Investigation of bubble dynamics and heating during focused ultrasound insonation in tissue-mimicking materials

The deposition of ultrasonic energy in tissue can cause tissue damage due to local heating. For pressures above a critical threshold, cavitation will occur in tissue and bubbles will be created. These oscillating bubbles can induce a much larger thermal energy deposition in the local region. Traditionally, clinicians and researchers have not exploited this bubble-enhanced heating since cavitation behavior is erratic and very difficult to control. The present work is an attempt to control and utilize this bubble-enhanced heating. First, by applying appropriate bubble dynamic models, limits on the asymptotic bubble size distribution are obtained for different driving pressures at 1 MHz. The size distributions are bounded by two thresholds: the bubble shape instability threshold and the rectified diffusion threshold. The growth rate of bubbles in this region is also given, and the resulting time evolution of the heating in a given insonation scenario is modeled. In addition, some experimental results have been obtained to investigate the bubble-enhanced heating in an agar and graphite based tissue- mimicking material. Heating as a function of dissolved gas concentrations in the tissue phantom is investigated. Bubble-based contrast agents are introduced to investigate the effect on the bubble-enhanced heating, and to control the initial bubble size distribution. The mechanisms of cavitation-related bubble heating are investigated, and a heating model is established using our understanding of the bubble dynamics. By fitting appropriate bubble densities in the ultrasound field, the peak temperature changes are simulated. The results for required bubble density are given. Finally, a simple bubbly liquid model is presented to estimate the shielding effects which may be important even for low void fraction during high intensity focused ultrasound (HIFU) treatment

Ring-based ultrasonic virtual point detector with applications to photoacoustic tomography

[[abstract]]An ultrasonic virtual point detector is constructed using the center of a ring transducer. The virtual point detector provides ideal omnidirectional detection free of any aperture effect. Compared with a real point detector, the virtual one has lower thermal noise and can be scanned with its center inside a physically inaccessible medium. When applied to photoacoustic tomography, the virtual point detector provides both high spatial resolution and high signal-to-noise ratio. It can also be potentially applied to other ultrasound-related technologies. (c) 2007 American Institute of Physics.[[fileno]]2030143010024[[department]]電機工程學

Detection of cocaine induced rat brain activation by photoacoustic tomography

Photoacoustic tomography (PAT) was used to detect the progressive changes on the cerebral cortex of Sprague Dawley rats after the administration of cocaine hydrochloride. Different concentrations (0, 2.5, and 5.0 mg per kg body) of cocaine hydrochloride in saline solution were injected into Sprague Dawley rats through tail veins. Cerebral cortex images of the animals were continuously acquired by PAT. For continuous observation, PAT system used multi-transducers to reduce the scanning time and maintain a good signal-to-noise ratio (SNR). The obtained photoacoustic images were compared with each other and confirmed that changes in blood volume were induced by cocaine hydrochloride injection. The results demonstrate that PAT may be used to detect the effects of drug abuse-induced brain activation

Functional photoacoustic imaging to observe regional brain activation induced by cocaine hydrochloride

This is the published version. copyright 2011 Society of Photo-optical Instrumentation Engineers (SPIE)Photoacoustic microscopy (PAM) was used to detect small animal brain activation in response to drug abuse. Cocaine hydrochloride in saline solution was injected into the blood stream of Sprague Dawley rats through tail veins. The rat brain functional change in response to the injection of drug was then monitored by the PAM technique. Images in the coronal view of the rat brain at the locations of 1.2 and 3.4 mm posterior to bregma were obtained. The resulted photoacoustic (PA) images showed the regional changes in the blood volume. Additionally, the regional changes in blood oxygenation were also presented. The results demonstrated that PA imaging is capable of monitoring regional hemodynamic changes induced by drug abuse

Enhanced cavitation by using two consecutive ultrasound waves at different frequencies

This is the published version. Copyright 2014 American Institute of PhysicsEfficient and noninvasive generation of cavitation bubbles in soft tissue is a challenging task due to the lack of cavitation nuclei (i.e., pre-existing gas bubbles). In this study, we present a method to generate and enhance cavitation activity based on the utilization of two consecutive ultrasound waves at different frequencies. First, a high frequency (5 MHz) high intensity focused ultrasound (HIFU) wave was applied to a tissue-mimicking phantom to induce a rapid temperature rise in the ultrasound focal region. Immediately following the high frequency HIFU wave, a low frequency (1 MHz) HIFU wave was applied to the same focal region to induce acoustic cavitation. We found that cavitation activity was enhanced when the temperature in the tissue-mimicking phantom was first elevated by the high frequency HIFU wave. The enhancement was greater when a higher intensity of high frequency HIFU wave was applied. This result may be due to the temporary super-saturation of air in the initially air-saturated test samples and the reduction of surface tension at an elevated temperature

Photoacoustic tomography of a rat cerebral cortex with a ring-based ultrasonic virtual point detector

We image a rat cerebral cortex in situ by using a ring-based ultrasonic virtual point detector developed previously. Compared to the image generated by a finite-aperture detector, the image generated by the virtual point detector has a uniformly distributed resolution throughout the imaged area, owing to the lack of aperture effect of the ultrasonic detector. At the periphery of the image, the signal-to-noise ratio of the image obtained by the virtual point detector is also better than that of a finite-aperture detector. Furthermore, the virtual point detector can be scanned inside the brain to improve the local signal-to-noise ratio

Boundary conditions in photoacoustic tomography and image reconstruction

This is the published version.Recently, the field of photoacoustic tomography has experienced considerable growth. Although several commercially available pure optical imaging modalities, including confocal microscopy, two-photon microscopy, and optical coherence tomography, have been highly successful, none of these technologies can penetrate beyond ~1 mminto scattering biological tissues because all of them are based on ballistic and quasiballistic photons. Consequently, heretofore there has been a void in high-resolution optical imaging beyond this depth limit. Photoacoustic tomography has filled this void by combining high ultrasonic resolution and strong optical contrast in a single modality. However, it has been assumed in reconstruction of photoacoustic tomography until now that ultrasound propagates in a boundary-free infinite medium. We present the boundary conditions that must be considered in certain imaging configurations; the associated inverse solutions for image reconstruction are provided and validated by numerical simulation and experiment. Partial planar, cylindrical, and spherical detection configurations with a planar boundary are covered, where the boundary can be either hard or soft. Analogously to the method of images of sources, which is commonly used in forward problems, the ultrasonic detectors are imaged about the boundary to satisfy the boundary condition in the inverse problem

Boundary effects on image reconstruction in photoacoustic tomography

Exact photoacoustic tomography requires scanning over a 4π solid angle in 3D. The ultrasound detection window, however, is often limited, which makes a full scan impossible. For example, when a boundary lies closely to an object, the scanning region can cover only less than 4π in 3D. Because of incomplete information, the resolution, SNR, and fidelity of the resulting image deteriorate. Boundaries, however, can be used to our advantage; we proposed post-processing algorithms in image reconstruction to make partially scanned data complete. Here, we show the efficacy of the post-processing algorithms with both numerical and experimental results. Indeed, the algorithms can improve the resolution, SNR, and fidelity

Time domain simulation of nonlinear acoustic beams generated by rectangular pistons with application to harmonic imaging

This is the published version. Copyright 2005 Acoustical Society of AmericaA time-domain numerical code (the so-called Texas code) that solves the Khokhlov–Zabolotskaya–Kuznetsov (KZK) equation has been extended from an axis-symmetric coordinate system to a three-dimensional (3D) Cartesian coordinate system. The code accounts for diffraction (in the parabolic approximation), nonlinearity and absorption and dispersion associated with thermoviscous and relaxation processes. The 3D time domain code was shown to be in agreement with benchmark solutions for circular and rectangular sources, focused and unfocused beams, and linear and nonlinear propagation. The 3D code was used to model the nonlinear propagation of diagnosticultrasound pulses through tissue. The prediction of the second-harmonic field was sensitive to the choice of frequency-dependent absorption: a frequency squared f2 dependence produced a second-harmonic field which peaked closer to the transducer and had a lower amplitude than that computed for an f1.1 dependence. In comparing spatial maps of the harmonics we found that the second harmonic had dramatically reduced amplitude in the near field and also lower amplitude side lobes in the focal region than the fundamental. These findings were consistent for both uniform and apodized sources and could be contributing factors in the improved imaging reported with clinical scanners using tissue harmonic imaging

Nonlinear dynamics of gas bubbles in viscoelastic media

This is the published version. Copyright © 2005 Acoustical Society of AmericaUnderstanding the behavior of cavitation bubbles driven by ultrasonic fields is an important problem in biomedical acoustics. The Keller–Miksis equation for nonlinear bubble dynamics is combined with the Voigt model for viscoelastic media. Using experimentally determined values, the effects of elasticity on bubble oscillations are studied. Inertial cavitation thresholds are determined using Rmax/R0=2, and subharmonic emissions are also estimated. The elasticity increases the threshold pressure for inertial cavitation, and subharmonic signals are significant only in a certain region of radii and driving pressures at a given frequency. These results should prove useful in cavitationdetection and bubble-enhanced imaging work