Operating method of focused ultrasound

Abstract

A method of operating a focused ultrasound includes controlling a focused ultrasound to perform a first action, the first action comprising focusing energy on a target treatment point and maintaining that focus for a predetermined time; controlling the focused ultrasound to perform a second action, the second action comprising stopping focusing energy on the target treatment point and maintaining that pause for a predetermined pause time; repeating the first action, and performing the second action after performing one of the first actions and before performing another of the first actions.

Description

[Technical Field]

[0001] This invention relates to medical testing devices; in particular, it refers to a method for operating a focused ultrasound. [Previous Technology]

[0002] As technology advances, medical techniques also continuously improve. When treating patients, doctors use not only traditional invasive surgery but also non-invasive procedures such as extracorporeal shock wave lithotripsy (ESWL) and high-energy focused ultrasound (HIFU). HIFU involves delivering focused ultrasound energy from outside the body to the target area of ​​the lesion for thermal treatment. Its purpose is to raise the temperature of the lesion to a certain level within a short time, causing tissue necrosis. It is one of the thermal ablation techniques widely used today for treating various tumors.

[0003] However, when high-energy focused ultrasound is used to heat the affected area, if the treatment is continued for too long, the temperature will rise rapidly, causing the protein to denature quickly, resulting in intense pain for the patient. When the patient cannot tolerate it, they may move the affected area, thus interrupting the treatment. This will further lead to the problem of excessively long total treatment time. [Summary of the Invention]

[0004] In view of this, the purpose of the present invention is to provide a method for operating focused ultrasound, which can effectively reduce patient pain and thus improve treatment efficiency.

[0005] To achieve the above objective, the present invention provides a method for operating a focused ultrasound wave, comprising controlling a focused ultrasound wave to perform a first action, the first action comprising focusing energy on a target treatment point and maintaining that focus for a predetermined time; controlling the focused ultrasound wave to perform a second action, the second action comprising stopping focusing energy on the target treatment point and maintaining that pause for a predetermined pause time; repeating the first action, and performing the second action after performing one of the first actions and before performing another of the first actions.

[0006] The effect of the present invention is that, compared with the conventional method of energy focusing in a continuous manner, the present invention, through the design of performing the second action between the two first actions, enables the focused ultrasound to focus energy in an intermittent manner. In this way, the accumulation of heat at the focal point is more gradual, thereby effectively reducing the patient's pain and reducing the number of treatment interruptions, thereby achieving the effect of improving treatment efficiency.

Implementation Method

[0007] To more clearly illustrate the present invention, preferred embodiments are described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings. Please refer to Figures 1 to 3, which illustrate a preferred embodiment of the operation method of focused ultrasound, comprising the following steps:

[0008] Step S02: Control a focused ultrasound to perform a first action, the first action including focusing energy on a target treatment point and maintaining it for a predetermined focusing time T1; control the focused ultrasound to perform a second action, the second action including stopping focusing energy on the target treatment point and maintaining it for a predetermined pause time S1; wherein, the first action is repeated, and the second action is performed after performing the first action and before performing another first action; the operator can adjust the number of times the first action is repeated according to the condition of the patient's affected area, and the number of times the first action is repeated can be two or more.

[0009] Before performing step S02, a preparatory step S00 is further included, which includes providing an operation panel 10, which displays multiple focus positions 12 for selection, and controlling the focused ultrasound to move to the target treatment point according to the selection result.

[0010] For example, as shown in Figure 2, the operation panel 10 can display the MRI image of the patient's affected area. The operation panel 10 displays multiple focal positions 12 on the MRI image for the operator to select. Preferably, the selected focal position 1 and the unselected focal position are displayed on the operation panel 10 in a display manner with different colors, for example. After the operator selects the target treatment point, he / she can further set the predetermined focusing time T1 and the predetermined pause time S1 through the operation panel 10.

[0011] As shown in the figure, in this embodiment, the predetermined focusing time T1 is set to 6 seconds and the predetermined pause time S1 is set to 2 seconds. That is, the focused ultrasound will focus on the target treatment point for 6 seconds, pause for 2 seconds to stop focusing energy on the target treatment point, and then continue focusing on the target treatment point for 6 seconds. In this way, by designing the second action to be performed between the two first actions, the focused ultrasound can focus energy in an intermittent manner. In this way, the heat accumulation at the focusing point is more gradual, which can effectively reduce the patient's pain and reduce the number of treatment interruptions, thereby achieving the effect of improving treatment efficiency.

[0012] Further, in this embodiment, the focused ultrasound wave performs the second action once after the first action is performed for the last time at the target treatment point. For example, when the predetermined focusing time T1 is set to 6 seconds, the predetermined pause time S1 is set to 2 seconds, and the first action is to be performed twice at the target treatment point, the focused ultrasound wave will focus on the target treatment point for 6 seconds, pause for 2 seconds to stop focusing energy on the target treatment point, then continue focusing on the target treatment point for 6 seconds, and then pause for 2 seconds to stop focusing energy on the target treatment point. In other embodiments, the focused ultrasound wave may not perform the second action after the first action is performed for the last time at the target treatment point, that is, the focused ultrasound wave will focus on the target treatment point for 6 seconds, pause for 2 seconds to stop focusing energy on the target treatment point, and then continue focusing on the target treatment point for 6 seconds.

[0013] Furthermore, in this embodiment, the operation method of the focused ultrasound includes step S04, controlling the focused ultrasound to perform a third action, the third action including focusing energy on the other target treatment point and continuing for another predetermined focusing time T2; controlling the focused ultrasound to perform a fourth action, the fourth action including stopping focusing energy on the other target treatment point and continuing for another predetermined pause time S2, repeating the third action, and performing the fourth action after performing the third action and before performing another third action, thereby the operation method of the focused ultrasound can also treat multiple target treatment points.

[0014] As shown in the figure, the operation panel 10 displays multiple focal positions 12 on the MRI image for the operator to select. The operator can select the multiple focal positions displayed on the operation panel 10 in sequence according to the order of treatment to be performed, and set the predetermined focusing time and predetermined pause time for each focal position through the operation panel 10. Taking two target treatment points as an example, the operator can select one focal position 1 corresponding to the target treatment point and another focal position 2 corresponding to the other target treatment point on the operation panel 10, and then set the predetermined focusing time T1 and the predetermined pause time S1 corresponding to the focal position 1, and set another predetermined focusing time T2 and another predetermined pause time S2 corresponding to the other focal position 2. In this embodiment, the predetermined focusing time T1 is the same as the other predetermined focusing time T2, and the predetermined pause time S1 is the same as the other predetermined pause time S2.

[0015] In this embodiment, the predetermined focusing time is set to 6 seconds, and the predetermined pause time S1 is set to 2 seconds. That is, the focused ultrasound will focus on the target treatment point for 6 seconds, pause for 2 seconds to stop focusing energy on the target treatment point, then continue focusing on the target treatment point for 6 seconds, pause for another 2 seconds to stop focusing energy on the target treatment point, and then the focused ultrasound will move to another target treatment point, focus on it for 6 seconds, pause for 2 seconds to stop focusing energy on the other target treatment point, then continue focusing on the other target treatment point for 6 seconds, pause for another 2 seconds to stop focusing energy on the other target treatment point. It should be noted that in this embodiment, two target treatment points are used as an example. In other embodiments, the number of target treatment points may be one or more.

[0016] In this embodiment, the example is that the predetermined focusing time T1 is the same as the other predetermined focusing time T2 and the predetermined pause time S1 is the same as the other predetermined pause time S2. In practice, the predetermined focusing time T1 may be different from the other predetermined focusing time T2. In addition, the predetermined pause time S1 may also be different from the other predetermined pause time S2.

[0017] In this embodiment, the focal point of the focused ultrasound moves from the target treatment point to the other target treatment point after a predetermined movement time. In addition, the operation method of the focused ultrasound also includes pausing for an interval C1 after the focal point of the focused ultrasound moves from the target treatment point to the other target treatment point before continuing to perform the third action. The preliminary step S00 includes the operator setting the value of the interval C1 on the operation panel 10.

[0018] In summary, the present invention, through the design of performing the second action between the two first actions, enables the focused ultrasound to focus energy in an intermittent manner. In this way, the accumulation of heat at the focal point is more gradual, thereby effectively reducing the patient's pain and reducing the number of treatment interruptions, thereby achieving the effect of improving treatment efficiency.

[0019] The above description is only a preferred embodiment of the present invention. Any equivalent changes made by applying the present invention specification and the claims should be included within the patent scope of the present invention. [Simplified Explanation of the Diagram]

[0020] Figure 1 is a flowchart of the operation method of a focused ultrasound according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention. Figure 2 is a schematic diagram of the operation panel of the above preferred embodiment. Figure 3 is a schematic diagram of the operation panel of the above preferred embodiment.

Claims

1. A method of operating a focused ultrasound, comprising: controlling a focused ultrasound to perform a first action, the first action comprising focusing energy on a target treatment point and maintaining that focusing for a predetermined time; controlling the focused ultrasound to perform a second action, the second action comprising stopping the focusing of energy on the target treatment point and maintaining that stopping for a predetermined pause time; wherein, The first action is repeated, and the second action is performed after performing the first action and before performing another first action; the focused ultrasound is controlled to perform a third action, which includes focusing energy on the other target treatment point and maintaining that focus for another predetermined time; the focused ultrasound is controlled to perform a fourth action, which includes stopping focusing energy on the other target treatment point and maintaining that focus for another predetermined pause time; the third action is repeated, and the fourth action is performed after performing the third action and before performing another third action; wherein the focus of the focused ultrasound moves from the target treatment point to the other target treatment point after a predetermined movement time; after the focus of the focused ultrasound moves from the target treatment point to the other target treatment point, it pauses for an interval time before continuing to perform the third action.

2. The method of operating a focused ultrasound as described in claim 1, wherein the predetermined focusing time is the same as or different from the other predetermined focusing time.

3. The method of operating a focused ultrasound as described in claim 1, wherein the predetermined pause time is the same as or different from the other predetermined pause time.

4. The method of operating a focused ultrasound as described in claim 1, comprising performing the second action once after the focused ultrasound has last performed the first action at the target treatment point.

5. The method of operating a focused ultrasound as described in claim 1, comprising providing an operation panel that displays a plurality of focused positions for selection, and controlling the focused ultrasound to move to the target treatment point based on the selection result.

6. The method of operating a focused ultrasound as described in claim 5, wherein the selected focus position and the unselected focus position are displayed in different ways on the operation panel.

7. The method of operating a focused ultrasound as described in claim 5, wherein the predetermined focusing time and the predetermined pause time are set via the operation panel.

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