Temperature-Related Effects on the Speed of Sound in Bovine Liver

Abstract

Reliably measuring temperature changes in tissue is an important challenge for medical applications as well as for materials research. Here, I use ultrasound to determine how the speed of sound changes in ex vivo bovine liver due to temperature and temperature-related material changes. The studies include changes in the speed of sound before and after heating, the speed of sound as the liver is being heated, and investigations about the time-dependency of temperature-induced material changes. Ultrasound was able to capture distinct differences between heated vs. non-heated bovine liver. Furthermore, here I propose a novel linear regression for the relationship between temperature-related materials changes and the speed of sound in bovine liver. These results could be ultimately be applied to aid the development of an ultrasonic, non-invasive thermometer for hyperthermic cancer treatments.