Translational Research in High-Intensity Therapeutic Ultrasound: Novel Techniques for Pre-Clinical Testing

Abstract

High Intensity Therapeutic Ultrasound (HITU) is an emerging field that shows considerable promise for noninvasively performing medical procedures such as tumor and fibroid ablation, clot destruction, vessel cauterization. Owing to the potential of sensor damage by the intense acoustic field, traditional methods of pre-clinical testing ultrasound devices, such as hydrophone scanning, are problematic with HITU devices. New techniques for performing pre-clinical testing of HITU devices are desirable in order to expedite commercialization. This paper discusses two methods currently being developed for noninvasively determining the intensity fields produced by HITU transducers.