The verasonics platform for ultrasound-guided focused ultrasound preclinical studies

Verasonics, in partnership with Sonic Concepts (Bothell, WA, USA), has developed a turnkey platform for Ultrasound-Guided Focused Ultrasound (USgFUS) therapy with performance over a wide range of acoustic regimes. Built around the Verasonics Vantage HIFU ultrasound research system, it uses a 150 mm diameter, f1 HIFU transducer with 64 (0.5 MHz) or 128 (1.1 and 2 MHz) elements arranged in a spiral pattern that produce a highly focused field with low sidelobes over a 3D steering volume. Guidance and monitoring are provided by a coaxially mounted 128-element broadband phased array imaging transducer that can be rotated about the HIFU axis. Coupling to the subject is achieved by means of a membrane sealed water-filled cone through which degassed and temperature regulated water is circulated. The USgFUS applicator is mounted on an articulated arm that can be mechanically locked with a button actuated servo mechanism. Graphical software enables a conventional therapeutic workflow including imaging with any of several B-Mode and Doppler modalities, positioning of the applicator, focal zone exposure planning, therapy delivery, interleaved ultrasound monitoring using any supplied imaging mode or with Thermal Strain Imaging (TSI), and post-therapy imaging. This talk will describe the platform and provide examples of its capabilities using experiments in scattering phantoms and ex vivo tissues.