Multi-Angle Switched HIFU: A New Ultrasound Device for Controlled Non-Invasive Induction of Small Spherical Ablation Zones-Simulation and Ex-Vivo Results

Current HIFU devices produce elongated elliptical lesions (cigar shaped) in a single energy deposition. This prohibits the effective use of HIFU in small animal research as well as in clinical treatment where small volumes of tissue surrounded by critical structures need to be destroyed. We developed an ultrasound ablation device that non-invasively creates spheroidal lesions of an arbitrary diameter of up to 1 cm in a depth of up to 5 cm. The device consists of two focused ultrasound transducers aimed to the ablation target volume from two directions at a 90 degree angle. The operation of the transducers is switched back and forth so that only one transducer is energized at a time. A transient analysis of this ablation approach was performed using coupled simulations of acoustical pressure distributions, resulting temperature distributions, and thermal dose deposited to soft tissue. A prototype of the device was developed and tested in-vitro in a phantom and later in ex-vivo experiments in pig liver. The experimental results agreed with the numerical simulations and confirmed the ability of the multi-angle switched HIFU (MASH) device to create small spheroidal lesions in soft tissue within 2 minutes without significantly affecting the surrounding tissues.