An ultrasound probe configured for insonating a pancreas. The probe is sized and shaped to be placed on a patient's abdomen in an area that is just between the right and left rib cage sections. The probe transmits ultrasound energy in order to insonate substantially the entire pancreas at the same time. One or more cavitation detectors are positioned within the probe to detect an incidence of cavitation.

A multi-pillar piezoelectric stack (MPPS) ultrasound transducer includes N pillars, each formed of a stack of M piezoelectric elements, N and M being integers of at least two. The ultrasound transducer further includes a bonding layer between each pair of the M piezoelectric elements. The pillars are laterally spaced from each other to form an inter-pillar gap. The transducer further includes at least one electrical interconnect for connecting the ultrasound transducer to a signal source. Through the MPPS design, the therapeutic range and the transducer sensitivity are increased over the conventional single pillar piezoelectric stack (SPPS) transducer design.

An ablation catheter comprises: an elongated catheter body extending longitudinally between a proximal end and a distal end along a longitudinal axis; a distal member disposed adjacent the distal end, the distal member including an ablation element to ablate a biological member; one or more acoustic transducers disposed in the distal member and each configured to direct an acoustic signal toward a respective target ablation region and receive reflection echoes therefrom; and an acoustic redirection member disposed in the distal member to at least partially redirect the acoustic signal from at least one of the acoustic transducers toward a tissue target. The distal member includes a most-distal portion, a proximal portion, and a deflectable portion between the most-distal portion and proximal portion to permit deflection between the most-distal portion and proximal portion of the distal member. The transducers and redirection member are mounted on opposite sides of the deflectable portion.

Methods and systems for measuring tissue impedance and monitoring PVD treatment using neuro-implants with improved wireless powering are disclosed. In some embodiments, an implanted device including a wireless energy receiver, a demodulation circuit, and electrodes may be configured to received modulated energy from an energy transmitter. The implanted device may convert the energy to an electrical voltage to be applied to tissue to adjust the tissue's impedance. The tissue impedance may be measured with a computing system by receiving and processing an energy signal emitted/produced in response to the electrical voltage applied by the implanted device. In some embodiments, improved microwave powering schemes may be utilized to power the implanted device. In some embodiments, improved ultrasound powering schemes may be utilized to power the implanted device. For example, energy transfer efficiency from different transmitters may be evaluated to select for energy transmission the transmitter that yields optimal energy transfer efficiency.

Various approaches for enhancing treatment of target tissue using a source of focused ultrasound while limiting damage to non-target tissue include selecting a frequency of ultrasound waves transmitted from the source of focused ultrasound for generating a focus in the target tissue; providing microbubbles having the first size distribution such that at least 50% of the microbubbles have a radius smaller than a critical radius corresponding to a resonance frequency matching the selected frequency of ultrasound waves; and applying the ultrasound waves at the selected frequency to treat the target tissue.

Various approaches for disrupting target tissue for treatment include identifying a target volume of the target tissue; causing disruption of the target tissue in a region corresponding to the target volume so as to increase tissue permeability therein; computationally generating a tissue permeability map of the target volume; and based on the tissue permeability map, computationally evaluating the disruption of the target tissue within the target volume.

Apparatus and methods for deactivating pulmonary nerves extending along the main bronchi of a mammalian subject to reduce ARDS effects by advancing an ultrasound transducer into the right and subsequently left main bronchus. The ultrasound transducer emits circumferential ultrasound so as to heat a circumferential tissue volume encompassing the right and left main bronchus. The energy of <10 W acoustic for <5 sec will not be sufficient to cause tissue necrosis but sufficient to inactivate nerve conduction. This treatment can be performed without locating or focusing on individual pulmonary nerves.

Various approaches to creating a treatment plan for a target include using the first imaging modality to acquire one or more images of the target during a time interval and based thereon determining information associated with the target; also during the time interval, using the second imaging modality having a higher rate of image capture than the first imaging modality to acquire a series of images of the first imageable object that has a relative location with respect to the target; in real time during the time interval, tracking movement of the anatomical target based on the one or more images thereof, the series of images of the first imageable object and the relative location of the first imageable object with respect to the target; and based at least in part on the tracked movement and the information associated with the anatomical target during the time interval, generating a treatment plan for treating the target.

A portable device for the decontamination of a breast. The aim of the device is to reduce the risk of mastitis, even when the patient has a medicament incompatibility. For this purpose, the invention includes a decontamination unit which decontaminates the breast at least by means of a physical method.

Systems and methods for treating cancer and for preventing metastasis using low intensity focused ultrasound in combination with an anti-cancer therapy are disclosed.