Optoacoustic tomography system for image-guided cryotherapy of prostate cancer

Summary / Abstract The objective of this Phase-I SBIR project is to develop a novel transrectal optoacoustic-ultrasonic (OU) imaging system for guiding cryotherapy of prostate cancer via real-time monitoring of ice ball formation and temperature distribution within the area of healthy tissues adjacent to the rectal wall. The proposed system will be capable of (i) non-invasive monitoring of spatial temperature distribution in areas of important innervation around rectal wall during cryotherapy and (ii) monitoring of development of the ice ball boundary. After encouraging additional preliminary studies we decided to restructure our Research Strategy and resubmit this proposal for development of a commercial prototype of the image-guided cryotherapy system andits in vivo evaluation of two canine prostates in the course of treatment. The proposed system will operate in real time and will be capable of imaging the prostate gland and assist in computer-controlled treatment procedure. Current methods of prostate c