Abstract
In this study, we propose a quality control program for MR‐guided focused ultrasound (FUS) ablation treatment to assess FUS beam positioning accuracy, FUS power delivery accuracy, MR imaging quality, and FUS ablation system safety. A total of 353 sonication points in Lucite cards were measured, the average placement errors were –0.06 mm in the SI direction and –0.04 mm in the LR direction. Temperature elevation was calculated from MR phase difference images and the measured water proton chemical shift (WPCS) temperature coefficient. WPCS temperature calibration for phantoms yielded a temperature coefficient of 0.011 ppm/°C. Sixteen experiments were conducted using six different phantoms to test the reliability of FUS power delivery. SNR and RF power calculated from phantom images were analyzed and stored at the MR console. A computer program was developed to integrate the system power delivery and the MR image quality control into one automated process. In the clinical trial at our institution, we expect this quality control program to be carried out before each patient treatment. If measured quality control values exceeds or below the preset values, a system service and retest should be conducted before the treatment.PACS number(s): 87.61.–c, 87.54.–n
Highlights
Focused ultrasoundFUSablation has been proposed as a noninvasive treatment method decades ago, and has been studied experimentally and clinically in various applications
Considering the high-temperature elevation involved in the procedure, and the accuracy and reliability requirement for the procedure, it is crucial to establish a quality control program to assure the safety and effectiveness of this treatment method
If the measured temperature value for a test falls beyond the tolerance range, a system warning will be given, and system inspection and retest should be conducted before patient treatment
Summary
Focused ultrasoundFUSablation has been proposed as a noninvasive treatment method decades ago, and has been studied experimentally and clinically in various applications. The recent developments in MR temperature imaging technique have made it possible to monitor the treatment process in near real time.1–7 Both ex vivo and in vivo animal studies have shown that it is feasible to coagulate tissue using MR-guided FUS ablation.. Considering the high-temperature elevation involved in the procedure, and the accuracy and reliability requirement for the procedure, it is crucial to establish a quality control program to assure the safety and effectiveness of this treatment method. We propose a quality control program for FUS ablation treatment. It includes FUS focus positioning accuracy testing, FUS power delivery testing, MR scanner imaging quality testing, and FUS system safety inspection. When the card was used, it was placed at the focal plane of the focused ultrasound transducer
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