User's Manual

Table Of Contents
106
Attenuationfactor(a)forvarioustissuetypesaregivenbelow:
brain=0.53
heart=0.66
kidney=0.79
liver=0.43
muscle=0.55
l=skinlinetomeasurementdepthincm
f=centerfrequencyofthetransducer/system/modecombinationinMHz
Sincetheultrasonicpathduringtheexamislikelytopassthrough
varyingleng ths andtypes
oftissue,itisdifficulttoestimatethetrueIn Situintensity.Anattenuationfactorof0.3isused
forgeneralreportingpurposes;therefore,theIn Situvaluecommonlyreportedusesthe
formula:
In Situ(derated)=Water[e
(0.069lf)
]
SincethisvalueisnotthetrueIn Situintensity,theterm“derated”isusedtoqualify it.
Themaximumderatedandthemaximumwatervaluesdonotalwaysoccuratthesame
operatingconditions;therefore,thereportedmaximumwaterandderatedvaluesmaynotbe
relatedbytheIn Situ(derat ed)formula.For
example:amultizonearraytransducerthathas
maximumwatervalueintensitiesinitsdeepestzone,butalsohasthesmallestderatingfactor
inthatzone.Thesametransducermayhaveitslargestderatedintensityinoneofitsshallowest
focalzones.
Tissue models and equipment survey
TissuemodelsarenecessarytoestimateattenuationandacousticexposurelevelsIn Situfrom
measurementsofacousticoutputmadeinwater .Currently,availablemodelsmaybelimitedin
theiraccuracybecauseofvaryingtissuepathsduringdiagnosticultrasoundexposuresand
uncertaintiesintheacousticpropertiesofsofttissues.Nosingletissuemodel
isadequatefor
predictingexposuresinallsituationsfrommeasurementsmadeinwater,andcontinued
improvementandverificationofthesemodelsisnecessaryformakingexposureassessments
forspecificexamtypes.
Ahomogeneoustissuemodelwithattenuationcoefficientof0.3 dB/cm MHzthroughoutthe
beampathiscommonlyusedwhenestimatingexposurelevels.
Themodelisconservativein
thatitoverestimatestheIn Situacousticexposurewhenthepathbetweenthetransducerand
siteofinterestiscomposedentirelyofsofttissue.Whenthepathcontainssignificantamounts
offluid,asinmanyfirstandsecondtrimesterpregnanciesscannedtransabdominally,this
modelmayunderestimate
theIn Situacousticexposure.Theamountofunderestimation
dependsuponeachspecificsituation.