NEW ULTRASOUND PHASED ARRAY APPLICATORS FOR HYPERTHERMIA

热疗，特别是与电离辐射结合使用时 放射治疗正在成为癌症治疗的可行方式。 高 目前可用的临床数据中， 几乎不允许控制内部加热模式的施用器 治疗体积。 然而，这种控制对于获得 治疗最佳温度分布，特别是当血液 治疗过程中流量发生变化。 我们建议继续开发新的 超声热疗施加器的相控阵列概念， 提供所需的加热灵活性。 该项目有两个主要 目标：1.把超声相控阵技术和样机 系统开发的第一个赠款期间进入诊所，和2。到 继续发展相控阵技术，与 我们的临床同事 定点相控阵的临床试验 该系统将在一个财团的领导下在人类患者身上进行， 在杜克大学的安排。 新技术的发展将是 与实际临床需求紧密相关。 其主要目标是 提高临床肿瘤加热能力，我们将继续 发展：1。贴合或灵活的阵列， 用于位点特异性治疗的最佳孔径的合成; 2.算法 允许同时使用进入治疗体积的多个窗口; 3. 允许自动真实的时间校正患者呼吸的算法 运动; 4。允许实时相位畸变的算法 由于组织不均匀性而进行的校正。 前四项成就 这些目标将通过开发小型侵入式水听器探头来实现， 从治疗体积获得声反馈。 这种方法对于阶段 误差校正是在我们实验室开发的，它的应用 导致了测量阵列场模式， 理论预测。 作为对临床的额外增强， 这些阵列的应用，我们也将开发; 5.患者治疗 规划软件，允许映射所有可用的窗口到一个 治疗体积到身体表面或阵列的计算图像上 孔径; 6.声学和热建模算法的修改， 先前已经开发出允许从期望的规格 离散控制点处的温度， 用于所有阵列元件驱动信号的相位，以及7.超大规模集成电路芯片 将多通道数字相位合成网络简化为单个 电脑控制芯片服务64通道。

Hyperthermia, particularly when used in conjunction with ionizing radiation, is becoming a viable modality for cancer treatment. A high percentage of the clinical data currently available were obtained with applicators allowing little control of heating patterns within the treatment volume. However, such control is essential for obtaining therapeutically optimum temperature distributions, particularly when blood flow changes during treatment. We propose to continue development of new phased array concepts for ultrasound hyperthermia applicators which should provide the needed heating flexibility. This project has two primary goals: 1. To take the ultrasound phased array technology and prototype systems developed in the first grant period into the clinic, and 2. To continue development of phased array technology with close cooperation with our clinical colleagues. Clinical trials of site-specific phased array systems will be carried out on human patients under a consortium arrangement at Duke University. Development of new technology will be closely tied to actual clinical requirements. With the primary goal of enhancing clinical tumor heating capabilities, we will continue the development of: 1. Conformable or flexible arrays allowing placement and synthesis of optimal apertures for site-specific therapy; 2. Algorithms for allowing simultaneous use of multiple windows into a treatment volume; 3. Algorithms to allow automatic real time correction for patient breathing and movement; and 4. Algorithms to allow real-time phase aberration corrections due to tissue inhomogeneities. Achievement of these first four goals will be aided by development of small invasive hydrophone probes to obtain acoustic feedback from a treatment volume. This approach for phase error correction has been developed in our laboratory and its application has resulted in measured array field patterns which agree remarkably well with theoretical predictions. As additional enhancements to the clinical application of these arrays, we will also develop; 5. Patient treatment planning software which allows mapping of all available windows into a treatment volume onto a computed image of the body surface or array aperture; 6. Modifications of acoustic and thermal modelling algorithms we have previously developed to allow, from specification of desired temperatures at discrete control points, computation of the magnitude and phases for all the array element driving signals, and 7. VLSI chips to reduce the multichannel digital phase synthesis networks to a single computer controlled chip serving 64 channels.