Apparatus and methods for deactivating bronchial nerves extending along a bronchial branch of a mammalian subject to treat asthma and related conditions. An ultrasonic transducer (11) is inserted into the bronchus as, for example, by advancing the distal end of a catheter (10) bearing the transducer into the bronchial section to be treated. The ultrasonic transducer emits focused ultrasound so as to heat tissues throughout circular impact volume (13) as, for example, at least about 1 cm.sup.3 encompassing the bronchus to a temperature sufficient to inactivate nerve conduction but insufficient to cause rapid ablation or necrosis of the tissues. The treatment can be performed without locating or focusing on individual bronchial nerves.

Apparatus and methods for deactivating bronchial nerves extending along a bronchial branch of a mammalian subject to treat asthma and related conditions. An ultrasonic transducer (11) is inserted into the bronchus as, for example, by advancing the distal end of a catheter (10) bearing the transducer into the bronchial section to be treated. The ultrasonic transducer emits focused ultrasound so as to heat tissues throughout circular impact volume (13) as, for example, at least about 1 cm.sup.3 encompassing the bronchus to a temperature sufficient to inactivate nerve conduction but insufficient to cause rapid ablation or necrosis of the tissues. The treatment can be performed without locating or focusing on individual bronchial nerves.

Devices, systems, and methods are provided for relieving peripheral nerve pain in a subject. In one example, the device includes a surface configured for placement against a subject's skin, an imaging element on the housing configured to transmit signals from the surface into the subject's body and receive reflected signals from the body, and one or more transducer elements configured to deliver focused ultrasound from the surface into the body. A controller is coupled to the imaging element to process the reflected signals to identify a target nerve within the body and coupled to the one or more transducer elements to control delivery of the focused ultrasound to the target nerve to relieve pain.

The present invention provides a diagnostic imaging system (100), comprising a magnetic resonance (MR) imaging system (110) for providing an image representation of at least a portion of a subject of interest (120) positioned in an examination space (116), a hyperthermia device (111) for locally heating a target zone within the portion of the subject of interest (120), and a control unit (126) for controlling the MR imaging system (110) and the hyperthermia device (111), wherein the diagnostic imaging system (100) is adapted to provide a diagnostic image representation of the portion of the subject of interest (120) by correlating image representations obtained at different temperatures of the target zone, wherein the diagnostic image representation comprises information on temperature dependent changes of the metabolism of the subject of interest (120). The invention further provides a treatment system comprising the above diagnostic imaging system (100), a treatment module (146) for applying a treatment to the subject of interest (120) for destroying cells within the target zone, and a control module (126) for controlling the treatment module (146) for applying the treatment based on diagnostic image representations obtained by the diagnostic imaging system (100). Accordingly, changes of the metabolism of the subject of interest can be evaluated to direct a treatment to such areas, where the cells have not yet been destroyed as desired. By comparing the difference of the above measurements between the first and the second temperature, the efficiency of the treatment can be evaluated and the further treatment can be adapted based on the metabolism changes.

Systems, methods, and mechanisms for a transducer probe for ultrasonic measurement and direct neuromodulation, e.g., a transducer probe generating ultrasound across a broad range of frequencies to acoustically modulate groups of neurons. A probe may be configured to generate focused ultrasound inside an acoustic medium. The probe may include a plurality of ultrasonic transducer elements along its length. The probe may be configured to generate ultrasound across a broad range of frequencies. The probe may be configured to focus ultrasound down to an approximately 100 micrometers (?m) diameter spot size, e.g., to a focal point or spot of approximately 100 ?m. In addition, the focal spot may be movable in space via phased array focusing.

The present disclosure is directed to a precision ultrasound scanner for imaging, for example, the prostate in a way that produces a superior image of the prostate while removing the iatrogenic risk and patient discomfort associated with other methods of providing an ultrasound image of the prostate. The present disclosure describes an apparatus and method for forming a high precision image of the prostate from outside the patient's body wherein the resolution in sufficient to image, for example, cancerous lesions on the surface of the prostate. To achieve such images, coded excitation, tissue harmonic imaging, advanced transducers operating in the 10 MHz to 40 MHz range is used to achieve a useable signal-to-noise reflection while being able to position the imaging transducer as close as possible to the prostate without risk or discomfort to the patient. The present disclosure further discloses an imaging transducer and an irradiating therapeutic transducer can be mounted such that they are movable between a plurality of positions. The irradiating transducer is, for example, about a 12 MHz transducer with a focal length of about 20 mm to about 40 mm that would produce a strong second harmonic at about 24 MHz that could be used for imaging. The imaging transducer has, for example, a focal length of about 10 mm to about 20 mm and typically operates in the range of about 25 MHz to about 40 MHz.

A method of operating a device (1) for treatment of a tissue (6) of a living being and such a device (1) including a transducer (2) comprising at least two subtransducers (2, 2), each for emitting a sub-beam (8) of ultrasound waves, preferably high intensity focused ultrasound waves, for irradiating the tissue (6). Each of the sub-beams (8) is focused on or focusable onto a focal point (F). In order to reduce skin burns, the intersection Area (A.sub.si) of a skin surface (7) for each sub-beam (8) is evaluated and a power (P.sub.si) and/or a duration (t.sub.si) of the irradiation, for every sub-transducer (2, 2), is determined as a rate of the total power (P.sub.total) or duration (t.sub.total) depending from the evaluated intersection area (A.sub.si).

Devices and systems for ultrasonically imaging tissue and performing ablation therapy are disclosed. An ablation probe for treating and imaging body tissue includes an ablation electrode tip with a number of acoustic openings and a plurality of ultrasonic imaging sensors disposed within an interior lumen of the tip. The ultrasonic imaging sensors are supported within the interior lumen via an insert equipped with a number of recesses that receive the ultrasonic imaging sensors. An acoustically transparent shell disposed between the ultrasonic imaging sensors and the acoustic openings forms a fluid channel in the acoustic pathway of the sensors. During an ablation procedure, cooling fluid from an external fluid source is delivered through the fluid channel, providing an acoustic coupling effect between the ultrasonic imaging sensors and the surrounding body tissue.

A method to apply a nerve inhibiting cloud surrounding a blood vessel includes creating a treatment plan, wherein the treatment plan prescribes application of the nerve inhibiting cloud towards at least a majority portion of a circumference of a blood vessel wall, and applying the nerve inhibiting cloud towards the majority portion of the circumference of the blood vessel wall for a time sufficient to inhibit a function of a nerve that surrounds the blood vessel wall.

Methods of treating the skin and in particular removing pigment from a tattoo are provided. In preferred embodiments, a piezoelectric transducer is placed at a plurality of locations above the skin and focused acoustic waves at 7 MHz or more are transmitted into the skin. The focal point of the focused acoustic waves is between 0.1 mm and 5 mm below the surface of the skin. The design of the piezoelectric transducer along with the frequency of operation are carefully chosen to create points of treatment with a desired size and shape. The correct amount of energy is supplied to the points of treatment to produce a lesion of a desired size and shape. The lesions are spaced and located to effect the treatment of the skin.