Measurement of temperature decrease caused by blood flow in focused ultrasound irradiation by thermal imaging method

In this study, to estimate the local temperature changes caused by a thick blood vessel, the temperature distribution in a tissue phantom with a thick blood vessel during focused ultrasound irradiation was measured by a thermal imaging method. The blood flow rate in the simulated blood vessel was varied and the relationship between flow rate and temperature decrease was examined. The phantom using the thermal imaging method is divided into two parts, and the increases in temperature distribution as a function of blood flow rate are measured using a thermocamera under constant ultrasound irradiation. The irradiation conditions of ultrasound waves were a central frequency of 1 MHz, a wave number length of 200 cycles, and a duty ratio of 0.2. The irradiation duration was 5 min, and the ultrasound intensity I SPTA was 36 W/cm2. The amount of temperature decrease caused by the cooling effect of blood flow increased with the blood flow rate and it became constant at a certain threshold of blood flow rate. The threshold of blood flow rate is about 250 ml/min.