Development of High-intensity Focused Ultrasound Thermal Surgery System with Ultrasound Imaging Guidance and Temperature Feedback

In this study, we developed a focused ultrasound (FUS) thermal therapy system with B-mode ultrasound image guidance and thermocouple temperature measurement feedback. Hydraulic position devices and computer-controlled servo motors were used to move the FUS transducer to the desired location with the measurement of actual movement by linear scale. The entire system integrated automatic position devices, FUS transducer, power amplifier, ultrasound image system, and thermocouple temperature measurement system into a graphical user interface. For the treatment procedure, thermocouples were implanted into a targeted treatment region in a tissue-mimicking phantom or pork tissue under ultrasound image guidance and then the acoustic interference pattern formed by image ultrasound beam and high-power FUS beam was employed as image guidance, to move the FUS transducer to the desired treatment region The measurement of temperature was used to monitor the status of sonication duration. For a multiple lesion formation, the FUS transducer was moved under the acoustic interference guidance to a new location and then it sonicated with the same power level and duration. The preliminary phantom and pork tissue experimental results demonstrated that the system could achieve the desired treatment plan effectively.