Report No. 113 – Exposure Criteria for Medical Diagnostic Ultrasound: I. Criteria Based on Thermal Mechanisms (1992)

NCRP Report No. 113 is the second in a series treating the use of ultrasound in medicine. The first report, NCRP Report No. 74, provided a comprehensive review of biological effects and mechanisms of action of ultrasound and an analysis of their implications for medical applications. This Report follows Report No. 74 with the first set of criteria for medical diagnostic ultrasound exposure?criteria based on thermal mechanisms. Report No. 113 develops quantitative guidelines based on computed upper limits to the temperature rise produced by ultrasound during medical procedures. From estimates of these upper limits for different acoustical conditions, together with information on the biological consequences of hyperthermia, result in criteria expressed in acoustical parameters. Major sections of the Report cover: — Hyperthermia and life processes — heat generation by ultrasound in mammalian tissues — experimental studies of ultrasonically produced temperature elevation and associated biological effects — the interrelationship of thermal and nonthermal ultrasonic process — intensity and power needed in diagnostic ultrasound. Appendices to the Report provide background for calculations and information on approximations and assumptions employed in the Report.

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Table of Contents
Preface