THEORETICAL DESIGN OF A FIXED-FOCUS TRANSDUCER FOR THE ULTRASOUND THERMOTHERPY OF BRAIN

Purpose: Brain tumors are the most difficult ones to treat. The margin between destruction of a tumor and irreversible damage to surrounding tissue is narrow in the brain. Ultrasound could be an effective treatment because of its ability to propagate deep in tissue and generate a temperature rise throughout the tumor while leaving the surrounding normal tissue intact. This study investigates whether cytotoxic temperature could be generated throughout a brain tumor without any undesired overheating at the other sites of the brain. Methods and Materials: An appropriate fixed focus transducer was designed consideri…