Abstract #1741

Detection & Exploitation of Acoustic Cavitation for Enhancement of MR Guided High Intensity Focused Ultrasound Heating in Ex Vivo Liver

Delphine Elbes¹, Benjamin Robert², Max O Khler³, Mickael Tanter², Chrit Moonen¹, Bruno Quesson¹

¹Laboratory for Molecular and Functional Imaging, UMR 5231, CNRS/Universit Bordeaux 2, Bordeaux, France; ²Inserm U979 physique des ondes pour la mdecine, institut Langevin (CNRS UMR 7587), ESPCI ParisTech, Paris, France; ³Philips healthcare, Vantaa, Finland

This study aims to detect and exploit acoustic cavitation for enhancement of High Intensity Focused Ultrasound (HIFU) heating in ex vivo liver. MR acoustic radiation force imaging (MR-ARFI) allowed visualization of the local tissue displacement in absence/presence of cavitation induced by a short and intense HIFU pulse. The temperature increase measured by MR-thermometry was higher in presence of cavitation. The spatial distribution of the acoustic pressure (MR-ARFI) in presence of cavitation was coherent with the observed modifications on MR-thermometry. Enhancement of tissue heating with acoustic cavitation may improve the efficiency of MR guided HIFU ablation in the liver.