Characterisation of Elastic and Acoustic Properties of an Agar-Based Tissue Mimicking Material.

As a first step towards an acoustic localisation device for coronary stenosis to provide a non-invasive means of diagnosing arterial disease, measurements are reported for an agar-based tissue mimicking material (TMM) of the shear wave propagation velocity, attenuation and viscoelastic constants, together with one dimensional quasi-static elastic moduli and Poisson's ratio. Phase velocity and attenuation coefficients, determined by generating and detecting shear waves piezo-electrically in the range 300 Hz-2 kHz, were 3.2-7.5 ms(-1) and 320 dBm(-1). Quasi-static Young's modulus, shear modulus and Poisson's ratio, obtained by compressive or shear loading of cylindrical specimens were 150-160 kPa; 54-56 kPa and 0.37-0.44. The dynamic Young's and shear moduli, derived from fitting viscoelastic internal variables by an iterative statistical inverse solver to freely oscillating specimens were 230 and 33 kPa and the corresponding relaxation times, 0.046 and 0.036 s. The results were self-consistent, repeatable and provide baseline data required for the computational modelling of wave propagation in a phantom.

Sensiprobe--a miniature thermal device incorporating Peltier technology as a diagnostic tool for studying human oesophageal sensitivity.

Heightened perception of gastrointestinal sensation is termed visceral hypersensitivity (VH) and is commonly observed in patients with gastrointestinal disorders. VH is thought to be a major contributory factor in oesophageal disease, particularly gastro-oesophageal reflux disease that does not respond to standard (proton pump inhibitor) treatment, and in functional heartburn. Clinical tools that can help phenotype according to the mechanism of chronic pain and thus allow targeted drug treatment (e.g. with pain modulator therapy) would be very desirable. A technique that produces repeatable and controllable thermal stimuli within the oesophagus could meet this need. The aims of this study were to develop a method for linear control of the heat stimulation in the oesophagus, to assess the reproducibility of this method, and obtain normal thermal sensitivity values in the distal and proximal oesophagus. The 7 mm diameter Peltier-based thermal device was investigated on 27 healthy subjects using a heating ramp of 0.2 °C s(-1). The pain detection threshold (PDT) temperature was recorded. To assess the reproducibility of the device, each subject underwent the procedure twice, with a minimum of two weeks between each procedure. The mean PDT temperature measured in the distal oesophagus, was 53.8 ± 2.9 °C and 53.6 ± 2.6 °C, for visits 1 and 2 respectively. The mean PDT temperature measured in the proximal oesophagus was 54.1 ± 2.4 °C and 54.0 ± 2.8 °C, for visits 1 and 2 respectively. The reproducibility of the PDT temperature in the distal and proximal oesophagus, was good (intra-class correlation >0.6). Future studies should be aimed to determine whether oesophageal thermal sensitivity can act as a biomarker of transient receptor potential vallanoid 1 upregulation.

Comparison of simulated and experimental results from helical antennas within a muscle-equivalent phantom.

Miniature microwave helical antennas for use in thermal therapy applications are usually investigated using muscle-equivalent phantoms. In this paper, an alternative method using an electromagnetic solver based on the finite integration technique is used to simulate a range of 915 MHz helical antennas within a medium with the dielectric properties of muscle. By avoiding the stair-casing effect associated with many solvers, this method enables accurate simulations of non-orthogonal geometric objects such as helical antennas to be achieved. The effects of coil-spacing and insertion depth on the SAR distribution produced by the antennas were characterized and showed good agreement with previously published results obtained using a muscle phantom and a thermographic camera. The simulations confirm that the performance of helical antennas depends on insertion depth. Modification of the coil density demonstrated improvement of the return loss characteristics and changes to the resulting SAR profile.

Preliminary findings from tests of a microwave applicator designed to treat Barrett's oesophagus.

Barrett's oesophagus is considered to increase the risk of cancer 30-fold. Helical microwave antennas have been developed for ablative treatment of Barrett's. A microwave balloon applicator was tested in an initial animal study using adult white pigs. For treatment, a balloon filled with tissue-equivalent material encapsulated the antenna. A range of different treatment temperatures and durations was used to investigate a range of thermal ablations of the oesophageal epithelium. Eight animals were investigated, five non-survival and three with a 1-week survival period. The balloon was fitted with an array of temperature sensors, which gave an indication of the treatment in situ and allowed modifications to be performed in real time. Temperature data were recorded from all four quadrants of the balloon throughout and test sites were collected and analysed histologically. All experiments were successfully completed without perforation, serious adverse effects or death. Sites of discrete ulceration were induced in the survival tests, whereas the non-survival tests yielded little reproducible tissue modification. Results suggested that an activation temperature of approximately 55 degrees C needed to be reached during the treatment for tissue damage to be induced. Once damage had been triggered the severity was related to the mean temperature attained during the treatment period. A mean temperature of 52 degrees C or more resulted in substantial damage, whilst a mean temperature of approximately 50 degrees C resulted in the desired surface damage with sparing of subjacent tissues.

Effect of insertion depth on helical antenna performance in a muscle-equivalent phantom.

Barrett's oesophagus is considered to increase the risk of cancer 30 fold. A set of helical microwave antennas was designed to investigate their potential use in the thermal therapy of Barrett's oesophagus. For treatment, a balloon filled with muscle-equivalent material encapsulates the antenna. The effects of insertion depth and coil-spacing on the thermal distribution produced by the antennas (20-35 mm) were characterized. The 35 mm helical antenna, with a coil-spacing of 3.6 mm resulted in uniform heating for an insertion depth of 40 mm. It was observed that the resultant temperature distribution produced, by the antennas, was dependent on the insertion depth within the phantom. For all antennas studied, deeper insertion resulted in two high intensity regions, approximately 1/4 and 3/4 along the antenna length. In contrast, shallow insertion resulted in predominant tip heating with undesirable heating at the phantom entry point. However, by manipulating the coil-spacing of the helix, uniform temperature profiles were achieved for a range of insertion depths.