Temperature Changes Produced in Tissue During Ultrasonic Irradiation

This paper is concerned with the technique of temperature measurement in living tissue during irradiation by high intensity ultrasound. The interpretation of data obtained by the use of thermocouples is presented. The specific biological object used in this study is the spinal cord of rat exposed by laminectomy. This particular preparation serves to illustrate the relative importance of the heat conduction process in contributing to the temperature change as a function of the proximity of the imbedded thermocouple to bone and the time elapsed after initiation of the exposure. The ultrasonic frequency used in these studies was 980 kc. The sound intensities incident on the cord were between 60 and 80 watts/cm 2. The experimental results presented in the paper are used to obtain values for the acoustic absorption coefficient of the tissue of the spinal cord. The range of values obtained for the intensity absorption coet•cient per centimeter from measurements made on six adult rats at various positions in the spinal cord is 0.19 to 0.23 if the heat capacity of the tissue at constant pressure is 1.00 calorie/cm a.