Study of a dual-mode array integrated in a multi-element transducer for imaging and therapy of prostate cancer

The development of endocavitary dual-mode probes is essential for the accurate treatment of many deep-seated cancers, which require a high imaging resolution and the capacity to selectively treat focal areas in the region of interest. The MULTIP project is aimed at using state-of-art piezoelectric technologies to design dual-mode ultrasonic probes for cancer-foci treatment and monitoring. In order to allow an efficient surgery planning, the technical study has been accompanied by a volume processing study permitting the design of the ultrasonic imaging/therapy process based on high-resolution–high-quality MRI images. Several prototypes were designed based on a simulation study and implemented: 1) two successive wide-band dual-mode transducer allowing imaging at high-resolution (6 MHz) on a wide field of view, and therapy at 3 MHz with a good transduction efficiency (48% and 70%); 2) a therapy-only transducer matrix adapted to the desired curvature with a high transduction efficiency (70%). Finally, a registration study of MRI volumes on ultrasound volumes has shown that, because of the texture of the ultrasound images, it is more efficient to search at registering the surfaces of the volumes once they have been segmented in each modality, rather than trying to register the two data volumes directly.