Experimental Verification of Modeled Thermal Distribution Produced by a Piston Source in Physiotherapy Ultrasound.

Objectives. To present a quantitative comparison of thermal patterns produced by the piston-in-a-baffle approach with those generated by a physiotherapy ultrasonic device and to show the dependency among thermal patterns and acoustic intensity distributions. Methods. The finite element (FE) method was used to model an ideal acoustic field and the produced thermal pattern to be compared with the experimental acoustic and temperature distributions produced by a real ultrasonic applicator. A thermal model using the measured acoustic profile as input is also presented for comparison. Temperature measurements were carried out with thermocouples inserted in muscle phantom. The insertion place of thermocouples was monitored with ultrasound imaging. Results. Modeled and measured thermal profiles were compared within the first 10 cm of depth. The ideal acoustic field did not adequately represent the measured field having different temperature profiles (errors 10% to 20%). Experimental field was concentrated near the transducer producing a region with higher temperatures, while the modeled ideal temperature was linearly distributed along the depth. The error was reduced to 7% when introducing the measured acoustic field as the input variable in the FE temperature modeling. Conclusions. Temperature distributions are strongly related to the acoustic field distributions.

Modeling the thermo-acoustic effects of thermal-dependent speed of sound and acoustic absorption of biological tissues during focused ultrasound hyperthermia.

PURPOSE: To evaluate the effects of thermal dependence of speed of sound (SOS) and acoustic absorption of biological tissues during noninvasive focused ultrasound (US) hyperthermia therapy. METHODS: A finite element (FE) model was used to simulate hyperthermia therapy in the liver by noninvasive focused US. The model consisted of an ultrasonic focused transducer radiating a four-layer biological medium composed of skin, fat, muscle, and liver. The acoustic field and temperature distribution along the layers were obtained after 15 s of hyperthermia therapy using the bio-heat equation. The model solution was found with and without the thermal dependence of SOS and acoustic absorption of biological tissues. RESULTS: The inclusion of the thermal dependence of the SOS generated an increment of 0.4 mm in the longitudinal focus axis of the acoustic field. Moreover, results indicate an increment of the hyperthermia area (zone with temperature above 43 °C), and a maximum temperature difference of almost 3.5 °C when the thermal dependence of absorption was taken into account. CONCLUSION: The increment of the achieved temperatures at the treatment zone indicated that the effects produced by the thermal dependence of SOS and absorption must be accounted for when planning hyperthermia treatment in order to avoid overheating undesired regions.