Rotating dual-mode ultrasonic transducer for high intensity ultrasound treatment and high-resolution imaging

Ultrasound-guided high intensity focused ultrasound (HIFU) treatment has been studied to determine accurate positions of the regions to be treated and to monitor its treated volume. However, in most cases, ultrasound images did not offer an acceptable spatial resolution or exact matching between obtained images and treated volume. We present a rotating dual-mode ultrasonic transducer that consists of elements for imaging and therapy, and both of them are integrated in a single housing. The 5.3 MHz transducer was developed for HIFU, and the 20 MHz transducer was for ultrasound B-mode imaging. The transducer can be used for each purpose by simply rotating the integrated housing.