Simulation of nonlinear Westervelt equation for the investigation of acoustic streaming and nonlinear propagation effects.

This study investigates the influence of blood flow on temperature distribution during high-intensity focused ultrasound (HIFU) ablation of liver tumors. A three-dimensional acoustic-thermal-hydrodynamic coupling model is developed to compute the temperature field in the hepatic cancerous region. The model is based on the nonlinear Westervelt equation, bioheat equations for the perfused tissue and blood flow domains. The nonlinear Navier-Stokes equations are employed to describe the flow in large blood vessels. The effect of acoustic streaming is also taken into account in the present HIFU simulation study. A simulation of the Westervelt equation requires a prohibitively large amount of computer resources. Therefore a sixth-order accurate acoustic scheme in three-point stencil was developed for effectively solving the nonlinear wave equation. Results show that focused ultrasound beam with the peak intensity 2470 W/cm(2) can induce acoustic streaming velocities up to 75 cm/s in the vessel with a diameter of 3 mm. The predicted temperature difference for the cases considered with and without acoustic streaming effect is 13.5 °C or 81% on the blood vessel wall for the vein. Tumor necrosis was studied in a region close to major vessels. The theoretical feasibility to safely necrotize the tumors close to major hepatic arteries and veins was shown.