User's Manual

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Chapter 6: Safety 69
Safety
Acoustic output measurement
Sincetheinitialuseofdiagnosticultrasound,thepossiblehumanbiologicaleffects(bioeffects)
fromultrasoundexposurehavebeenstudiedbyvariousscientificandmedicalinstitutions.In
October1987,theAmericanInstituteofUltrasoundinMedicine(AIUM)ratifiedareport
preparedbyitsBioeffectsCommittee(BioeffectsConsiderationsfortheSafetyofDiagnostic
Ultrasound,JUltrasoundMed.,Sept.1988:Vol.7,No.9Supplement),sometimesreferredtoas
theStoweReport,whichreviewedavailabledataonpossibleeffectsofultrasoundexposure.
Anotherreport“BioeffectsandSafetyofDiagnosticUltrasound,”datedJanuary28,1993
providesmorecurrentinformation.
Theacousticoutputforthisultrasoundsystem
hasbeenmeasuredandcalculatedin
accordancewiththe“A c o us t i c OutputMeasurementStandardforDiagnosticUltrasound
Equipment”(NEMAUD22004),andthe“StandardforRealTimeDisplayofThermaland
MechanicalAcousticOutputIndicesonDiagnosticUltrasoundEquipment”(NEMA
UDe32004).
In Situ, derated, and water value intensities
Allintensityparametersaremeasuredinwater.Sincewaterdoesnotabsorbacousticenergy,
thesewatermeasurementsrepresentaworstcasevalue.Biologicaltissuedoesabsorbacoustic
energy.Thetruevalueoftheintensityatanypointdependsonthe amount,typeoftissue,and
thefrequencyoftheultrasoundpassing
throughthetissue.Theintensityvalueinthetissue,
In Situ,hasbeenestimatedbyusingthefollowingformula:
In Situ=Water[e
(0.23alf)
]
where:
In Situ=In Situintensityvalue
Water=Waterintensityvalue
e=2.7183
a=attenuationfactor(dB/cm MHz)
Attenuationfactor(a)forvarioustissuetypesaregivenbelow:
brain=0.53
heart=0.66
kidney=0.79
liver=0.43
muscle=0.55
l=skinlinetomeasurementdepthincm
f=center
frequencyofthetransducer/system/modecombinationinMHz