The feasibility of elastographic visualization of HIFU-induced thermal lesions in soft tissues. Image-guided high-intensity focused ultrasound.

The potential for visualizing high-intensity focused ultrasound (HIFU)-induced thermal lesions in biological soft tissues in vitro using elastography was investigated. Thermal lesions were created in rabbit paraspinal skeletal muscle in vivo. The rabbits were sacrificed 60 h following the treatment and lesioned tissues were excised. The tissues were cast in a block of clear gel and elastographic images of the lesions were acquired. Gross pathology of the tissue samples confirmed the characteristics of the lesions.