Dynamic acoustothermography

Two- and three-dimensional dynamic acoustothermography is carried out in model experiments. The temperature of the model plasticine objects was determined from the measurements of their thermal acoustic radiation in the course of their heating and cooling. The measurements were performed with the use of a planar array of 14 acoustothermometers and two planar arrays perpendicular to each other with 7 acoustothermometers in each of them. The results of measurements were used to plot a dynamic map of the temperature of acoustic brightness and to reconstruct the dynamics of variations in the parameters of the temperature distribution: the spatial coordinates of the heated region, its characteristic size and, maximal temperature. The duration of one measurement cycle was 10 s, the error in determining the position of the center and the size of the heated region did not exceed 1 mm, and the accuracy of the temperature’s calculation was about 1 degree. The results of the study may be used for controlling the temperature in the course of medical procedures that include heating of internal tissues in human patients.