title: Acoustic pressure wave generation within an MR imaging system: potential medical applications.
abstract: The static magnetic field of a magnetic resonance (MR) imaging system was used as a component of an electromagnetic transducer for generating acoustic pressure waves. To permit limited focusing, the transducer was constructed from a conductive thin plate shaped like a section of a sphere. The plate was placed within the static field of the MR unit (B0 = 1.5 T), and current pulses with a rise time of 73 nsec and amplitude of 1.0 kA were applied to it. Hydrophonic recording demonstrated a shock wave with a peak pressure of 4.8 MPa at the approximated focal point. MR guidance of lithotripsy would be particularly useful to limit undesirable soft-tissue damage. It is also suggested that the integration of an acoustic pressure wave generator with MR imaging and control provides a novel technology for the treatment of solid soft-tissue tumors.
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02115.
authors.forename: F A
authors.initials: FA
authors.lastname: Jolesz
authors.forename: P D
authors.initials: PD
authors.lastname: Jakab
mesh_terms: D000162:Acoustics; D008096:Lithotripsy; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging / Q000295:instrumentation / Q000379:methods