Treatment Time Reduction in Ultrasound Thermal Therapy using Cavitation Bubbles in a Large Region

2014 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 24300178
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (B)
• Allocation Type: Partial Multi-year Fund
• Section: 一般
• Research Field: Medical systems
• Research Institution: Tohoku University
• Principal Investigator: YOSHIZAWA Shin 東北大学, 工学(系)研究科(研究院), 准教授 (30455802)
• Co-Investigator(Kenkyū-buntansha): UMEMURA Shin-ichiro 東北大学, 大学院医工学研究科, 教授 (20402787)
• Project Period (FY): 2012-04-01 – 2015-03-31
• Keywords: 超音波治療 / キャビテーション / HIFU / マイクロバブル

Outline of Final Research Achievements

High-intensity focused ultrasound has attracted much attention as a modality for the noninvasive thermal treatment of cancer. However, it has a problem of long treatment time. The objective of this study is to develop a method for the ultrasonic heating with high efficiency by using cavitation clouds generated in a large region. Cavitation clouds were generated and used in a large region by electronically scanning HIFU focus in a plane perpendicular to the HIFU propagation direction. Applying this method to a tissue mimicking phantom, the temperature rise measured with a thermocouple was two to three times of that without cavitation generation. The coagulation volume of chicken breast tissues showed a high efficiency of the developed method for a HIFU thermal treatment.

Free Research Field

医用超音波