Damage characteristics of elastic material through a thin membrane using high-intensity focused ultrasound (HIFU)

High-intensity focused ultrasound (HIFU) is a non-invasive technique and widely used in medical and dental treatment for reaching and affecting deep seated tissues within the body, such as the removal of fat tissues under the skin, destruction of malignant tumour cells or target volume for the purpose of tissue debulking. This study aims to explore the damage characteristics of elastic material (regarded as soft tissue) by HIFU separated by a thin membrane all immersed in a water medium, in which the latter is used to mimic the human skin in medical treatments. Measurements of acoustic pressure along the vertical central line of HIFU transducer with and without this membrane were conducted and effects of membrane on the focal region were investigated. Results showed that the existence of the membrane serves primarily to reflect partial energy of incident ultrasound wave, and has no effect on phases of wave propagating in water. Next, Polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) was selected as the elastic material for the experiments. The process of PDMS damage through the membrane by HIFU were recorded and the distribution of temperature around and within the ‘destroyed’ PDMS block was captured by an infrared camera. The very high temperature measured within the PDMS leading to the formations of cavity and crack within the PDMS block, can be attributed to the accumulation of the energy from the ultrasound source. Finally, the effects of PDMS with different elasticity on their damage characteristics are discussed.