Audrey SIVADON : Identification of a complex ultrasound cavitation field using passive imaging

from October 1, 2019 to September 30, 2022
Date of thesis defence: 09 december 2022

Laboratories : LabTau (Lyon) et CREATIS (Lyon)
Thesis supervisors : Jean-Christophe Béra, Bruno Gilles et Barbara Nicolas et François Varray

Sumary : 

On the basis of this expertise, adaptive approaches for cavitation localization will be tested in the case of complex cavitation fields, and compared to robust approaches already implemented in our groups. Specifically, the capacity of those methods to discriminate several cavitation spots, and to evaluate the size of a large cavitation cloud will be studied. New monitoring strategies will have to be defined to obtain the best 3D characterization of any complex cavitation field, without any a priori knowledge of its structure. Ultimately, the objective will be to develop a real-time cavitation mapping device, with the aim of regulating both spatially and temporally the cavitation activity during a therapy sonication.
The first tests won’t address the specific aspects of a complete 3D characterization of the cavitation clouds, and will focus on the refinement of the axial resolution of the mapping, and on the identification of non point-like conformations of the cavitation clouds, in simple geometric configurations.
Then, to take into account more realistic configurations, matrix probes will be used to develop a 3D imaging technique for the whole volume under study. This should enable to suppress artifacts due to the 2D mapping of an intrinsically 3D cavitation cloud.