QUANTIFICATION OF ACOUSTIC CAVITATION PRODUCED BY A CLINICAL EXTRACORPOREAL SHOCK WAVE THERAPY SYSTEM USING A PASSIVE CYLINDRICAL DETECTOR

Abstract

Acoustic cavitation is regarded to play an important role in extracorporeal shock wave therapy (ESWT). However it is not yet well characterized the cavitation in ESWT due to difficulty in its measurement. This study tests NPL cavitation sensor to discuss its potential to quantify cavitation activities produced by a clinical shock wave field. In the present experiment, the sensor was located at the focus of an electromagentic shock wave generator (HnT Medical System, Korea). Measurements were repeated 15 times as varying setting numbers. It was observed that the acoustic signals recorded by the sensor contain characteristic features of broadband spikes representing cavitation. Spectral band magnitude (SBM), used as a cavitation measure, rose with the setting number. There was a threshold above which SBM soared up and had its uncertainty greately increased. The results prove the potential of the sensor in characterizing the cavitation produced by shock wave fields.