Trans-cranial focused ultrasound without hair shaving: feasibility study in an ex vivo cadaver model

Matthew Dc Eames; Arik Hananel; John W Snell; Neal F Kassell; Jean-Francois Aubry

doi:10.1186/2050-5736-1-24

Trans-cranial focused ultrasound without hair shaving: feasibility study in an ex vivo cadaver model

J Ther Ultrasound. 2014 Jan 2:1:24. doi: 10.1186/2050-5736-1-24. eCollection 2013.

Authors

Matthew Dc Eames¹, Arik Hananel², John W Snell³, Neal F Kassell³, Jean-Francois Aubry⁴

Affiliations

¹ Focused Ultrasound Foundation, Charlottesville, VA 22903, USA.
² Focused Ultrasound Foundation, Charlottesville, VA 22903, USA ; Department of Radiation Oncology, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, VA 22908, USA.
³ Focused Ultrasound Foundation, Charlottesville, VA 22903, USA ; Department of Neurosurgery, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, VA 22908, USA.
⁴ Department of Radiation Oncology, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, VA 22908, USA ; Institut Langevin Ondes et Images, ESPCI ParisTech, CNRS UMR 7587, Inserm U979, Paris 75238, France.

Abstract

In preparing a patient for a trans-cranial magnetic resonance (MR)-guided focused ultrasound procedure, current practice is to shave the patient's head on treatment day. Here we present an initial attempt to evaluate the feasibility of trans-cranial focused ultrasound in an unshaved, ex vivo human head model. A human skull filled with tissue-mimicking phantom and covered with a wig made of human hair was sonicated using 220- and 710-kHz head transducers to evaluate the feasibility of acoustic energy transfer. Heating at the focal point was measured by MR proton resonance shift thermometry. Results showed that the hair had a negligible effect on focal spot thermal rise at 220 kHz and a 17% drop in temperature elevation when using 710 kHz.

Keywords: Brain; Hair; MR thermometry; tcMRgFUS.