A modular sparse hemispherical transmit/receive phased array for microbubble-mediated MR-guided focused ultrasound brain therapy

MRI is commonly employed to assess microbubble-mediated focused ultrasound (FUS) treatment outcomes, but is restricted to post-treatment evaluations due to its low temporal resolution. Here, we describe a modular sparse hemispherical transmit/receive phased array for microbubble-mediated FUS brain therapy and simultaneous 3D passive cavitation imaging (PCI) for real-time intraoperative treatment monitoring and control. The device was evaluated via MR-guided FUS experiments in rabbits. The utility of 3D PCI in calibrating FUS exposure levels and predicting MRI-inferred tissue damage volume distributions resulting from high target level sonications was demonstrated.