Acoustic Field Comparison of High Intensity Focused Ultrasound Using Experimental Characterization and Finite Element Simulation

J. L. Teja[1], A. Vera[1], L. Leija[1]
[1]Department of Electrical Engineering, Cinvestav-IPN, Mexico D.F., Mexico
Published in 2013

High Intensity Focused Ultrasound (HIFU) is used as a noninvasive technique of tissue heating and ablation for different medical treatments. This paper presents a quantitative comparison of HIFU acoustic fields experimentally obtained versus simulated acoustic fields. Acoustic field characterization was realized in two HIFU transducers using water as a propagation medium. Also, simulations were developed considering the features of both transducers using COMSOL Multiphysics®. Finally, experimental and simulated acoustic fields were compared within the areas of highest concentration of ultrasound energy. Results show that the simulations achieve a diameter, area, and focal zone very close to that of the experimental data. Percentages above 80% similarity in the geometry that encloses the highest energy were obtained for both cases.