A fast 3D model for the simulation of HIFU treatments

描述(由申请人提供)： 治疗性超声领域正在兴起，具有很强的潜力和广阔的医疗应用前景。超声波的特点是能够在不损害中间组织的情况下深入人体内部，为一系列新的非侵入性治疗奠定了基础。特别是在高强度聚焦超声(HIFU)领域，人们致力于为系统的肿瘤治疗、声学止血和靶向药物输送提供一种非侵入性手段。在2003年6月于华盛顿州西雅图举行的国际治疗超声学会最近一次会议上，中国人报告了迅速的进展，有3家公司销售政府批准的设备，使用了75种设备，约有7000名患者接受了各种良恶性肿瘤的治疗。然而，也可以清楚地看出，美国以及欧洲大部分地区的临床医生对这项技术的普遍接受仍然相对较远。在中国之外，这种缺乏接受度的一个主要原因是，对治疗的实时监测和控制仍然是一个重大挑战。解决这一问题的一个步骤是为HIFU治疗开发一个准确的模型。这种模式的明显好处如下：(1)它将使我们能够在产生建设费用之前设计声学传递系统；(2)它使我们能够以最大的效率计划实验；(3)它将减少使用的动物的数量；(4)它将缩短从开发阶段到临床试验之间的时间；以及(5)它将使我们能够优化治疗计划，以在最短的时间内达到最大的结果。本研究的主要目的是开发一种基于超声波传播的标量和弹性表示的快速、全面的HIFU模拟软件的新的数值方法，并通过一系列的体内外实验对该模型进行验证。新的模型将考虑到真实的物理过程，并且可以一致地应用于人体的每个区域，而不受介质特征和几何形状的影响。这一模型的开发将支持我们实验室和其他实验室正在进行的针对HIFU应用的新工程设计的研究。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): The field of therapeutic ultrasound is emerging with strong potential and broad medical applications. Characterized by its ability to penetrate at depth inside the body without harming intervening tissue, ultrasound has posed the basis for a new array of noninvasive therapies. In particular, great effort is concentrated in the field of High Intensity Focused Ultrasound (HIFU) to provide a noninvasive means for systematic tumor treatment, acoustic hemostasis, and targeted drug delivery. At a recent meeting of the International Society for Therapeutic Ultrasound held in Seattle, WA in June, 2003, the Chinese reported swift progress, with 3 companies selling government-approved devices, with >75 devices in use, and with about 7,000 patients having been treated for a variety of benign and malignant tumors. However, it was also clearly discernable that general acceptance of this technology by clinicians in the USA, and probably much of Europe, was still relatively distant. A major reason for this lack of acceptance outside of China is that real-time monitoring and control of the therapy is still a major challenge. One step toward a solution of this problem is to develop an accurate model for HIFU therapy. The obvious benefits of such a model are as follows: (1) It will enable us to design acoustic delivery systems before incurring the expenses of construction; (2) it will enable us to plan experiments to maximum efficiency; (3) it will reduce the number of animals used; (4) it will reduce the time between the developmental phase and clinical trials; and (5) it will enable us to optimize treatment planning to achieve maximum results in the minimum amount of time. The major goal of this proposed research is to develop a new numerical approach for comprehensive and fast HIFU simulation software based upon scalar and elastic representations of ultrasound wave propagation, and to validate the model with a series of ex vivo and in vivo experiments. The new model will account for realistic physical processes and can be applied consistently in every region of the human body independently of media characteristics and geometries. The development of this model will support on-going studies in our laboratory, and others, of new engineering designs for HIFU applications.