Attenuation coefficient and propagation speed estimates of rat and pig intercostal tissue as a function of temperature.

Attenuation coefficient and propagation speed of intercostal tissues were estimated as functions of temperature (22, 30, and 37 degrees C) from fresh chest walls from eight 10- to 11-week-old female Sprague-Dawley (SD) rats, eight 21- to 24-week-old female Long-Evans (LE) rats, and ten 6- to 10-week-old mixed sex Yorkshire (York) pigs. The primary purpose of the study was to estimate the temperature dependence of the intercostal tissue's attenuation coefficient so that accurate estimates of the in situ (at the pleural surface) acoustic pressure levels could be made for our ultrasound-induced lung hemorrhage studies. The attenuation coefficient of intercostal tissue for both species was independent of the temperature at the discrete frequencies of 3.