The Evolution of Microwave-Induced Thermoacoustic Signals Generated During Pulsed Microwave Ablation in Bovine Liver

The temperature dependence of microwave-induced thermoacoustic signals generated in tissue may be exploited to monitor microwave ablation in real-time. We present an experimental study investigating the evolution of microwave-induced thermoacoustic signals that are generated within an ablation zone during microwave ablation in bovine liver tissue. An X-band interstitial coaxial ablation antenna is used to simultaneously heat liver tissue to temperatures up to 90 $^{\circ }$ C and excite thermoacoustic signals via the absorption of pulsed microwave energy. Thermoacoustic signals are detected using a single-element ultrasound transducer located at the surface of the tissue. Both fresh and boiled liver tissue samples are used in experiments to decouple the influence of temperature and tissue coagulation on thermoacoustic signal characteristics. We identify two thermoacoustic signal characteristics of interest: arrival time of the pulse at the ultrasound receiver and the energy in the pulse. We find that the time difference of arrival over the course of microwave ablation grows in magnitude due to temperature-dependent speed of sound and tissue shrinkage. Thermoacoustic signal energy generally increases throughout microwave ablation, implying an increasing temperature-dependent thermal expansion coefficient of liver tissue. Of the two characteristics, time difference of arrival shows the most promise as a trackable feature for monitoring microwave ablation in real time.