ULTRASONIC HEATING OF THE SKULL

Comparatively simple analysis shows that diagnostic ultrasound devices, in some cases, may approach output levels that can produce significant heating of tissues, particularly if the propagation path includes bone. Experimental tests of these predictions using rodents show that temperature increments of the order of 3 °C/W/cm are produced in skull bone with sharply focused fields at medically relevant frequencies. © 1990, Acoustical Society of America. All rights reserved.