Search

Objective: High intensity focused ultrasound (HIFU) is a new noninvasive therapeutics that allows local treatment of solid tumors through a hyperthermal mechanism using ultrasonic energy. One promising strategy to increase the thermal efficiency of HIFU is to employ nanoparticles (NPs) as ultrasound agents for the hyperthermia procedure. However, the interaction mechanism between NPs and ultrasonic waves has not been well understood. Methods: In an effort to investigate the heating process of NPs-enhanced HIFU, we derived a set of HIFU equations governing the temperature variation during the thermal ablation based on the principle of conservation of energy for heat transfer mechanism. A numerical model was developed to solve the HIFU equations to simulate the absorption mechanism of HIFU in the presence of NPs, the consequent heat transfer process, and the temperature rise profile during the sonication period. The accuracy of numerical model was verified by performing a series of experiments on tissue-mimicking phantoms embedded with magnetic NPs (MNPs). Results: The transport processes taking place at the boundaries between NPs and surrounding medium played the major role in the temperature rise during HIFU sonication. Besides, the effects of MNPs on rising temperature were improved by amplifying the ultrasonic power and frequency as well as by increasing the MNP concentration. Conclusion: A quantitative comparison with experimental results demonstrated the potential of the numerical model to accurately predict the heating mechanism of HIFU mediated by NPs. Significance: The proposed method can help with simulation of HIFU when NPs are employed as ultrasound agents. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

High intensity focused ultrasound (HIFU) has gained increasing attention as a noninvasive therapeutic method for wide range of biomedical applications from drug delivery to cancer treatment. However, high level of ultrasonic power required for efficient HIFU treatment can cause adverse effects such as damage to surrounding healthy tissues and skin burns. One of the strategies to improve the therapeutic mechanism of HIFU is to use ultrasound absorption agents during the treatment. The objectives of current study are to investigate the feasibility of adopting gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) as ultrasound absorption agents to enhance the HIFU thermal ablation when the NPs were injected locally to the focal region; and to examine the dose effects of AuNPs on both heating and cooling mechanisms of HIFU. To this end, we conducted an experimental study on tissue-mimicking phantoms where AuNPs were injected to the focal region under the guidance of ultrasound imaging. A set of thermal parameters including temperature, specific absorption rate of acoustic energy, and cooling rate were measured to monitor the mechanism of AuNPs-mediated HIFU. The results suggest that both heating and cooling rates of HIFU procedure could be greatly improved by injecting AuNPs, which demonstrates the feasibility of using AuNPs to reduce the level of ultrasonic power from extracorporeal source for HIFU treatment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]