An automated ultrasonic exposure system to assess the effects of in utero diagnostic ultrasound

Nadine Barrie Smith, Charles V. Vorhees, Richard A. Meyer, William D. O'Brien

Research output: Contribution to journalConference articlepeer-review

Abstract

An ultrasound exposimetry system was designed and constructed to expose rat embryos and fetuses to ultrasound. The unique feature of the exposure system is that it insonates pregnant rats which are not anesthetized or otherwise restrained. The rats were trained to float in a restricted area directly above the submerged ultrasound transducer. The water tank was designed to confine the floating rat to a 15-cm × 10-cm region while being exposed to ultrasound. The ultrasound transducer operating in either pulsed or continuous-wave (CW) mode is submerged below the animal and moved in a raster fashion to irradiate the entire abdominal area. Computer control of the exposure system and the ultrasound intensity levels allow for the experiments to be conducted in a blind fashion. Using a calibrated hydrophone, pressure waveforms are obtained from which the free-field ISPTA and ISPTP are calculated at the distance of the rat's abdomen.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)1385-1388
Number of pages4
JournalUltrasonics Symposium Proceedings
Volume3
StatePublished - 1990
EventProceedings of the IEEE 1990 Ultrasonics Symposium - Honolulu, HI, USA
Duration: Dec 4 1990Dec 7 1990

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • General Engineering

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