Transient Cavitation Induced by High Amplitude Diagnostic Ultrasound.

Study of the response of gaseous microbubbles to medical ultrasound is essential to apprehend the potentially dangerous effects of transient cavitation on living tissues. However, the prediction of such response is complicated by the finite -amplitude distortion associated with high amplitude acoustic fields. Through a combination of theoretical developments, computer simulations, and experiments, this dissertation investigates the consequences of the interaction between finite-amplitude distortion and transient cavitation, in the context of a diagnostic ultrasonic field. The theoretical approach is to synthesize the asymmetry between compression and rarefaction half-cycles which characterizes a typical nonlinearly distorted pulse obtained at the focus of a diagnostic transducer immersed in water. The synthetic pulse is used to drive a theoretical model for nonlinear bubble dynamics. Comparison with sinusoidal pulses "equivalent" to the distorted pulse as measured by a selection of descriptive parameters shows that: (i) the peak-positive pressure (P_{+} ) in the distorted pulse is a very poor predictor of transient cavitation, (ii) the peak-negative pressure (P_{-}) is a better indicator but underestimates the actual bubble response, (iii) the best predictor is the pressure amplitude of the fundamental (P_{F}) in a Fourier series representation of the distorted pulse. These predictions are tested experimentally on Drosophila larvae. The larvae are exposed to pulsed, symmetric, sinusoidal fields and to pulsed, asymmetric, distorted fields. The killing ratio of the larvae is plotted as a function of the same selection of descriptive parameters, namely P_{+}, P_{ -}, and P_{F}. The resulting curves are compared with the killing ratio plotted against the peak pressure in the sinusoidal, undistorted pulse (P_{A}). If the distorted pulse is described in terms of P_ {-} or P_{+} , the killing ratios are significantly different; if the distorted pulse is described in terms of P _{F}, the killing ratios are virtually identical. To the larvae, the distorted pulse is therefore equivalent to a sinusoidal pulse with P_ {A} = P_{F}; this observation is consistent with the predicted responses of bubbles to such pressure fields. Both theoretical and experimental evidences suggest that P_{F} is a good predictor of transient cavitation. Hence, it has the potential to play a key role in establishing quantitative safety guidelines for diagnostic devices.