Soliton, Inc.
RAPID PULSE ELECTROHYDRAULIC (EH) SHOCKWAVE GENERATOR APPARATUS WITH IMPROVED ACOUSTIC WAVEFRONTS

Abstract:

Apparatuses and methods for generating therapeutic compressed acoustic waves (e.g., shock waves) with an improved acoustic wavefront. In the apparatuses, a housing is defined by a chamber and a shockwave outlet, the chamber is configured to be filed with liquid, a plurality of electrodes defining one or more spark gaps and an acoustic reflector can disposed in the chamber, and a pulse generation system configured to apply voltage pulses to the electrodes at a rate of between 10 Hz and 5 MHz. The improved acoustic wavefront is achieved via a free-form acoustic reflector and/or a stable spark gap location. The free-form acoustic reflector is designed according to a disclosed method including iterating reflector shape using spline interpolation based on defined variables. Additionally, a stable spark gap location is achieved via a single servomotor that adjusts both electrodes simultaneously.