Systems and methods for regulating microbubbles in ultrasound procedures
Various approaches for regulating microbubbles in a treatment procedure for a target include generating a tissue-sensitivity map including multiple regions, at least one of the regions being outside the target region, the tissue-sensitivity map assigning, to each of the regions, a sensitivity level indicative of tissue sensitivity to the interaction between the microbubbles and an acoustic beam; select one or more interaction regions based at least in part on the tissue-sensitivity map; and activating the ultrasound transducer so as to generate the acoustic beam for interacting with the microbubbles in the selection interaction region(s) in the tissue-sensitivity map, thereby indirectly changing a characteristic of the microbubbles at the target region.
1. A system for regulating microbubbles in a treatment procedure for a target region, the system comprising:
an ultrasound transducer; and
a controller configured to:
(a) generate a tissue-sensitivity map including a plurality of regions, at least one of the regions being outside the target region, the tissue-sensitivity map assigning, to each of the regions, a sensitivity level indicative of tissue sensitivity to an interaction between the microbubbles and an acoustic beam;
(b) select at least one interaction region based at least in part on the tissue-sensitivity map; and
(c) activate the ultrasound transducer so as to generate the acoustic beam for interacting with the microbubbles in the selected at least one interaction region in the tissue-sensitivity map, thereby indirectly changing a characteristic of the microbubbles at the target region.
2. The system of claim 1 , wherein the controller is further configured to determine at least one parameter associated with the ultrasound transducer based at least in part on the selected at least one interaction region in the tissue-sensitivity map.
3. The system of claim 2 , wherein the controller is further configured to activate the ultrasound transducer based at least in part on the determined parameter associated with the ultrasound transducer.
4. The system of claim 1 , wherein the treatment procedure involves utilization of the microbubbles, the system further comprises means for providing microbubbles to the target region for initializing the treatment procedure.
5. The system of claim 4 , wherein the means for providing the microbubbles comprises an administration system for administering the microbubbles to the target region.
6. The system of claim 4 , wherein the means for providing the microbubbles causes the ultrasound transducer to transmit ultrasound pulses to the target region to generate the microbubbles.
7. The system of claim 4 , wherein the controller is further configured to perform step (c) only after a focusing property of the acoustic beam at the target region is optimized.
8. The system of claim 1 , further comprising means for detecting the characteristic of the microbubbles in at least one of the target region, one of the regions in the tissue-sensitivity map, or a dedicated monitored region.
9. The system of claim 8 , wherein the means for detecting the microbubble characteristic comprises the ultrasound transducer, an acoustic-signal detection device or a second ultrasound transducer.
10. The system of claim 8 , wherein the controller is further configured to determine at least one parameter associated with the ultrasound transducer based at least in part on the detected microbubble characteristic.
11. The system of claim 1 , wherein the generated acoustic beam causes cavitation of at least some of the microbubbles in the selected at least one interaction region.
12. The system of claim 11 , wherein the controller is further configured to determine at least one parameter associated with the ultrasound transducer so as to select the at least some of the microbubbles for cavitation.
13. The system of claim 12 , wherein the at least one parameter associated with the ultrasound transducer comprises at least one of a frequency, an amplitude or a phase associated with at least one transducer element of the ultrasound transducer.
14. The system of claim 1 , wherein the tissue sensitivity comprises at least one of thermal sensitivity or sensitivity to microbubble cavitation.
15. The system of claim 1 , wherein the microbubble characteristic comprises at least one of an amount, a concentration, a size distribution or a response of the microbubbles to the acoustic beam.
16. The system of claim 1 , further comprising an imaging device for acquiring digital representations comprising a plurality of voxels of at least a portion of the regions in the tissue-sensitivity map, the controller being further configured to generate the tissue-sensitivity map based at least in part on the digital representations.
17. The system of claim 16 , wherein the controller is further configured to determine an anatomical characteristic of the at least a portion of the regions in the tissue-sensitivity map based on the digital representations, the tissue-sensitivity map being generated based at least in part on the anatomical characteristic.
18. The system of claim 17 , wherein the anatomical characteristic comprises at least one of a tissue type, a location, a size, or a function.
19. The system of claim 17 , wherein the controller is further configured to generate the tissue-sensitivity map by assigning a sensitivity score to voxels of the at least a portion of the regions in the tissue-sensitivity map based at least in part on the anatomical characteristic associated therewith, the sensitivity score indicating a sensitivity level of the voxel to the interaction of the acoustic beam with the microbubbles.
20. The system of claim 19 , wherein the selected at least one interaction region in the tissue-sensitivity map has a relatively low lower sensitivity score than the other ones of the regions in the tissue-sensitivity map.
21. The system of claim 19 , wherein the controller is further configured to adjust at least one parameter associated with the ultrasound transducer based at least in part on the sensitivity scores assigned to the regions in the tissue-sensitivity map.
22. The system of claim 1 , wherein the controller is further configured to adjust at least one parameter associated with the ultrasound transducer to cause at least some of the microbubbles to move from the target region to the selected at least one interaction region in the tissue-sensitivity map.
23. A method of regulating microbubbles in a treatment procedure for a target region, the method comprising:
at a controller operatively coupled to an ultrasound transducer:
(a) generating a tissue-sensitivity map including a plurality of regions, at least one of the regions being outside the target region, the tissue-sensitivity map assigning, to each of the regions, a sensitivity level indicative of tissue sensitivity to an interaction between the microbubbles and an acoustic beam;
(b) selecting at least one interaction region based at least in part on the tissue- sensitivity map; and
(c) activating the ultrasound transducer so as to generate the acoustic beam for interacting with the microbubbles in the selected at least one interaction region in the tissue-sensitivity map, thereby indirectly changing a characteristic of the microbubbles at the target region.
24. The method of claim 23 , further comprising:
at the controller:
determining at least one parameter associated with the ultrasound transducer based at least in part on the selected at least one interaction region in the tissue-sensitivity map; and
activating the ultrasound transducer based at least in part on the determined parameter associated with the ultrasound transducer.
25. The method of claim 23 , wherein:
the treatment procedure involves utilization of the microbubbles, and the method further comprises providing microbubbles to the target region for initializing the treatment procedure, including causing the ultrasound transducer to transmit ultrasound pulses to the target region to generate the microbubbles; and
the method includes perform step (c) only after a focusing property of the acoustic beam at the target region is optimized.
26. The method of claim 23 , further comprising:
detecting the characteristic of the microbubbles in at least one of the target region, one of the regions in the tissue-sensitivity map, or a dedicated monitored region; and
determining, at the controller, at least one parameter associated with the ultrasound transducer based at least in part on the detected microbubble characteristic.
27. The method of claim 23 , wherein:
generating the acoustic beam causes cavitation of at least some of the microbubbles in the selected at least one interaction region; and
the method further comprises determining at the controller, at least one parameter associated with the ultrasound transducer so as to select the at least some of the microbubbles for cavitation;
wherein the at least one parameter associated with the ultrasound transducer comprises at least one of a frequency, an amplitude or a phase associated with at least one transducer element of the ultrasound transducer.
28. The method of claim 23 , wherein:
the tissue sensitivity comprises at least one of thermal sensitivity or sensitivity to microbubble cavitation; and
the microbubble characteristic comprises at least one of an amount, a concentration, a size distribution or a response of the microbubbles to the acoustic beam.
29. The method of claim 23 , further comprising:
acquiring digital representations comprising a plurality of voxels of at least a portion of the regions in the tissue-sensitivity map;
generating, at the controller, the tissue-sensitivity map based at least in part on the digital representations; and
determining, at the controller, an anatomical characteristic of the at least a portion of the regions in the tissue-sensitivity map based on the digital representations, the tissue-sensitivity map being generated based at least in part on the anatomical characteristic.
30. The method of claim 29 , wherein:
the anatomical characteristic comprises at least one of a tissue type, a location, a size, or a function; and
the method further comprises generating, at the controller, the tissue-sensitivity map by assigning a sensitivity score to voxels of the at least a portion of the regions in the tissue-sensitivity map based at least in part on the anatomical characteristic associated therewith, the sensitivity score indicating a sensitivity level of the voxel to the interaction of the acoustic beam with the microbubbles.
31. The method of claim 30 , wherein:
the selected at least one interaction region in the tissue-sensitivity map has a lower sensitivity score than the other ones of the regions in the tissue-sensitivity map; and
the method further comprises adjusting, at the controller, at least one parameter associated with the ultrasound transducer based at least in part on the sensitivity scores assigned to the regions in the tissue-sensitivity map.
32. The method of claim 23 , further comprising adjusting, at the controller, at least one parameter associated with the ultrasound transducer to cause at least some of the microbubbles to move from the target region to the selected at least one interaction region in the tissue-sensitivity map.