Noninvasive temperature estimation using B-scan image for thermal therapy

Abstract

Noninvasive temperature estimation is a key and tough problem in hyperthermia. Here, we design a novel experiment to demonstrate the relationship between B-mode ultrasonic image grey scale and tissue temperature. In our experiment, negative effect of pixel shift caused by temperature change is avoided successfully. Experiments with animal tissue (chick heart, pig muscle and pig liver in vitro), indicate the average grey scale (AGS) of ultrasonic images is correlated with the temperature. This gives a potential method to estimation temperature from B-mode ultrasonic imaging, which will be more convenient, safe and economical than other methods. © 2008 Springer-Verlag.