The evolution of microwave-induced thermoacoustic signal characteristics generated during pulsed microwave ablation

Microwave-induced thermoacoustic (TA) signals are of emerging interest for monitoring microwave ablation (MWA) in real-time. TA signals can be generated using an interstitial ablation antenna with a pulsed microwave energy source. When a microsecond microwave pulse is absorbed by tissue, the tissue undergoes a small-scale temperature rise, inducing a thermoelastic expansion that leads to acoustic generation. TA signal characteristics are linked to the dielectric, thermal, and acoustic properties of the local ablation environment. These relevant properties evolve significantly during the ablation process. We conducted a simulation-based study to examine the evolution of microwave-induced TA signal characteristics generated during pulsed microwave ablation. We experimentally validated our multi-physics simulation model for a spatially uniform temperature profile. Then, using the validated simulation model, we investigated TA signals generated in tissue exhibiting spatially nonuniform temperature profiles that arise during MWA. We find that TA signal characteristics are highly influenced by the local environment temperature within the region of initial TA generation and, thus, contain rich information to be exploited for real-time ablation monitoring.