Bovine Liver Tissue Research Articles

Rapid multiresidue determination of pesticides in livestock muscle and liver tissue via modified QuEChERS sample preparation and LC-MS/MS

ABSTRACTMany multiresidue methods for the determination of pesticides in vegetables and fruits have been reported to date. However, few such methods have been employed to investigate pesticide residues in animal tissue. In this study, an LC-MS/MS multiresidue method coupled with modified QuEChERS extraction was developed and validated for the investigation of eight pesticide residues: prallethrin (PR), resmethrin (RMT), imidacloprid (IMC), diflubenzuron (DFB), cyromazine (CYR), etofenprox (EFP), dinotefuran (DNT) and phthalthrin (PTLT). This method involves initial extraction in a water/acetone system, the addition of salts and a subsequent extraction/partitioning step and, finally, a clean-up step utilising dispersive solid-phase extraction (SPE). The mean recoveries of seven of the pesticides (the exception being CYR) ranged between 74.7% and 113.5%, and the CVs of the livestock tissue – bovine, swine, and chicken muscle and liver tissue spiked at 10 ng g–1 (50 ng g–1 for RMT and DNT) and 100 ng g–1 – were < 13.8%. The recoveries of CYR in all muscle and liver spiked samples ranged from 56.9% to 78.3%, while those of RMT in swine liver were > 120%. Therefore, this method was considered as being unsuitable for the investigation of these samples. The limits of quantitation (LOQs) of seven of the investigated pesticides (the exception being swine liver) in the tissue samples ranged from 0.9 to 15.2 ng g–1. We therefore concluded that this LC-MS/MS multiresidue method is a valid and suitable for the investigation of seven pesticides in animal tissue, but it is unsuitable for the analysis of CYR in all animal tissues and RMT in swine liver tissue.

Single nucleotide polymorphism discovery in bovine liver using RNA-seq technology.

BackgroundRNA-seq is a useful next-generation sequencing (NGS) technology that has been widely used to understand mammalian transcriptome architecture and function. In this study, a breed-specific RNA-seq experiment was utilized to detect putative single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in liver tissue of young bulls of the Polish Red, Polish Holstein-Friesian (HF) and Hereford breeds, and to understand the genomic variation in the three cattle breeds that may reflect differences in production traits.ResultsThe RNA-seq experiment on bovine liver produced 107,114,4072 raw paired-end reads, with an average of approximately 60 million paired-end reads per library. Breed-wise, a total of 345.06, 290.04 and 436.03 million paired-end reads were obtained from the Polish Red, Polish HF, and Hereford breeds, respectively. Burrows-Wheeler Aligner (BWA) read alignments showed that 81.35%, 82.81% and 84.21% of the mapped sequencing reads were properly paired to the Polish Red, Polish HF, and Hereford breeds, respectively. This study identified 5,641,401 SNPs and insertion and deletion (indel) positions expressed in the bovine liver with an average of 313,411 SNPs and indel per young bull. Following the removal of the indel mutations, a total of 195,3804, 152,7120 and 205,3184 raw SNPs expressed in bovine liver were identified for the Polish Red, Polish HF, and Hereford breeds, respectively. Breed-wise, three highly reliable breed-specific SNP-databases (SNP-dbs) with 31,562, 24,945 and 28,194 SNP records were constructed for the Polish Red, Polish HF, and Hereford breeds, respectively. Using a combination of stringent parameters of a minimum depth of ≥10 mapping reads that support the polymorphic nucleotide base and 100% SNP ratio, 4,368, 3,780 and 3,800 SNP records were detected in the Polish Red, Polish HF, and Hereford breeds, respectively. The SNP detections using RNA-seq data were successfully validated by kompetitive allele-specific PCR (KASPTM) SNP genotyping assay. The comprehensive QTL/CG analysis of 110 QTL/CG with RNA-seq data identified 20 monomorphic SNP hit loci (CARTPT, GAD1, GDF5, GHRH, GHRL, GRB10, IGFBPL1, IGFL1, LEP, LHX4, MC4R, MSTN, NKAIN1, PLAG1, POU1F1, SDR16C5, SH2B2, TOX, UCP3 and WNT10B) in all three cattle breeds. However, six SNP loci (CCSER1, GHR, KCNIP4, MTSS1, EGFR and NSMCE2) were identified as highly polymorphic among the cattle breeds.ConclusionsThis study identified breed-specific SNPs with greater SNP ratio and excellent mapping coverage, as well as monomorphic and highly polymorphic putative SNP loci within QTL/CGs of bovine liver tissue. A breed-specific SNP-db constructed for bovine liver yielded nearly six million SNPs. In addition, a KASPTM SNP genotyping assay, as a reliable cost-effective method, successfully validated the breed-specific putative SNPs originating from the RNA-seq experiments.

Interstitial Laser Photocoagulation Using 980 nm Diode Laser in Benign Thyroid Nodule: A Feasibility Study

The aim of this study was to investigate the feasibility of using 980 nm diode laser for interstitial laser photocoagulation (ILP) before clinical application in benign thyroid nodule treatment. The bovine livers were cut into blocks to irradiate with 980 nm laser through the lumen of a 20-gauge spinal needle using a fiber optic guide. Laser irradiation was performed with the output power of 2 W and 3 W for 60, 120 and 180 seconds respectively. The liver blocks containing lesions were dissected along the axis of the fiber optic tracts and then cut transversely into slices. The thermal effect was evaluated by measuring the dimensions of the zone of coagulation necrosis. We present a case treated with 980 nm diode laser for the benign large thyroid nodule. All the irradiated areas zone measured in the gross specimens were 5.5 mm ± 1.4 mm (2 W, 60 s), 6.9 mm ± 1.4 mm (2 W, 120 s), 7.3 mm ± 0.5 mm (2 W, 180 s), 8.8 mm ± 2.2 mm (3 W, 60 s), 9.2 mm ± 0.8 mm (3 W, 120 s), 12.5 mm ± 4.1 mm (3 W, 180 s) respectively. The transverse diameter was as 5.1 mm ± 0.5 mm (2 W, 60 s), 6.1 mm ± 0.2 mm (2 W, 120 s), 9.9 mm ± 2.5 mm (2 W, 180 s), 6.2 mm ± 1.8 mm (3 W, 60 s), 7.7 mm ± 1.2 mm (3 W, 120 s), 8.8 mm ± 0.7 mm (3 W, 180 s) respectively. ILP was well tolerated and there was no complication. Interstitial laser photocoagulation with 980 nm diode laser induces well-defined tissue ablation correlated with energy parameters in bovine liver tissue and therefore, could be an efficient therapeutic tool in benign thyroid nodular disease.

Effects of Subatmospheric Pressure and Dissolved Oxygen Content on Lesions in Ex Vivo Bovine Livers Induced by High Intensity Focused Ultrasound

This study was aim at investigating the effects of subatmospheric pressure and dissolved oxygen content(DOC) on cavitation in tissue. This experiment put ex vivo bovine liver tissues which were degassed for 60 minutes into three different DOC degassed water, 1.0 mg/L, 1.5 mg/L and 2.0 mg/L, respectively. 1 MHz US with Isp equal to 11700 W/cm2 was used to exposure the degassed bovine livers under two ambient hydrostatic pressure(Pstat), atmospheric pressure(Pstat=1 bar) and subatmospheric pressure(Pstat=0.1 bar), with exposure time of 2 s, exposure depth of 2 cm. The hyperecho in focus before and after HIFU exposure were monitored by B mode ultrasound. The acoustic cavitaion signal was detected by passive cavitation detector (PCD) during the process of exposure. The results showed that the broadband noise under atmospheric pressure were all higher than that under subatmospheric pressure when keep DOC the same. Under atmospheric pressure, evident signals of broadband noise were appeared during HIFU exposure under three DOC condition, meanwhile the hyperecho was found in focus after exposing. Moreover, the intensity of broadband noise signal increased with the increase of DOC. Under subatmospheric pressure, cavitation just occurred under DOC of 2.0 mg/L, and only under DOC of 1.0 mg/L did not found hyperehco in focus. Results also demonstrated that lesions induced by HIFU increased with DOC under two Pstat, but the volume of lesions under atmospheric pressure were all larger than that under subatmospheric pressure when keep DOC the same. 1. The volume of lesion decrease with the decrease of DOC when keep Pstat constant. 2. Subatmospheric pressure would suppress cavitation in biological tissue during HIFU exposure. 3. The homogeneity of lesions in tissue was changed by cavitation.

Confirmation of β-agonist residues in bovine retina and liver using HPLC-MS/MS and evaluation of matrix-dependent problems

ABSTRACTβ-Agonists or β-adrenergic agonists are synthetic drugs sometimes used for therapeutic purposes in veterinary medicine. However, these compounds also belong to a class of illegal growth promoters that decrease the fat content in farm animals. The purpose of this study was to develop an analytical LC-MS/MS confirmatory method for the detection of nine β-agonists in bovine retina and liver tissues. The obtained CCα values ranged from 0.29 to 1.54 µg kg–1 in retina and from 0.03 to 0.18 µg kg–1 in liver, and CCβ values from 0.50 to 2.63 µg kg–1 and from 0.05 to 0.30 µg kg–1, respectively. Additionally, the importance of a matrix effect in these two tissues for the achievement of accurate detection of non-compliant samples was studied and discussed. It was concluded that the main characteristic of this phenomena is its considerable variability from one animal to another. Also, the total amount of matrix in the final extract can provide differences in the matrix-matched calibration line.

Ex Vivo HIFU Experiments Using a $32 \times 32$ -Element CMUT Array.

High-intensity focused ultrasound (HIFU) has been used as noninvasive treatment for various diseases. For these therapeutic applications, capacitive micromachined ultrasonic transducers (CMUTs) have advantages that make them potentially preferred transducers over traditional piezoelectric transducers. In this paper, we present the design and the fabrication process of an 8 ×8 -mm 2 32 ×32 -element 2-D CMUT array for HIFU applications. To reduce the system complexity for addressing the 1024 transducer elements, we propose to group the CMUT array elements into eight HIFU channels based on the phase delay from the CMUT element to the targeted focal point. Designed to focus at an 8-mm depth with a 5-MHz exciting frequency, this grouping scheme was realized using a custom application-specific integrated circuit. With a 40-V dc bias and a 60-V peak-to-peak ac excitation, the surface pressure was measured 1.2 MPa peak-to-peak and stayed stable for a long enough time to create a lesion. With this dc and ac voltage combination, the measured peak-to-peak output pressure at the focus was 8.5 MPa, which is expected to generate a lesion in a minute according to the temperature simulation. The following ex vivo tissue experiments successfully demonstrated its capability to make lesions in both bovine muscle and liver tissue.

The Role of Microsomal Galactose-tissues Specific Lectins from Prostate in Gland Peroxidation

Galactose-specific lectins are proteins with multifunctional properties, modulate cancerogenesis multistep process, and induce the remarkable generation of intracellular hydrogen peroxide. In this data we aim to investigate the effects of galactose-specific lectins isolated from the microsomal fraction of prostate post-operation tissues with different diagnosis in vitro model experiments (bovine liver tissue cells) on some aspects of peroxidation processes as one of the causes of tumor genesis. The beta-galactose-specific lectins were isolated from the microsomal fraction of prostate tissues with different diagnosis: benign prostate hyperplasia with low-grade intraepithelial neoplasia (BPH/LGPIN), high grade intraepithelial neoplasia (HGPIN), atypical adenomatous hyperplasia (AAH) and adenocarcinoma (PC). The molecular weight (60kDa) of lectins found to be similar, but their biological effects are different. The lectin from BPH/LGPIN tissue microsomes did not change the amount of malondyaldehyde (MDA), while the lectin from HGPIN, AAH and PC tissue microsomes induced increasing production of MDA. The lectins from all sources increase the amount of H2O2 in time-dependent manner. These effects are mediated by galactose binding domain of the lectins as are completely abolished by the inclusion of galactose. We proposed that one of the reasons of the revealed changes in the biological properties of lectins induced by alteration in the lectin's carbohydrate moiety structure. There is evidence that the changes of biological properties of prostate galactose-specific lectins are functionally related to development of the metabolic changes during prostate pathogenesis. In view of endoplasmic reticulum in many ways involved in carcinogenesis, we proposed the possible way, the released galactose-specific lectins from damaged microsomes enhances further transformation of prostate tissue by induction of MDA production and generation of free H2O2.

Erosion of soft tissue by focused ultrasound-induced streaming

Mechanical erosion of soft tissues into subcellular debris has been demonstrated with pulsed high-intensity focused ultrasound, facilitated by either boiling or cavitation bubbles. In this work, we propose acoustic streaming as a primary cause of tissue erosion at a tissue-fluid interface. Bovine liver tissue and polyacrylamide gels were sonicated in a degassed water bath, with the focus positioned at the tissue/fluid interface. Pulses with duration between 1 to 104 μs and constant duty cycle of 0.5% were applied from a 1 MHz transducer generating focal pressures |p- | ≤17 MPa and p+ ≤90 MPa. Results showed a strongly nonlinear change in erosion with pulse duration, being greatest for pulse lengths between 50-500 μs. For longer pulses (>1 ms), high-speed videos showed streaming velocities >10 m/s. Moreover, lesions >1cm in depth were produced in tissue phantoms even with a single pulse and tissue disruption was evident where no bubbles were observed at the tissue-fluid interface. Enhancement of erosion was observed with the presence of bubbles not directly adjacent to tissue but along the beam path, possibly due to bubble-enhanced streaming. [Work supported by NIH R01 EB007643, T32 DK007779, K01 DK104854, P01 DK043881, and NSBRI through NASA NCC 9-58.]

Effect of the pulse repetition rate on fiber-assisted tissue ablation

The effect of the pulse repetition rate on ablation performance was evaluated ex vivo at various fiber sweeping speeds for an effective 532-nm laser prostatectomy. Three pulse repetition rates (7.5, 15, and 30 kHz) at 100 W were delivered to bovine liver tissue at three sweeping speeds (2, 4, and 6 mm/s) to achieve bulky tissue removal. Ablation performance was quantitatively compared in terms of the ablation volume and the coagulation thickness. The lowest pulse repetition rate of 7.5 kHz attained the highest ablation volume (101.5 ± 12.0 mm3) and the thinnest coagulation (0.7 ± 0.1 mm) along with superficial carbonization. The highest pulse repetition rate of 30 kHz was associated with the least tissue removal (65.8 ± 5.0 mm3) and the deepest thermal denaturation (1.1 ± 0.2 mm). Quantitative evaluations of laser parameters can be instrumental in facilitating ablation efficiency and maintaining hemostatic coagulation during treatment of large-sized benign prostate hyperplasia.

A multi-residue method for 17 anticoccidial drugs and ractopamine in animal tissues by liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry and time-of-flight mass spectrometry.

A new and sensitive multi-residue liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) and liquid chromatography-quadrupole time-of-flight-mass spectrometry (LC-QToF-MS) method was developed and validated for the determination and confirmation of residues of 17 anticoccidials, plus free ractopamine in poultry muscle and liver, and bovine muscle, liver, and kidney tissues. The 17 anticoccidials are lasalocid, halofuginone, narasin, monensin, semduramicin, ethopabate, robenidine, buquinolate, toltrazuril as its sulfone metabolite, maduramicin, salinomycin, diclazuril, amprolium, decoquinate, dinitolmide, clopidol, and the nicarbazin metabolite DNC (N,N1-bis(4-nitrophenyl)urea). The analytes were extracted and cleaned up within a 3-hour period by simply extracting the analytes into a solvent mixture with salts followed by centrifugation, dilution, and filtration. The validated method was used in a pilot study for the analysis of 173 samples that included quail liver, bovine kidney, liver, muscle, and horse muscle. The predominant residues found in this study were monensin, ractopamine, and lasalocid. The results of this pilot study showed that this new method is applicable to real samples, and is fit for use in a regulatory testing programme. © 2016 Her Majesty the Queen in Right of Canada. Drug Testing and Analysis. © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Dependence of ultrasound echo decorrelation on local tissue temperature during ex vivo radiofrequency ablation

This study investigates echo decorrelation imaging, an ultrasound method for thermal ablation monitoring. The effect of tissue temperature on the mapped echo decorrelation parameter was assessed in radiofrequency ablation experiments performed on ex vivo bovine liver tissue. Echo decorrelation maps were compared with corresponding tissue temperatures simulated using the finite element method. For both echo decorrelation imaging and integrated backscatter imaging, the mapped tissue parameters correlated significantly but weakly with local tissue temperature. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves were used to assess the ability of echo decorrelation and integrated backscatter to predict tissue temperature greater than 40, 60, and 80 °C. Significantly higher area under the ROC curve (AUROC) values were obtained for prediction of tissue temperatures greater than 40, 60, and 80 ° C using echo decorrelation imaging (AUROC and 0.966) compared to integrated backscatter imaging (AUROC and 0.832).

Thermo-mechanical analysis of soft tissue in local hyperthermia treatment

Magnetic fluid hyperthermia is a new subclass of hyperthermia cancer treatment that can selectively heat up a tumor without damaging the surrounding healthy tissues. Some authors studied the temperature distribution of a magnetically mediated tumor assuming a homogeneous distribution of nanoparticles inside the tumor. Viscoelastic behavior of cancerous and healthy tissues have been studied in various articles and many methods have been introduced for computation of physical-mechanical properties of the tissue considering the fact that thermo-mechanical properties of the tissue completely change when the tissue becomes cancerous. Purpose of this study is to investigate thermo-visco-elastic behavior of tumorous and healthy bovine liver tissue. Therefore, the tumor is simulated as a solid sphere having radius denoted as r along with the surrounding healthy tissue. Any discontinuity between cancerous and healthy tissues is neglected. Since the resulting constitutive equations are highly complex, the stress and displacement fields were calculated by using finite difference method. An experimental test was designed to validate numerical results. Numerical results are found to be in good agreement with experimental data and with other references on homogeneous dispersion of nanoparticles.

Characterizing tissue stiffness at the tip of a rigid needle using an opto-mechanical force sensor.

We present a novel device that allows the user to measure the Young Modulus of a material at the opening of a 5 mm diameter needle. The device relies on a miniaturized cantilever spring mounted at the end of the needle and interrogated via Fabry-Pérot optical fiber interferometry. The probe is repetitively brought in and out of contact with the sample at the end of the needle by means of a steel cable that is controlled via a piezoelectric actuator located at the proximal end. We demonstrate the ability of our device to detect and quantify layers of varying stiffness during needle insertion in a gelatin phantom and to successfully locate tissue boundaries in bovine liver tissue embedded in gelatin.

Bayesian calibration of hyperelastic constitutive models of soft tissue

There is inherent variability in the experimental response used to characterize the hyperelastic mechanical response of soft tissues. This has to be accounted for while estimating the parameters in the constitutive models to obtain reliable estimates of the quantities of interest. The traditional least squares method of parameter estimation does not give due importance to this variability. We use a Bayesian calibration framework based on nested Monte Carlo sampling to account for the variability in the experimental data and its effect on the estimated parameters through a systematic probability-based treatment.We consider three different constitutive models to represent the hyperelastic nature of soft tissue: Mooney–Rivlin model, exponential model, and Ogden model. Three stress–strain data sets corresponding to the deformation of agarose gel, bovine liver tissue, and porcine brain tissue are considered. Bayesian fits and parameter estimates are compared with the corresponding least squares values. Finally, we propagate the uncertainty in the parameters to a quantity of interest (QoI), namely the force-indentation response, to study the effect of model form on the values of the QoI. Our results show that the quality of the fit alone is insufficient to determine the adequacy of the model, and due importance has to be given to the maximum likelihood value, the landscape of the likelihood distribution, and model complexity.

Electromagnetic Initiation and Propagation of Bipolar Radiofrequency Tissue Reactions via Invasive Non-Insulated Microneedle Electrodes.

Radiofrequency (RF) energy can be emitted into the skin, either non- or invasively, via a monopolar mode that utilizes an active electrode and a grounded electrode or via a bipolar mode that employs two active electrodes. In this experimental study of RF tissue reactions, bipolar RF energy was emitted in vivo to micropig skin at varying microneedle penetration depths, signal amplitudes, and conduction times. Immediately after RF treatment, skin samples exhibited RF-induced coagulation columns of thermal injury, separately generated around each microneedle in the dermis. In ex vivo bovine liver tissue, the thermal coagulation columns were found to be concentrated maximally around the pointed tips of each electrode. After a RF conduction time of 2 seconds, the individual areas of thermal coagulation began to converge with neighboring RF-induced coagulation columns; the convergence of coagulation columns was found to start from the tips of neighboring electrodes.

Optimization of tissue physical parameters for accurate temperature estimation from finite-element simulation of radiofrequency ablation

Computational finite element models are commonly used for the simulation of radiofrequency ablation (RFA) treatments. However, the accuracy of these simulations is limited by the lack of precise knowledge of tissue parameters. In this technical note, an inverse solver based on the unscented Kalman filter (UKF) is proposed to optimize values for specific heat, thermal conductivity, and electrical conductivity resulting in accurately simulated temperature elevations. A total of 15 RFA treatments were performed on ex vivo bovine liver tissue. For each RFA treatment, 15 finite-element simulations were performed using a set of deterministically chosen tissue parameters to estimate the mean and variance of the resulting tissue ablation. The UKF was implemented as an inverse solver to recover the specific heat, thermal conductivity, and electrical conductivity corresponding to the measured area of the ablated tissue region, as determined from gross tissue histology. These tissue parameters were then employed in the finite element model to simulate the position- and time-dependent tissue temperature. Results show good agreement between simulated and measured temperature.

The localization and differential expression of Serum Amyloid A in bovine liver and adipose tissue depots

In this article the localization of the acute phase protein Serum Amyloid A (SAA) in different depots of bovine adipose tissue (AT) and liver is reported. Quantitative (Real Time) PCR was paired to immunohistochemistry after the production of a specific polyclonal antibody. SAA's mRNA was found in all analyzed AT depots included in the present study, the AT located in the withers being the major source of SAA mRNA. A polyclonal antibody was raised against bovine SAA and was used to validate gene expression analyses. Western Blotting confirmed that SAA is present in all the seven adipose tissue depots include in the present experiment. Anti-SAA polyclonal antibody also stained diffusely adipocytes. In liver, intracytoplasmic immunolabeling was observed in hepatocytes. Staining was generally mild and not diffuse: negative hepatocytes were intermixed with positive ones. A positive intracytoplasmic immunostaining was occasionally observed in endothelial cells lining small blood vessels within AT septa and liver parenchyma. Our data confirm that bovine AT may provide an important source of SAA in healthy subjects. It remains to be determined which is the contribution of AT in the serum concentration of SAA.

Quantum dot imaging in the second near-infrared optical window: studies on reflectance fluorescence imaging depths by effective fluence rate and multiple image acquisition.

Quantum dot (QD) imaging capability was investigated by the imaging depth at a near-infrared second optical window (SOW; 1000 to 1400 nm) using time-modulated pulsed laser excitations to control the effective fluence rate. Various media, such as liquid phantoms, tissues, and in vivo small animals, were used and the imaging depths were compared with our predicted values. The QD imaging depth under excitation of continuous 20 mW/cm(2) laser was determined to be 10.3 mm for 2 wt%hemoglobin phantom medium and 5.85 mm for 1 wt% intralipid phantom, which were extended by more than two times on increasing the effective fluence rate to 2000 mW/cm(2). Bovine liver and porcine skin tissues also showed similar enhancement in the contrast-to-noise ratio (CNR) values. A QD sample was inserted into the abdomen of a mouse.With a higher effective fluence rate, the CNR increased more than twofold and the QD sample became clearly visualized, which was completely undetectable under continuous excitation.Multiple acquisitions of QD images and averaging process pixel by pixel were performed to overcome the thermal noise issue of the detector in SOW, which yielded significant enhancement in the imaging capability, showing up to a 1.5 times increase in the CNR.

A Bayesian approach to selecting hyperelastic constitutive models of soft tissue

Abstract Hyperelastic constitutive models of soft tissue mechanical behavior are extensively used in applications like computer-aided surgery, injury modeling, etc. While numerous constitutive models have been proposed in the literature, an objective method is needed to select a parsimonious model that represents the experimental data well and has good predictive capability. This is an important problem given the large variability in the data inherent to soft tissue mechanical testing. In this work, we discuss a Bayesian approach to this problem based on Bayes factors. We propose a holistic framework for model selection, wherein we consider four different factors to reliably choose a parsimonious model from the candidate set of models. These are the qualitative fit of the model to the experimental data, evidence values, maximum likelihood values, and the landscape of the likelihood function. We consider three hyperelastic constitutive models that are widely used in soft tissue mechanics: Mooney–Rivlin, Ogden and exponential. Three sets of mechanical testing data from the literature for agarose hydrogel, bovine liver tissue, porcine brain tissue are used to calculate the model selection statistics. A nested sampling approach is used to evaluate the evidence integrals. In our results, we highlight the robustness of the proposed Bayesian approach to model selection compared to the likelihood ratio, and discuss the use of the four factors to draw a complete picture of the model selection problem.

Evaluation of Acoustic, Thermal, and Morphological Properties in the Egg White Phantom

The egg white phantom is a thermal lesion visualization phantom able to illustrate a thermal lesion. It is often used to evaluate the performance of HIFU and is less expensive than the BSA phantom. This study determined the optimal phantom composition for evaluated therapeutic ultrasound machines by varying the egg white concentration in the egg white phantom and demonstrated its utility as a therapeutic ultrasound phantom. The egg white phantom at varying egg white concentrations (10-40% in 10% intervals) was fabricated, and its thermal properties and acoustic properties were assessed. In addition, the size and shape of the formed lesion were compared between the egg white phantom and bovine liver tissue according to the electrical power. The results showed that 30% egg white phantom was optimal for the performance evaluation due to its thermal and acoustic properties. The generated thermal lesions formed sequentially as a cigar, ellipse, tadpole, and cone shapes according to the electrical power; a similar tendency was observed in the liver tissue. Hence, we conclude that the egg white phantom will prove useful in quantitatively evaluating the thermal effects of therapeutic ultrasound.