Theoretical Study for Safe and Efficient Energy Transfer to Deeply Implanted Devices Using Ultrasound

Benjamin Cotté (1) , Cyril Lafon (1) , Catherine Dehollain (2) , Jean-Yves Chapelon (1)

1 Applications des ultrasons à la thérapie
2 IEL - Institut de génie électrique et électronique

The goal of this paper is to prove that a safe and efficient energy transfer is possible between an external transducer located on the patient’s skin and a device deeply implanted in the abdomen. An ultrasound propagation model based on the Rayleigh–Sommerfeld diffraction integral is coupled with the data from the Visible Human Project to account for the geometry of the organs in the body. The model is able to predict the amount of acoustic power received by the device for different acoustic paths. The acoustic model is validated by comparison with measurements in water and in heterogeneous liquid phantoms. Care is taken to minimize adverse bioeffects—mainly temperature rise and cavitation in tissues. Simulations based on the bio-heat transfer equation are performed to check that thermal effects are indeed small.

Domaines: Acoustique [physics.class-ph]

Benjamin Cotté, Cyril Lafon, Catherine Dehollain, Jean-Yves Chapelon. Theoretical Study for Safe and Efficient Energy Transfer to Deeply Implanted Devices Using Ultrasound. IEEE Transactions on Ultrasonics, Ferroelectrics and Frequency Control, 2012, 59 (8), pp.1674-1686. ⟨10.1109/TUFFC.2012.2373⟩. ⟨hal-01138081⟩