HIFU induced heating modelling by using the finite element method

High intensity focused ultrasound is a thermal therapy method used to treat malignant tumors and other medical conditions. Focused ultrasound concentrates acoustic energy at a focal zone. There, temperature rises rapidly over 56 degrees C to provoke tissue necrosis. Device performance depends on its fabrication placing computational modeling as a powerful tool to anticipate experimentation results. Finite element method allows modeling of multiphysics systems. Therefore, induced heating was modeled considering the acoustic field produced by a concave radiator excited with electric potentials from 5 V to 20 V. Nonlinear propagation was neglected and a linear response between the acoustic fields and pressure distribution was obtained. Finally, the results showed that acoustic propagation and heating models should be improved and validated with experimental measurements. (C) 2015 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V.