Non-invasive Ultrasound Treatment via Acoustic Intermedium
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Solution Overview
Problem
The existing non-invasive ultrasound treatment methods face challenges in effectively penetrating the skull due to its porous structure, leading to reduced treatment efficacy, especially for high-frequency ultrasound, and invasive methods carry risks of infection.
Innovation Solution
A non-invasive treatment system that removes bone tissue using high-intensity focused ultrasound and injects an acoustically-transparent medium to create an acoustic window, allowing therapeutic ultrasound to pass through, which can be made of materials like opto-acoustic, piezoelectric, or ferroelectric materials that generate ultrasound upon external induction, thereby enhancing penetration and minimizing invasive risks.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Measurement precision
If high-frequency ultrasound is used for treatment, then treatment precision is improved, but penetration capability through skull deteriorates due to porous structure causing attenuation and reflection
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces an acoustically-transparent intermedium as a mediator between the ultrasound source and the skull. This intermedium is positioned at the bone-tissue removal site to facilitate ultrasound transmission, acting as a bridge that overcomes the skull's porous structure barrier and enables high-frequency ultrasound to penetrate effectively to the brain target.
2Reliability
If invasive skull incision is performed to insert acoustic window, then ultrasound penetration is improved, but risk of infection and side effects increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent replaces the mechanical invasive approach of skull incision and acoustic window insertion with a non-invasive ultrasound-based bone tissue removal method. High-intensity focused ultrasound is used to precisely remove bone tissue at the target site, creating a passage for the acoustically-transparent intermedium without requiring surgical incision, thereby eliminating infection risk while maintaining ultrasound penetration capability.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent utilizes parameter changes in ultrasound intensity to achieve different functions: high-intensity focused ultrasound for bone tissue removal, and low-intensity ultrasound for the actual treatment. This parameter modulation allows the same ultrasound modality to serve both as a surgical tool and a therapeutic agent, eliminating the need for invasive procedures.
3Ease of operation
If high-intensity focused ultrasound is used to remove bone tissue, then non-invasive treatment is achieved, but energy consumption and potential tissue damage increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies high-intensity focused ultrasound only at the specific bone tissue location that requires removal, rather than applying energy broadly. The focused ultrasound energy is concentrated precisely at the bone-tissue interface, enabling localized bone removal with minimal energy consumption and avoiding damage to surrounding healthy tissues.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
This approach improves the penetration of therapeutic ultrasound while minimizing the risk of infection by creating an acoustic window without invasive surgery, allowing for more effective treatment of neurological disorders and lesion removal with reduced side effects.
Implementation Method 1
output high-intensity focused ultrasound to remove bone tissue
Implementation Method 2
inject an acoustically-transparent medium into a part where the bone tissue is removed to generate an intermedium
Implementation Method 3
the intermedium may be made of an opto-acoustic material that generates ultrasound by incident light
Implementation Method 4
the intermedium may be made of a piezoelectric material that generates ultrasound by applied voltage
Implementation Method 5
the intermedium may be made of a ferroelectric material that generates ultrasound by a change in electromagnetic field
Implementation Method 6
high-intensity focused ultrasound is used for direct treatment, for example, necrosis of human body tissues such as cancer cells, tumors and lesions
Data Source
AI summary
Disclosed herein is a non-invasive treatment system using intermedium, and an exemplary treatment system is configured to output high-intensity focused ultrasound to remove bone tissue, inject an acoustically-transparent medium into a part where the bone tissue is removed to generate an intermedium, and output therapeutic ultrasound that passes through the intermedium. Accordingly, the bone tissue is removed in a non-invasive way using high-intensity focused ultrasound, and the intermedium is generated at the bone tissue removed site, to increase the penetration of therapeutic ultrasound or generate ultrasound itself, thereby improving an ultrasound treatment effect while minimizing the side effect (for example, infection of dura mater) of invasive surgery methods.