Methods for imaging and ablating tissue

Abstract

Methods for ablating body tissue include providing an ablation device having a single ultrasound transducer; positioning the ultrasound transducer in proximity to a body tissue; controlling the ultrasound transducer to emit an ultrasound beam; and collecting amplitude mode (A-mode) ultrasound information along a sensing pattern traversed by the ultrasound beam. A 3D anatomical reference map of the body tissue is created from the A-mode ultrasound information. A graphical user interface is generated and shown on a display, wherein the graphical user interface comprises the 3D anatomical reference map and a window showing data. The data includes a distance between the ultrasound transducer and a surface of the body tissue. The method also includes identifying a target tissue on the 3D anatomical reference map; ablating the target tissue with the ultrasound transducer to create a lesion; and monitoring a lesion depth in real-time during the ablating, using the A-mode ultrasound information.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A method for ablating body tissue, the method comprising:
 providing an ablation device having a single ultrasound transducer;   positioning the ultrasound transducer in proximity to a body tissue;   controlling the ultrasound transducer to emit an ultrasound beam;   collecting amplitude mode (A-mode) ultrasound information along a sensing pattern traversed by the ultrasound beam on the body tissue;   creating a three-dimensional (3D) anatomical reference map of the body tissue from the A-mode ultrasound information;   generating a graphical user interface shown on a display, wherein the graphical user interface comprises the 3D anatomical reference map and a window showing data, the data including a distance between the ultrasound transducer and a surface of the body tissue;   identifying a target tissue on the 3D anatomical reference map;   ablating the target tissue with the ultrasound transducer to create a lesion; and   monitoring a lesion depth of the lesion in real-time during the ablating, using the A-mode ultrasound information from the ultrasound transducer.   
     
     
         2 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the target tissue is a tumor. 
     
     
         3 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the graphical user interface further comprises:
 displaying a lesion location superimposed on the 3D anatomical reference map; and   displaying a position of the ablation device relative to the body tissue.   
     
     
         4 . The method of  claim 3 , wherein the graphical user interface includes displaying a zone of spatial uncertainty of the lesion location. 
     
     
         5 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the data in the window of the graphical user interface includes a tissue thickness. 
     
     
         6 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the distance is displayed in the graphical user interface as a two-dimensional graph along the sensing pattern. 
     
     
         7 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising planning an ablation zone on the identified target tissue. 
     
     
         8 . The method of  claim 7 , wherein the planning comprises determining ablation parameters including an energy density and a lesion creation time. 
     
     
         9 . The method of  claim 7 , further comprising:
 identifying a region of questionable lesion formation;   re-planning the ablation zone; and   re-ablating the target tissue.   
     
     
         10 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the sensing pattern is a spiral pattern. 
     
     
         11 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the 3D anatomical reference map identifies a volume of tissue. 
     
     
         12 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein progress of the ablating is displayed on the graphical user interface. 
     
     
         13 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the 3D anatomical reference map is a color map to depict an ablation range of the ablation device. 
     
     
         14 . The method of  claim 13 , wherein the ablation range includes an in-therapy range and an out-of-therapy range. 
     
     
         15 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the graphical user interface further comprises displaying at least one of: an angle of incidence, an effective tissue thickness, or a tissue property. 
     
     
         16 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the graphical user interface further includes displaying collateral tissue that is not intended for ablation. 
     
     
         17 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the 3D anatomical reference map is a static map or dynamic map of the body tissue. 
     
     
         18 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the graphical user interface further includes displaying user-demarcated regions of interest. 
     
     
         19 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising registering the 3D anatomical reference map with a CT or MRI map. 
     
     
         20 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising performing a post-ablation scan to characterize the lesion.