internal water-cooling for high-powered interstitial thermal therapy

Internal water-cooling of direct-coupled ultrasound (US) applicators for interstitial thermal therapy (hyperthermia and coagulative thermal therapy) was investigated. Implantable applicators were constructed using tubular US sources (360 angular acoustic emittance, approximately 7 MHz) of 10 mm length and 1.5, 1.8, 2.2, and 2.5 mm outer diameter (OD). Directional applicators were also constructed using 2.2 mm OD tubes sectored to provide active acoustic sectors of 90 degrees and 200 degrees. A water-cooling mechanism was integrated within the inner lumen of the applicator to remove heat from the inner transducer surface. High levels of convective heat transfer (2100-3800 W/m2K) were measured for practical water flow rates of 20-80 mL/min. Comparative acoustic measurements demonstrated that internal water-cooling did not significantly degrade the acoustic intensity or beam distribution of the US transducers. Water-cooling allowed substantially higher levels of applied electrical power (> 45 W) than previous designs (with air-cooling or no cooling), without detriment to the applicators. High-temperature heating trials performed with these applicators in vivo (porcine liver and thigh muscle) and in vitro (bovine liver) showed improved thermal penetration and coagulation. Radial depth of coagulation from the applicator surface ranged from 12 to 20 mm for 1-5 min of sonication with 28-W applied power. Higher powers (41 W) demonstrated increased coagulation depths (approximately 9 mm) at shorter times (15 s). Thermal lesion dimensions (angular and axial expanse) produced with directional applicators were controlled and directed, and corresponded to the active zone of the transducer. These characteristic lesion shapes were also generally unchanged with different sonication times and power, and were found to be consistent with previous coagulation studies using air-cooled applicators. The implementation of water-cooling is a significant advance for the application of ultrasound interstitial thermal therapy (USITT), providing greater treatment volumes, shorter treatment times, and the potential for treatment of highly perfused tissue with shaped lesions.     

Multifrequency radiometric determination of temperature profiles ina lossy homogeneous phantom using a dual-mode antenna with integralwater bolus

In the treatment of cancer, microwave hyperthermia has been established as an efficient adjunctive procedure to radiation therapy and chemotherapy. Wider acceptance of this method awaits schemes to measure volumetric temperatures noninvasively in human tissue for control of the heating process. This effort describes the design and performance of a new microstrip applicator intended for homogeneous heating of superficial tissue while at the same time monitoring temperature of the underlying tissue by noninvasive radiometric sensing of black-body radiation from the heated volume. Radiometric capabilities are assessed in terms of accuracy of up to six measured brightness temperatures applied in an inversion algorithm from which one-dimensional depth temperature profiles are generated. Based on radiometric signals recorded over the 1-4-GHz range, the temperature accuracy determined from statistical analysis of 200 realizations of the process is better than ±0.2°C to a depth of 5 cm in phantom. Aperture heating uniformity is assessed with electric field scans in a homogeneous muscle phantom. As long as sufficiently thin (< 5 mm) water boli are used, SAR distributions at 1-cm depth in phantom extends effectively just outside the aperture perimeter, making this microstrip antenna an excellent building block element of larger multi-antenna array applicators     

Integrated silicon-PVF2acoustic transducer arrays

A new type of transducer array has been designed which employs a piezoelectric polymer, polyvinylidene fluoride (PVF2), as the sensing material. Acoustic properties possessed by this piezoelectric polymer provide a reasonable match to those of the human body making it very attractive for medical ultrasonic imaging systems. Using planar integrated-circuit (IC) technology, an array of MOSFET input amplifiers is fabricated on a silicon wafer. A single sheet of PVF2is bonded to the surface of the wafer. Spatially varying acoustic signals detected by the PVF2are converted to corresponding charge distributions on the underlying array of amplifiers. A linear 34-element receiving transducer array has been built and evaulated. Array transverse dimensions are 14.7 × 9 mm, so that the silicon die area is approximately 1.32 cm². Individual transducers are 0.42 × 9 mm corresponding to the requirements of a particular system. Associated with each of the 34 transducers is a DMOS-bipolar cascode amplifier. Experimentally measured transducer impulse response decays 20 dB in two cycles. Using silicon technology, arrays of almost arbitrary size and complexity appear feasible.     

An approach for measuring ultrasonic backscattering from biologicaltissues with focused transducers

When the standard substitution method is used with a focused transducer to measure the backscattering coefficient from biological tissues including blood, it yields erroneous results. Extending the backscattering measurements to frequencies beyond 15 MHz necessitates the use of focused transducers because of the worsened signal-to-noise ratio-caused by the increased attenuation and the smaller transducer aperture size-in order to make the measurements close to the transducer. An approach which allows the use of focused transducers in backscattering measurements has been developed. It has been used to measure the backscattering coefficient of red cell suspensions of hematocrit ranging from a few percent to 30% in the frequency range from 5 MHz to 30 MHz. The results at hematocrits below 20% agree well with those obtained with the standard substitution method, although they differ as the hematocrit is increased beyond 20%. The experimental results also show that the fourth-power dependence of backscatter on frequency is in general approximately valid for suspended erythrocytes of hematocrit between 6% and 30%     

多种长焦区聚焦超声采集频率的人体甲状腺光声成像

临床上常规的超声成像对甲状腺结节进行诊断时存在误诊和漏诊。研究了利用多种采集频率的长焦区聚焦换能器进行光声成像的方法。在模拟样品里埋入不同尺寸的血块模拟病变组织,采用不同中心频率的换能器对模拟样品进行光声成像,然后将血液注入正常人体甲状腺内部形成两处瘀血区,模拟病变甲状腺组织,经二维扫描重构出模拟病变甲状腺组织的三维光声图像。结果表明,不同频率的超声换能器对不同尺寸病灶体的探测灵敏度存在较大差异,5MHz的宽带换能器对几百微米直至毫米量级大小的病灶体均具有良好的灵敏度。获得了甲状腺及其内部两处瘀血区域的较高分辨率和对比度的三维图像。此项技术有望与超声成像技术结合,进一步提高甲状腺疾病诊断的准确率。     

基于旋转多元阵列探测器的快速光声成像系统

为了快速得到高质量的光声重建图像,采用旋转多元线性阵列探测器,可改善投影不均匀的影响,重建复杂吸收体的光声像。由旋转不同角度数的光声像的仿真和实验表明,利用多元线性阵列探测器旋转扫描的光声像,能够更好地反映生物组织的光学吸收分布。该系统有望为组织的在体功能成像提供一种更方便快捷的装置和方法。     

Miniature heart cell force transducer system implemented in MEMS technology

A fully submersible force transducer system for use with isolated heart cells has been implemented using microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) technology. By using integrated circuit fabrication techniques to make mechanical as well as electrical components, the entire low-mass transducer is only a few cubic millimeters in size and is of higher fidelity (approximately 100 nN and 13.3 kHz in solution) than previously available. When chemically activated, demembranated single cells attached to the device contract and slightly deform a strain gauge whose signal is converted to an amplified electrical output. When integrated with a video microscope, the system is capable of optical determination of contractile protein striation periodicity and simultaneous measurement of heart cell forces in the 100-nN to 50-microN range. The average measured maximal force was Fmax = 5.77 +/- 2.38 microN. Normalizing for the cell's cross-sectional area, Fmax/area was 14.7 +/- 7.7 mN/mm2. Oscillatory stiffness data at frequencies up to 1 kHz has also been recorded from relaxed and contracted cells. This novel MEMS force transducer system permits higher fidelity measurements from cardiac myocytes than available from standard macro-sized transducers.     

不同匹配层阵列式换能器的有限元仿真

匹配层材料及结构对于提高阵列式换能器的带宽、灵敏度及轴向分辨率有重要作用.为了探究不同匹配层材料对阵列式换能器性能的影响,该文通过有限元法模拟了包括高分子材料、0-3复合材料及镁合金等多种匹配层材料的阵列式换能器,综合比较了各自的频域特性及时域特性.仿真结果表明,使用AZ31 B镁合金作为第一匹配层、Epo-Tek 3...     

Cylindrical ultrasonic transducers for cardiac catheter ablation

This study was designed to evaluate the feasibility of using cylindrical ultrasound transducers mounted on a catheter for the ablation of cardiac tissues. In addition, the effects of ultrasound frequency and power was evaluated both using computer simulations and in vitro experiments. Frequencies of 4.5, 6, and 10 MHz were selected based on the simulation studies and manufacturing feasibility. These transducers were mounted on the tip of 7-French catheters and applied in vitro to fresh ventricular canine endocardium, submerged in flowing degassed saline at 37°C. When the power was regulated to maintain transducer interface temperature at 90-100°C, the 10-, 6-, and 4.5-MHz transducers generated a lesion depth of 5.9±0.2 mm, 4.6±1.0 mm, and 5.3±0.9 mm, respectively. The 10-MHz transducer was chosen for the in vivo tests since the maximum lesion depth was achieved with the lowest power. Two dogs were anesthetized and sonications were performed in both the left and right ventricles. The 10-MHz cylindrical transducers caused an average lesion depth of 6.4±2.5 mm. In conclusion, the results show that cylindrical ultrasound transducers can be used for cardiac tissue ablation and that they may be able to produce deeper tissue necrosis than other methods currently in use     

参量阵扬声器系统的超声发射阵指向性研究

在参量阵扬声器系统中,需采用若干个压电陶瓷超声换能器单元组成换能器发射阵,换能器单元的数目和排列位置会对发射阵的指向性产生影响。通过改变换能器数目及之间的相对距离,模拟了超声发射阵的空间指向性。与实测结果进行了比较,验证了在设计超声发射阵列时,此模拟方法的可靠性和实用性。     

Induction of hyperthermia using an intracavitary multielementultrasonic applicator

In this paper, the possibility of inducing controlled hyperthermia in rectal or vaginal wall tumors using an intracavitary ultrasonic applicator was investigated. A computer model that took into account the thermal and ultrasonic properties of tissues and surface cooling was used to optimize the transducer parameters to obtain desirable temperature distributions for different perfusion situations in the tumor. Also, an applicator that consisted of a cylindrical array of five independently controllable ultrasonic transducers was developed. This array was then tested in degassed water to determine the functional characteristics. This same applicator, modified to include water cooling of the tissue surface, was tested in vivo in dogs. The temperature distributions were found to be promising and with modifications this approach will be used in clinical treatments of suitable tumors.     

Heating patterns generated by phase modulation of a hexagonal arrayof interstitial antennas

In this paper, we investigate an array of six interstitial microwave antennas used for hyperthermia cancer treatment. The purpose is to generate both uniform and controlled nonuniform heating patterns in biological tissue by phase modulating the signals applied to each antenna. The array consists of six antennas positioned on the corners of a hexagon. The distance between two diagonal antennas is 4 cm. The distributions of absorbed power per unit mass within the array are computed, and then converted into temperature distributions through a thermal conduction simulation. The SAR and temperature patterns are presented in both the lateral plane (perpendicular to the antennas) and the axial plane (parallel with the antennas). By proper phase modulation of microwave signals applied to each antenna, a uniform heating pattern can be produced within the entire array volume. Also, a peripheral heating pattern may be generated around the array; again, by using the proper phase modulation. The modulation schemes for generating both types of heating patterns are discussed.     

Magnetic Induction Heating of Ferromagnetic Implants for Inducing Localized Hyperthermia in Deep-Seated Tumors

A variable frequency magnetic induction heating system has been developed for localized hyperthermic treatment of deep-seated tumors via power deposition into arrays of 1-2 mm diameter ferromagnetic cylindrical implants. The frequency dependence of implant heating compared to that induced directly into tissues indicates use of frequencies below 4 MHz. Above 10 MHz, tissues are heated directly from the induced eddy currents. Thermographic analyses of temperature distributions induced in tissues equivalent phantom models and in exposed animal tissues in vivo have been performed for several implant materials and array configurations. Results of the thermal dosimetry show that the majority of tissue contained within multiimplant arrays can be heated such that the temperature rises to 55-70 percent of the implant temperature differential. The resulting tissue temperature distribution is dependent on local blood flow and array characteristics, but not significantly on tissue electrical properties. Operating the system at 1.9. MHz, we demonstrate that it is possible to raise an implanted volume to therapeutic temperatures safely, in less than 10 min, with little increase in temperature outside the array boundaries.     

Deep tissue photoacoustic imaging using a miniaturized 2-D capacitive micromachined ultrasonic transducer array

In this paper, we demonstrate 3-D photoacoustic imaging (PAI) of light absorbing objects embedded as deep as 5 cm inside strong optically scattering phantoms using a miniaturized (4 mm × 4 mm × 500 μm), 2-D capacitive micromachined ultrasonic transducer (CMUT) array of 16 × 16 elements with a center frequency of 5.5 MHz. Two-dimensional tomographic images and 3-D volumetric images of the objects placed at different depths are presented. In addition, we studied the sensitivity of CMUT-based PAI to the concentration of indocyanine green dye at 5 cm depth inside the phantom. Under optimized experimental conditions, the objects at 5 cm depth can be imaged with SNR of about 35 dB and a spatial resolution of approximately 500 μm. Results demonstrate that CMUTs with integrated front-end amplifier circuits are an attractive choice for achieving relatively high depth sensitivity for PAI.     

Combined ultrasound and optoacoustic system for real-time high-contrast vascular imaging in vivo

In optoacoustic imaging, short laser pulses irradiate highly scattering human tissue and adiabatically heat embedded absorbing structures, such as blood vessels, to generate ultrasound transients by means of the thermoelastic effect. We present an optoacoustic vascular imaging system that records these transients on the skin surface with an ultrasound transducer array and displays the images online. With a single laser pulse a complete optoacoustic B-mode image can be acquired. The optoacoustic system exploits the high intrinsic optical contrast of blood and provides high-contrast images without the need for contrast agents. The high spatial resolution of the system is determined by the acoustic propagation and is limited to the submillimeter range by our 7.5-MHz linear array transducer. A Q-switched alexandrite laser emitting short near-infrared laser pulses at a wavelength of 760 nm allows an imaging depth of a few centimeters. The system provides real-time images at frame-rates of 7.5 Hz and optionally displays the classically generated ultrasound image alongside the optoacoustic image. The functionality of the system was demonstrated in vivo on human finger, arm and leg. The proposed system combines the merits and most compelling features of optics and ultrasound in a single high-contrast vascular imaging device.     

Current sheet applicators for clinical microwave hyperthermia

Small lightweight applicators, intended to be operated in array configurations are described. Their radiative fields are induced by RF currents in a conducting sheet embedded a few millimeters below the dielectric covered aperture surface. In arrays, these elements can be used where conformity to body curvatures is necessary. The clinical prototypes are tuned to 434 MHZ and have a bandwidth of almost 20 MHZ, which accommodates the tuning and coupling changes due to different body movement, and tissue heterogeneities. They are relatively insensitive to air bubbles in bolus and scar tissue. Their inherent linear polarization allows easy visualization of the superposition of electric field vectors of each element of an array and provides deeper penetration on curved surfaces due to electric field vector addition in the medium. In the case of a large breast tumor, depth of heating of over 4 cm was achieved along the central axis of a 2×2 coherent array. Experimental evaluation of these elements, leading to clinical implementation, is described along with a clinical example     

阵元损坏对换能器阵指向性的影响研究

针对阵元损坏造成超声换能器阵指向性变化的问题,该文从理论上推导了圆形活塞换能器平面阵指向性计算公式,并以之对换能器损坏后指向性变化情况进行了分析.研究表明,圆环形阵列中心装置处换能器损坏对指向性的影响远大于圆周上换能器损坏造成的影响;换能器损坏后,并不是每个定向面内的指向性都变差,但其总体指向性无疑会变差.     

Radiation patterns of dual concentric conductor microstrip antennasfor superficial hyperthermia

The finite difference time domain (FDTD) method has been used to calculate electromagnetic radiation patterns from 915-MHz dual concentric conductor (DCC) microwave antennas that are constructed from thin and flexible printed circuit board (PCB) materials. Radiated field distributions are calculated in homogeneous lossy muscle tissue loads located under variable thickness coupling bolus layers. This effort extends the results of previous investigations to consider more realistic applicator configurations with smaller 2 cm-square apertures and different coupling bolus materials and thicknesses, as well as various spacings of multiple-element arrays. Results are given for practical applicator designs with microstrip feedlines etched on the backside of the PCB antenna array instead of previously tested bulky coaxial-cable feedline connections to each radiating aperture. The results demonstrate that for an optimum coupling bolus thickness of 2.5-5 mm, the thin, flexible, and lightweight DCC antennas produce effective heating to the periphery of each aperture to a depth of approximately 1 cm, and may be combined into arrays for uniform heating of large area superficial tissue regions with the 50% power deposition contour conforming closely to the outer perimeter of the array