Heating of Polymer Films Induced by HIFU: Study of Acoustic and Thermal Effects.

This article presents the study of the thermal and acoustic effects occurring in polymer samples of different thicknesses receiving high-intensity focused ultrasound (HIFU). Whereas the heating mechanisms in polymer plates immersed in water are well known, the physical mechanisms enabling the heating of polymer films using a solid waveguide transducer remain not fully understood. A coupled acoustothermal finite-element simulation is conducted to model the sound field and the heat generation inside polymer samples of different thicknesses.

Investigations on the heating effect of PE-LD induced by high-intensity focused ultrasound.

High-intensity focused ultrasound is widely applied in tissue treatment as well as for heating of solid polymer materials. Previous studies investigating the heating effect in polymer materials utilized sound transmission through water or other fluids at low HIFU power. In this study, the ultrasonic transducer possesses a solid sound conductor made of aluminum and a high HIFU power of above 100W was applied to heat solid PE-LD samples.