Millisecond initiation of boiling by high-intensity focused ultrasound in tissue-mimicking phantoms

Abstract

Nonlinear propagation effects leading to shock formation at the focus of high-intensity focused ultrasound (HIFU) treatments can accelerate heating and cause rapid boiling in tissue. Boiling can be utilized for targeting the treatment with B-mode ultrasound and should be taken into account when planning the treatment, because bubbles reflect ultrasound and thereby displace and distort the lesion shape. In these experiments, an HIFU transducer of 2-MHz frequency, 4-cm aperture, and 4.5-cm focal length was used to investigate heating effects from shock formation in tissue-mimicking phantoms. The time required to attain 100<th>°C at the focus was calculated with weak shock theory from the peak amplitudes calculated with a KZK-type model, and time to boiling was measured by high-speed video and a 20–MHz passive cavitation detector (PCD) for different values of phantom absorption (both lower than tissue absorption) and HIFU power (100–200 W). Boiling was observed in 3 ms at the highest power level used by the observation of visible bubbles and by a significant change in the PCD time signal and spectrum. [Work supported by NIH DK43881, NSBRI SMS00402, and RFBR.]