High-speed observation of cavitation bubble cloud structures in the focal region of a 1.2 MHz high-intensity focused ultrasound transducer

Hong Chen, Xiaojing Li, Mingxi Wan, Supin Wang

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

21 Scopus citations

Abstract

Cavitation bubble clouds in the focal region of HIFU play important roles in therapeutic applications of HIFU. Temporal evolution and spatial distribution of cavitation bubble clouds generated in the focal region of a 1.2 MHz single element concave HIFU transducer in water are investigated by high-speed photography. It is found that during the initial 600 μs insonation cavitation bubble clouds organize to the "screw-like structure" or "cap-like structure". The screw-like structure is characterized by a nearly fixed tip at the geometrical focus of the HIFU transducer, and the cap-like structure is marked by a dent formed in the direction of ultrasound transmission. After 600 μs, another two structures are recorded - "streamer structure" and "cluster structure". The streamer structure is also featured by a nearly fixed bottom position at the focus, while the cluster structure is distinguished by agglomerations of bubbles around the focus.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)291-297
Number of pages7
JournalUltrasonics Sonochemistry
Volume14
Issue number3
DOIs
StatePublished - Mar 2007

Keywords

  • Cavitation bubble cloud structures
  • High-intensity focused ultrasound
  • High-speed photography

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