Component ultrasound transducer

Abstract

An ultrasound transducer having multiple focal zones is described. In one embodiment there is an ultrasound transducer manufactured as a single piece but having two or more focal zones. In a second embodiment there is a transducer assembly combining a high frequency and low frequency transducer. In a third embodiment there is an interchangeable assembly allowing for different ultrasound transducers to be used based on procedural needs. Variations of each embodiment are also disclosed.

Description

CROSS-REFERENCES TO RELATED APPLICATIONS [0001] This application claims the benefit of provisional application No. 60 / 534,034 (Attorney Docket No. 021356-001300US), filed on Dec. 30, 2003, the full disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference. [0002] The subject matter of the present application is related to that of the following applications: Ser. No. 10 / 750,370, entitled “Medical Device Inline Degasser” (Attorney Docket No. 02356-000500US); Ser. No. 10 / 751,344, entitled “Articulating Arm for Medical Procedures” (Attorney Docket No. 02356-000600US); Ser. No. 10 / 750,369, entitled “Disposable Transducer Seal” (Attorney Docket No. 02356-000700US); 60 / 533,528, entitled “Position Tracking Device” (Attorney Docket No. 021356-000900US); 60 / 533,988, entitled “Method for Planning and Performing Ultrasound Therapy” (Attorney Docket No. 021356-001000US); 60 / 534,036, entitled “Ultrasound Therapy with Hood Movement Control” (Attorney Docket No. 021356-00100US); and 60 / 533,958, entit...

AI Technical Summary

Benefits of technology

[0023] It is still further an objective of the present invention to provide for a transducer that will eliminate the danger of skin burns on the epidermis of a patient undergoing a lipolysis treatment.

Problems solved by technology

The procedure caused bleeding, bruising, trauma, and blood loss, restricting the amount of fat removal possible.

However the procedure still removes a significant amount of structural tissue, blood and nerve endings.

This vibration disrupts the near volume fat cells and essentially liquefies them for easy removal.

Current methods for using High Intensity Focused Ultrasound (HIFU) to form lesions in biologic tissues via cavitation effects suffer from a variety of practical limitations.

A physically large transducer practically limits clinical applications for several reasons.

Larger transducers are more difficult to keep properly coupled due to natural contours of tissue.

Larger transducers are more difficult to position so that the entire aperture is clear of intervening media such as bone or gas pockets that may degrade or destroy the ability to focus properly.

Furthermore, large transducers with very shallow focal depths are difficult, if not impossible to manufacture and apply properly.

Even if this ratio can be physically decreased, acoustic coupling becomes problematic due to critical angle effects.

A standoff can be used to physically move the transducer away from the target tissue while maintaining coupling, but this has drawbacks in terms of increased intensity at the tissue surface, and simply being physically unwieldy.

In addition, the focal point of each transducer is at a fixed depth below the skin surface and the destruction of adipose tissue using a fixed focal length transducer cannot be adjusted by a user.

Transducers are manufactured with specific frequencies, amplitudes, focal depths and power capabilities and these variables cannot be altered after the manufacturing process is complete.

The result is that procedures which attempt to utilize high intensity focused ultrasound to produce adipose tissue destruction through heating, cavitation or some combination of the two, are restricted to operate at a particular tissue depth, and are unable to make even slight adjustments to the transducer parameters except to completely change transducers.

Thus if a patient wishes to have a volume of adipose tissue treated that is large, such that a liposuction procedure would normally be called for, a high intensity focused ultrasound device would not be able to handle the depths and breadths as variables to the operation.

Thus high intensity focused ultrasound procedure is still not a better option for the patient since the result is restricted to a thin layer of adipose tissue at a fixed depth below the surface of the skin.

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