摘要
A software-based method is proposed to eliminate the flooding interference strips in B-mode images, and to evaluate the cavitation bubbles generated during high intensity focused ultrasound （HIFU） exposures. In vitro tissue phantoms are exposed to 1.12 MHz HIFU pulses with a fixed 100 Hz pulse repetition frequency. HIFU-induced cavitation bubbles are detected as hyperechoic regions in B-mode images. The temporal evolution of cavitation bubbles, generated by HIFU pulses with varying driving amplitude and pulse length, is analyzed by measuring the time-varying area of the hyperechoic region. The results show that： first, it is feasible to monitor HIFU-induced cavitation bubble activity in real-time using B-mode imaging; second, more cavitation bubbles can be generated with higher acoustic energy delivered; third, the hyperechoic region is observed to shrink gradually after ceasing the HIFU pulses, which indicates the dissolution of cavitation bubbles. This work will be helpful for developing an effective tool to realize real-time monitoring and quantitative evaluation of HIFU-induced cavitation bubble activity using a current commercialized B-mode machine.
A software-based method is proposed to eliminate the flooding interference strips in B-mode images, and to evaluate the cavitation bubbles generated during high intensity focused ultrasound （HIFU） exposures. In vitro tissue phantoms are exposed to 1.12 MHz HIFU pulses with a fixed 100 Hz pulse repetition frequency. HIFU-induced cavitation bubbles are detected as hyperechoic regions in B-mode images. The temporal evolution of cavitation bubbles, generated by HIFU pulses with varying driving amplitude and pulse length, is analyzed by measuring the time-varying area of the hyperechoic region. The results show that： first, it is feasible to monitor HIFU-induced cavitation bubble activity in real-time using B-mode imaging; second, more cavitation bubbles can be generated with higher acoustic energy delivered; third, the hyperechoic region is observed to shrink gradually after ceasing the HIFU pulses, which indicates the dissolution of cavitation bubbles. This work will be helpful for developing an effective tool to realize real-time monitoring and quantitative evaluation of HIFU-induced cavitation bubble activity using a current commercialized B-mode machine.
基金
Supported by the National Basic Research Program of China under Grant No 2011CB707900, the National Natural Science Foundation of China under Grant Nos 81127901, 81227004, 11374155, 11074123, 11174141, 11274170, 61072027, 11161120324 and 11104140, the National High-tech Research and Development Program under Grant Nos 2012AA022702, the Program for New Century Excellent Talents in University of Ministry of Education of China （NCET-11-0236）, and the Natural Science Foundation of Jiangsu Province under Grant Nos BK2011543 and BK2011812.
