Methods for diagnosing a pathologic tissue membrane, as well as a focused ultrasound apparatus and methods of treatment are disclosed to perform ureterocele puncture noninvasively using focused ultrasound-generated cavitation or boiling bubbles to controllably erode a hole through the tissue. An example ultrasound apparatus may include (a) a therapy transducer having a treatment surface, wherein the therapy transducer comprises a plurality of electrically isolated sections, (b) at least one concave acoustic lens defining a therapy aperture in the treatment surface of the therapy transducer, (c) an imaging aperture defined by either the treatment surface of the therapy transducer or by the at least one concave acoustic lens and (d) an ultrasound imaging probe axially aligned with a central axis of the therapy aperture.

An embodiment in accordance with the present invention provides a transducer design for minimally invasive focused ultrasound (MIFU). The present invention allows flexible control of a focused ultrasound wave using mechanical and electrical control. The transducer array is implemented on a flexible substrate that can be mechanically controlled through two or more physical configurations. As with conventional electronic steering, the transducer elements can be controlled electronically to provide adjustable focus of the ultrasound. The combination of mechanical and electronic control provides the device a very flexible method for delivering focused ultrasound. The invention also includes a design that allows integration of ultrasound and endoscopic image guidance. The ultrasound guidance includes anatomical visualization and functional imaging (e.g. blood flow and coagulation of vasculature). The ultrasound imaging transducer is used for thermometry within the region of interest for treatment. Endoscopic imaging allows for improved understanding of tip location in real-time.

An ultrasound phased array integrated in flexible CMOS technology is provided. The CMOS IC chip is fabricated through various chip-thinning techniques, resulting in mechanical flexibility, robustness, and minimized mechanical loading for the piezoelectric transducers. The ultrasound phased array CMOS patch can allow for the generation of high intensity focal regions for maximum penetration in regions of interest.

A method for delivering ultrasound therapy using open-loop controls comprises inserting a distal tip of a therapeutic ultrasound applicator into a patient's urethra, the distal tip including an ultrasound transducer; acquiring ultrasound images of the patient's urethra and prostate with an ultrasound imaging probe; aligning the distal tip of the therapeutic ultrasound applicator with the patient's prostate using the ultrasound images; delivering therapeutic ultrasound energy to the patient's prostate, with the ultrasound transducer, according to a treatment plan, the treatment plan including a predetermined limited angular range for the therapeutic ultrasound energy that avoids the patient's rectum and neurovascular bundles, wherein the therapeutic ultrasound is delivered without temperature feedback data.

A support structure for placement on or about a subject's head supports an ultrasound transducer array configured to deliver transcranial stimulation to a specified region or regions of the subject's brain using pre-recorded neurostimulation data. The pre-recorded neurostimulation data comprises patterns of stimulation of the specified region or regions of the subject's brain or other person's brain developed to recreate a response by one or more of a sensing organ or sensing organs, a vestibular system, and a memory of the subject. A magnetic sensor array is mounted to the support structure and configured to transcranially sense local magnetic fields emanating from the specified region or regions of the subject's brain caused by delivery of the transcranial stimulation and produce contemporaneous neurostimulation data developed using the transcranially sensed local magnetic fields. Electronic circuitry comprising a controller is configured to control operation of the respective arrays.

A thermal ablation includes a thermal ablation apparatus configured to perform thermal ablation on a targeted tissue according to plan data of a treatment during a therapy mode of the thermal ablation system. An MR apparatus is configured to perform T2* weighted MR imaging of the targeted tissue to assess a therapeutic response of the thermal ablation during an assessment mode of the thermal ablation system. A control apparatus is configured to switch the thermal ablation system between the therapy mode and the assessment mode. The thermal ablation apparatus is activated to perform the thermal ablation in the therapy mode. The thermal ablation apparatus is deactivated to terminate the thermal ablation and the MR apparatus is activated to perform the T2* weighted MR imaging in the assessment mode.

An ultrasound phased array integrated in flexible CMOS technology is provided. The CMOS IC chip is fabricated through various chip-thinning techniques, resulting in mechanical flexibility, robustness, and minimized mechanical loading for the piezoelectric transducers. The ultrasound phased array CMOS patch can allow for the generation of high intensity focal regions for maximum penetration in regions of interest.

A method for delivering ultrasound therapy using open-loop controls comprises inserting a distal tip of a therapeutic ultrasound applicator into a patient's urethra, the distal tip including an ultrasound transducer; acquiring ultrasound images of the patient's urethra and prostate with an ultrasound imaging probe; aligning the distal tip of the therapeutic ultrasound applicator with the patient's prostate using the ultrasound images; delivering therapeutic ultrasound energy to the patient's prostate, with the ultrasound transducer, according to a treatment plan, the treatment plan including a predetermined limited angular range for the therapeutic ultrasound energy that avoids the patient's rectum and neurovascular bundles, wherein the therapeutic ultrasound is delivered without temperature feedback data.

An ultrasound system utilizes an array transducer to perform sonothrombolysis treatment. The system also produces a vascular map of flow characteristics in the vicinity of the therapy site in a subject. The vascular map is used to formulate a treatment plan which includes the number, focusing, timing, and steering of beams of a pattern of therapy beams transmitted during a transmission interval. Formulation of the treatment plan considers factors such as the direction of microbubble flow toward a therapy site, the flow velocity, the spacing between successive therapy beam transmissions, the number of therapy beams needed to paint a therapy region, and grating lobe locations, many of which can be determined from the vascular map.

An ultrasound transducer array is incorporated in a light-weight, conformable, and wearable patch that may be used to deliver, monitor, and control localized transcranial focused ultrasound (tFUS). The patch may include full-duplex transmit-receive circuitry that may be used for continuous monitoring of transcranial focused ultrasound (tFUS) application. The circuitry may include a circulator. The ultrasound transducer array may be coupled to an aperture interface having irregularly sized or shaped channel conductors to provide a coarse aperture for the array. The coarse aperture may be designed using a method that provides a reduced channel count.