Surface heating by transvaginal transducers.

Objective: This safety study was designed to investigate tissue heating close to the surface of transvaginal ultrasound transducers, with the objective of assessing the validity of manufacturing safety standards set by the International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC).

Methods: The transducers investigated in this study were held in contact with a layered soft-tissue mimicking material (TMM), and the temperature increase was measured at various depths using a miniature thermocouple. The temperature rise at 200 s was recorded, and the measured profiles of temperature rise with depth were compared with profiles predicted from both analytical and numeric models.