Photoacoustic Thermometry Imaging for High-Intensity Focused Ultrasound

High-intensity focused ultrasound (HIFU) is a non-invasive therapy where a focused ultrasonic beam is used to locally heat tissue until the cells are destroyed. Monitoring temperature rise in tissue is essential for the safe and accurate delivery of thermal therapies. However, existing monitoring techniques, for example, Magnetic Resonance Imaging, have significant limitations regarding temporal resolution and the monitored field of view.
In this project, a novel 3D temperature imaging device will be developed based on Photo-Acoustic Tomography (PAT) to access heating induced by HIFU transducers.
The basic of photoacoustic thermometry lays in the temperature dependence of the Gruneisen parameter that leads to changes in the recorded photoacoustic signal amplitude with temperature. In order to allow the translation of this technique to a clinical setting, well-defined, versatile and stable phantom materials are required. These can then be used to assess the accuracy, robustness and applicability of photoacoustic thermometry in different experimental scenarios. Thus, the initial project objective focuses on phantom development, while the project aims will be to develop a lab-based real-time cylindrical photoacoustic scanning system for HIFU thermometry and apply the system to assess the heating induced by HIFU transducers under different and well-prescribed sonication conditions.