Brain

Implementation of a Skull-Conformal Phased Array for Transcranial Focused Ultrasound Therapy

Author(s)3: Chris Adams, Ryan M. Jones, Steven D. Yang, Wai Meng Kan, Kogee Leung, Yuheng Zhou, Kang Uk Lee, Yuexi Huang, Kullervo Hynynen
Implementation of a Skull-Conformal Phased Array for Transcranial Focused Ultrasound Therapy 170 177 IEEE Transactions on Biomedical Engineering (TBME)
This work aims to improve on the patient comfort and reduce the reliance on intraoperative magnetic resonance image (MRI) guidance for transcranial focused ultrasound therapy. We present a technique for the automated design of a scaffold to house re-usable ultrasound transducers. The scaffold can be optimised for patient-specific brain targets and to conform to the patient’s head. We demonstrated the feasibility of our system by way of numerical simulations and in-vivo testing in rodents. Our results demonstrated that the device could achieve focus through the human skull and safely open the blood-brain-barrier. Skull-conformal phased arrays stand to improve patient comfort and have the potential to accelerate the adoption of transcranial FUS therapy by improving access to the technology. read more