Safety Enhancement for the Non-Invasive Ultrasound Theragnostic System

Abstract

We propose a non-invasive ultrasound theragnostic system that tracks movement in an affected area (kidney stones, in this study) by irradiating it with high-intensity focused ultrasound (HIFU). In this paper, the concept behind a novel medical support system that integrates therapy and diagnostics (theragnostics), is illustrated. The required functions for the proposed system are discussed and an overview of the constructed system configuration is illustrated. Problems of stone motion tracking by ultrasonography are described. To overcome with this problem, we should take 2 approaches. The first approach is to minimize the servoing error to enhance both the efficiency of the therapy and the safety of the patient. The second approach is to reduce the effect of the servoing error. Concerning the first approach, we showed 2 solutions. One is robust detection of the stone position by shape information. Another is the controller that compensates for periodic motion of the affected area. Concerning the second approach, we propse a solution to control HIFU irradiation power in accordance with the servoing error, mainly to enhance the safety of the patient.