The feasibility of elastographic visualization of HIFU-induced thermal lesions in soft tissues

The potential for visualizing high-intensity focused ultrasound (HIFU)-indu ced thermal lesions in biological soft tissues in vitro using elastography was investigated. Thermal lesions were created in rabbit paraspinal skeleta l 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 clea r gel and elastographic images of the lesions were acquired. Gross patholog y of the tissue samples confirmed the characteristics of the lesions. (C) 1 999 World Federation for Ultrasound in Medicine & Biology.