Systems and methods for cosmetic ultrasound treatment of skin

Abstract

Embodiments of a dermatological cosmetic treatment and/or imaging system and method adapted for dithering ultrasound beams from a transducer to alter placement and position of one or multiple cosmetic treatment zones in tissue, simultaneous multi-focus therapy using multi-channel signal mixing, and/or dithering ultrasound beams from a transducer to alter placement and position of one or multiple cosmetic treatment zones in tissue, configured for using imaging for improved ultrasound therapy efficacy, and/or adapted for imaging with multiple focal zone sequencing and triggering for mechanically translated and/or steered ultrasound transducers are provided herein. The system can include a hand wand, a removable transducer module, and a control module. In some embodiments, the cosmetic treatment system may be used in various cosmetic procedures.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . An ultrasound treatment system for dithering multiple simultaneous focus points from an ultrasound transducer, comprising:
 an ultrasonic probe comprising an ultrasound transducer with a single transduction element adapted to simultaneously apply ultrasonic therapy to tissue at a plurality of spaced locations at a focal depth,   wherein the ultrasound transducer is poled with at least a first poling configuration and a second poling configuration,   a control module coupled to the ultrasonic probe for controlling the ultrasound transducer,   wherein the control module modifies the spacing between the spaced locations via dithering of a first focal zone and a second focal zone, such that dithering via modulation of a frequency precisely moves a position of a beam focus point at the spaced locations.   
     
     
         2 . The treatment system of  claim 1 , wherein the plurality of locations are positioned in a linear sequence within a cosmetic treatment zone, wherein the spaced locations are separated with a spacing dithered via a frequency swing. 
     
     
         3 . The treatment system of  claim 1 , wherein a first set of locations is positioned within a first cosmetic treatment zone and a second set of locations is positioned within a second cosmetic treatment zone, the first zone being different from the second zone. 
     
     
         4 . The treatment system of  claim 1 , wherein the ultrasound transducer is adapted to apply ultrasonic therapy using amplitude modulation whereby a plurality of portions of the ultrasound transducer are adapted to emit ultrasonic therapy at a plurality of amplitudes of acoustic intensity, wherein a first amplitude is different than a second amplitude. 
     
     
         5 . The treatment system of  claim 4 , wherein at least one portion of the ultrasonic transducer is adapted to emit ultrasonic therapy at two or more amplitudes of acoustic intensity, and wherein the amplitude of ultrasonic therapy emitted by the at least one portion of the piezoelectric varies over time. 
     
     
         6 . The treatment system of  claim 4 , wherein the ultrasound transducer comprises piezoelectric material and the plurality of portions of the ultrasound transducer are adapted to create a plurality of corresponding piezoelectric material variations in response to an electric field applied to the ultrasound transducer. 
     
     
         7 . The treatment system of  claim 6 , wherein the plurality of piezoelectric material variations comprise at least one of expansion of the piezoelectric material and contraction of the piezoelectric material. 
     
     
         8 . The treatment system of  claim 1 , wherein the ultrasound transducer is adapted to apply ultrasonic therapy via phase shifting whereby a plurality of portions of the ultrasound transducer are adapted to emit ultrasonic therapy at a plurality of phases of acoustic intensity, wherein a first phase is different than a second phase. 
     
     
         9 . The treatment system of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 an ultrasound imaging transducer in the ultrasonic probe adapted for imaging the tissue, and   a motion mechanism for moving the ultrasound imaging transducer in a first direction and a second direction,   wherein the ultrasound imaging transducer is mechanically attached to the motion mechanism,   wherein the ultrasound imaging transducer images with a focal zone sequence order (f 1 , . . . , f N ), where N>1 when travelling in the first direction,   wherein the ultrasound imaging transducer images with a second focal zone sequence order (f 1 , . . . , f N ) when travelling in the second direction,   wherein a spatial registration between the first direction imaging and the second direction imaging is improved by staggering a triggering location,   wherein the ultrasound treatment and imaging system employs a directionally dependent focal zone sequencing on consecutive A-lines;   wherein the control module is further configured for controlling the ultrasound imaging transducer.   
     
     
         10 . The treatment system of  claim 1 , wherein the ultrasound transducer is adapted to:
 apply ultrasonic therapy using amplitude modulation whereby a plurality of portions of the ultrasound transducer are adapted to emit ultrasonic therapy at a plurality of amplitudes of acoustic intensity, wherein a first amplitude is different than a second amplitude; and   apply ultrasonic therapy whereby a plurality of portions of the ultrasound transducer are adapted to emit ultrasonic therapy at a plurality of phases of acoustic intensity, wherein a first phase is different than a second phase.   
     
     
         11 . An ultrasound treatment system configured for generating multiple simultaneous focus points from an ultrasound transducer, comprising:
 an ultrasonic probe comprising an ultrasound transducer with a multiple transduction elements adapted to simultaneously apply ultrasonic therapy to tissue at a plurality of spaced locations,   wherein each transduction element comprises a channel wherein the ultrasonic probe has a geometric focus;   wherein the ultrasonic probe has a first electronic focus; and   wherein the ultrasonic probe has a second electronic focus;   a control module coupled to the ultrasonic probe for controlling the ultrasound transducer,   wherein the control module modifies the spacing between the spaced locations via dithering of a first focal zone and a second focal zone, such that dithering via an excitation function that moves a position of a beam focus point at the spaced locations.   
     
     
         12 . The treatment system of  claim 11 , wherein the ultrasound transducer is adapted to apply ultrasonic therapy whereby a plurality of portions of the ultrasound transducer are adapted to emit ultrasonic therapy at a plurality of amplitudes of acoustic intensity, wherein a first amplitude is different than a second amplitude. 
     
     
         13 . The treatment system of  claim 12 , wherein at least one portion of the ultrasonic transducer is adapted to emit ultrasonic therapy at two or more amplitudes of acoustic intensity, and wherein the amplitude of ultrasonic therapy emitted by the at least one portion of the piezoelectric varies over time. 
     
     
         14 . The treatment system of  claim 12 , wherein the ultrasound transducer comprises piezoelectric material and the plurality of portions of the ultrasound transducer are adapted to create a plurality of corresponding piezoelectric material variations in response to an electric field applied to the ultrasound transducer. 
     
     
         15 . The treatment system of  claim 11 , wherein the ultrasound transducer is adapted to apply ultrasonic therapy via phase shifting whereby a plurality of portions of the ultrasound transducer are adapted to emit ultrasonic therapy at a plurality of phases of acoustic intensity, wherein a first phase is different than a second phase. 
     
     
         16 . An ultrasound treatment and imaging system, comprising:
 an ultrasonic probe comprising an ultrasound therapy transducer adapted to apply ultrasonic therapy to tissue, an ultrasound imaging transducer adapted for imaging the tissue, and an acoustic window,   wherein the ultrasound imaging transducer comprises an annular imaging array;   wherein the ultrasound imaging transducer comprises a plurality of transmit channels;   wherein the ultrasound imaging transducer comprises a plurality of receive channels;   wherein the ultrasound imaging transducer is configured for focusing at a location proximate the ultrasound imaging transducer with respect to a distance between the ultrasound imaging transducer and the acoustic window; and   a control module coupled to the ultrasonic probe for controlling the ultrasound imaging transducer,   wherein the ultrasound imaging transducer is configured to interrogate more than 40% of the acoustic window.   
     
     
         17 . The ultrasound treatment and imaging system of  claim 16 , wherein an imaging beam width from the ultrasound imaging transducer is at least 20% the cross-sectional size of a therapy beam width from the ultrasound therapy transducer. 
     
     
         18 . The ultrasound treatment and imaging system of  claim 16 , further comprising:
 a motion mechanism for moving the ultrasound imaging transducer in a first direction and a second direction,   wherein the ultrasound imaging transducer is mechanically attached to the motion mechanism,   wherein the ultrasound imaging transducer images with a focal zone sequence order (f 1 , . . . , f N ), where N>1 when travelling in the first direction,   wherein the ultrasound imaging transducer images with a second focal zone sequence order (f 1 , . . . , f N ) when travelling in the second direction,   wherein a spatial registration between the first direction imaging and the second direction imaging is improved by staggering a triggering location,   wherein the ultrasound treatment and imaging system employs a directionally dependent focal zone sequencing on consecutive A-lines.   
     
     
         19 . The ultrasound treatment and imaging system of  claim 16 , wherein a coupling of the imaging of the ultrasound imaging transducer provides an indication of the coupling for the treatment by the ultrasound therapy transducer. 
     
     
         20 . The ultrasound treatment and imaging system of  claim 16 , wherein the control module controls the ultrasound imaging transducer for vector imaging.