Absolute Temperature Monitoring Using RF Radiometry in the MRI Scanner

A remote temperature sensor for an ultrasound hyperthermia system using the acoustic signal derived from the heating signals

We demonstrate a non-invasive technique, based on the modal frequency shift of a region insonified by a dual-beam ultrasound (US) transducer (region of interest, ROI), to remotely assess the temperature of the region in a tissue-mimicking object. The application is in ultrasound hyperthermia systems for controlled maintenance of tumour temperature during chemotherapy. Towards this, we have characterised the variation of the storage modulus with the temperature of two tissue-mimicking visco-elastic materials. Due to this variation in tissue storage modulus (and viscosity), we have observed a shift in the resonant modes of the ROI, vibrated remotely with a dual-beam focussed ultrasound transducer. A modal analysis of the vibrating ROI is done to identify the modes captured by the detector. A variation in this modal frequency with temperature is computed and matches reasonably well with the experimental measurements. Through this, we demonstrate that an ultrasound hyperthermia system can have a remote temperature sensor without using an additional imaging modality.

Monitoring local heating around an interventional MRI antenna with RF radiometry

PURPOSE

Radiofrequency (RF) radiometry uses thermal noise detected by an antenna to measure the temperature of objects independent of medical imaging technologies such as magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). Here, an active interventional MRI antenna can be deployed as a RF radiometer to measure local heating, as a possible new method of monitoring device safety and thermal therapy.

METHODS

A 128 MHz radiometer receiver was fabricated to measure the RF noise voltage from an interventional 3 T MRI loopless antenna and calibrated for temperature in a uniformly heated bioanalogous gel phantom. Local heating (ΔT) was induced using the antenna for RF transmission and measured by RF radiometry, fiber-optic thermal sensors, and MRI thermometry. The spatial thermal sensitivity of the antenna radiometer was numerically computed using a method-of-moment electric field analyses. The gel's thermal conductivity was measured by MRI thermometry, and the localized time-dependent ΔT distribution computed from the bioheat transfer equation and compared with radiometry measurements. A "H-factor" relating the 1 g-averaged ΔT to the radiometric temperature was introduced to estimate peak temperature rise in the antenna's sensitive region.

RESULTS

The loopless antenna radiometer linearly tracked temperature inside a thermally equilibrated phantom up to 73 °C to within ±0.3 °C at a 2 Hz sample rate. Computed and MRI thermometric measures of peak ΔT agreed within 13%. The peak 1 g-average temperature was H = 1.36 ± 0.02 times higher than the radiometric temperature for any media with a thermal conductivity of 0.15-0.50 (W/m)/K, indicating that the radiometer can measure peak 1 g-averaged ΔT in physiologically relevant tissue within ±0.4 °C.

CONCLUSIONS

Active internal MRI detectors can serve as RF radiometers at the MRI frequency to provide accurate independent measures of local and peak temperature without the artifacts that can accompany MRI thermometry or the extra space needed to accommodate alternative thermal transducers. A RF radiometer could be integrated in a MRI scanner to permit "self-monitoring" for assuring device safety and/or monitoring delivery of thermal therapy.

Imaging of Conductivity Changes of Excitable Tissues Based on Focused Passive Microwave

Aims:

Modeling of ionic distribution fluctuations of excitable tissues based on data elicited using focused microwave radiometry.

Methodology:

Focused Microwave Radiometry implemented to carry out measurements of in depth body temperature distributions, may provide the capability of sensing local electrical conductivity fluctuations during the cycle of actions potentials in the case of brain excitable cell clusters. An analog beamformer consisting of a conductive inner-surface ellipsoidal cavity is used to focus the chaotic-black body radiation emerging from human tissues by providing convergence of the electromagnetic energy from one focus area where the phantom or subject is placed, to the other where the antennas of sensitive radiometric receivers are positioned. During the past 10 years numerous phantom, animal and human volunteer experiments have been performed with the focused radiometry imaging system. The results show that the detected changes of the output radiometric voltage are attributed to temperature and/or conductivity changes that occur locally concentrated at the areas of interest under measurement. Theoretical and experimental studies are continuously carried out at various frequency bands in conjunction with the use of matching materials placed around the human head or phantom to improve focusing and detection depth. It seems that the manipulation of the focusing area in the tissue in terms of detection depth and spatial resolution is feasible depending on the suitable combination of operation frequencies and matching material. In this paper, theoretical analysis of ion charge diffusion during the cycle of action potentials, propagating along the axons in case of measurements of specific cortical regions is presented. The ion charge diffusion modeling is based on electromagnetic diffusion analogies in the effort to explain the observed experimental results obtained under various psychophysiological conditions in the case of human volunteer measurements.

Results:

By implementing an analysis based on the continuity equations of ionic charges it is concluded that the microwave radiometry output voltage is not affected by the temporal and spatial average fluctuations of Na⁺, K⁺, and Cl^- ions of neural cell axons.

Conclusion:

The analysis of conductivity fluctuations in the central neural system in conjunction with the electromagnetic analysis of the system, leads to the interpretation of the previously acquired experimental data. The application of this technique with other brain functional mapping methods, may provide complementary knowledge to the understanding of the functional organization of psychophysiological processes.

Experimental study of a hybrid microwave radiometry-hyperthermia apparatus with the use of an anatomical head phantom

This paper presents the latest progress made concerning a hybrid diagnostic and therapeutic system able to provide focused microwave radiometric temperature and/or conductivity variation measurements and hyperthermia treatment. Previous experimental studies of our group have demonstrated the system performance and focusing properties in phantom as well as human experiments. The system is able to detect temperature and conductivity variations with frequency-dependent detection depth and spatial sensitivity. Numerous studies have also demonstrated the improvement of the system focusing properties attributed to the use of dielectric and left handed matching layers. In this study, similar experimental procedures are performed but this time using an anatomical head model as phantom aiming to achieve a more accurate modeling of the system's future real function. This way, another step is made toward the deeper understanding of the system's capabilities, with the view to further use it in experimental procedures with laboratory animals and human volunteers.