Observation of cavitation during shock wave lithotripsy

Abstract

A system was built to detect cavitation in pig kidney during shock wave lithotripsy (SWL) with a Dornier HM3 lithotripter. Active detection, using echo on B-mode ultrasound, and passive cavitation detection (PCD), using coincident signals on confocal, orthogonal receivers, were equally sensitive and were used to interrogate the renal collecting system (urine) and the kidney parenchyma (tissue). Cavitation was detected in urine immediately upon SW administration in urine or urine plus X-ray contrast agent, but in tissue, cavitation required hundreds of SWs to initiate. Localization of cavitation was confirmed by fluoroscopy, sonography, and by thermally marking the kidney using the PCD receivers as high intensity focused ultrasound sources. Cavitation collapse times in tissue and native urine were about the same but less than in urine after injection of X-ray contrast agent. Cavitation, especially in the urine space, was observed to evolve from a sparse field to a dense field with strong acoustic collapse emissions to a very dense field that no longer produced detectable collapse. The finding that cavitation occurs in kidney tissue is a critical step toward determining the mechanisms of tissue injury in SWL. [Work sup ported by NIH (DK43881, DK55674, FIRCA), ONRIFO, CRDF and NSBRI SMS00203.]