Full-Cycle Histotripsy Transmit Circuit With Short-Trace Drive Electronics
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Solution Overview
Problem
Histotripsy using half-cycle, negative transmit pulses requires very high drive power, careful electrical ground design, and is inefficient due to the use of avalanche driver circuits, leading to significant power losses and heating.
Innovation Solution
Implementing full-cycle transmit pulses with balanced drive electronics, including ASICs and FPGAs, integrated close to the transducer, and minimizing circuit board traces to reduce electrical and acoustic mismatches, allowing for efficient generation of histotripsy-level pressure waves using lower drive voltages.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If half-cycle, negative transmit pulses are used for histotripsy, then tissue cavitation and disruption are achieved, but very high drive power and careful electrical ground design are required
Solution Approach 1:
The patent inverts the conventional half-cycle pulse approach by using full-cycle bipolar pulses instead. This reversal of the pulse waveform fundamentally changes the electrical requirements, allowing histotripsy to be achieved with balanced, lower-voltage drive electronics rather than high-power unbalanced circuits.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent changes key parameters of the transmit pulse from half-cycle unipolar to full-cycle bipolar waveforms. This parameter change modifies the electrical characteristics, enabling the use of standard CMOS electronics with voltage tolerances of 100V+ instead of high-voltage avalanche circuits.
2Reliability
If half-cycle transmit pulses are used for histotripsy, then tissue cavitation is induced, but significant power losses and heating occur due to avalanche driver circuits
Solution Approach 1:
The patent converts the harmful effect of using high-power avalanche circuits into a benefit by adopting full-cycle pulses that work efficiently with low-power CMOS electronics. The approach transforms the original problem of power loss into an advantage of energy-efficient drive electronics.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent substitutes avalanche driver circuits with CMOS-based electronics. This replacement transitions from a high-power, lossy mechanical/electrical system to a more efficient solid-state electronic system that generates full-cycle pulses with minimal power loss and heating.
3Loss of energy
If drive electronics are integrated close to the transducer with minimized circuit board traces, then electrical and acoustic mismatches are reduced, but device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent merges the drive electronics with the transducer assembly by integrating ASICs and control circuitry directly at the transducer location. This consolidation eliminates separate components and interconnections, reducing electrical and acoustic mismatches while managing complexity through integration.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent segments the ultrasound system into modular components with dedicated drive electronics (ASICs) integrated at the transducer level. This segmentation allows independent optimization of each module while reducing overall system losses through minimized interconnections.
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
The solution reduces power requirements, minimizes heating, and enhances power delivery while maintaining effective tissue disruption, extending the transducer's lifetime and improving efficiency.
Implementation Method 1
The drive electronics may include one or multiple application specific integrated circuits (ASICs), field programmable gate arrays (FPGAs), System-on-a-chips (SoCs), discrete electronic components, or any suitable combination thereof. The drive electronics may be controlled using either integrated logic, state machines, software or a combination thereof to generate the desired pulse patterns in the generated histotripsy pulses.
Implementation Method 2
Histotripsy is the use of short, high intensity ultrasound waves to induce cavitation a target media, such as tissue. This may result in mechanical damage to targeted tissue.
Implementation Method 3
By keeping total length of circuit board traces from the ASICs of the drive electronics to the transducers minimized, for example, less than 5 cm, electrical losses due to electrical and acoustic mismatch may be minimized.
Data Source
AI summary
Systems and techniques are provided for generating histotripsy therapy pulses using full cycle transmit. A system may include a transducer array may include transducer elements, a computing and imaging device, and drive electronics positioned so that traces from the drive electronics to the transducer elements of the transducer array are no more than 5 cm in length. The drive electronics may be placed within a cable that connects the computing and imaging device to a handset that comprises the transducer array or within a handset that comprises the transducer array.