Medical application of fluid dynamics (diagnostic and therapeutic integrated system by ultrasound)

Abstract

Medical applications of ultrasound such as High Intensity Focused Ultrasound, Extracorporeal Lithotripsy and ultrasound contrast agent imaging have recently been the subject of much interest as the medical application of fluid dynamics. In these applications, nonlinear bubble motion facilitates the medical treatment by improving the image quality or enhancing the therapeutic effects through localized heating, erosion or acoustic emission. Utilizing those phenomena, a diagnostic and therapeutic integrated system can be developed. It is essential to understand ultrasound propagating and heating phenomena in a human body, which is inhomogeneous medium, and enhanced local heating phenomena by micro bubbles. In this paper, medical applications of ultrasound with microbubbles, acoustic cavitation and ultrasound propagation in human body are highlighted. © 2011 The Japan Society of Mechanical Engineers.