Technique for optically measuring the temperature of an ultrasonically heated object
First Claim
1. A method of monitoring the temperature of a volume of material that is being heated by absorption of ultrasonic energy being directed into said volume of material from its outside, comprising the steps of:
- implanting within said material one end of an optical fiber transmission medium which carries an optical temperature sensor, said sensor and optical transmission medium adjacent said sensor being characterized by being made substantially entirely of non-compressible material and having an outer diameter that is substantially equal to or less than a wavelength of said ultrasonic energy in said material divided by the mathematical constant pi, andmonitoring the temperature of said sensor through connection with another end of said optical fiber transmission medium;
whereby temperature artifacts that tend to be caused by ultrasonic energy interaction with the temperature sensor are minimized.
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Abstract
An optical fiber temperature sensing probe is implanted into a human body or other object that is being heated, either by ultrasonic radiation alone or by a combination of ultrasonic and electromagnetic (radio frequency or microwave) energy. In order to measure temperature in an ultrasound field without the probe introducing errors, the probe is made to be substantially thermally non-conducting, made of materials that do not absorb compressional energy, and has a small diameter relative to the length of the ultrasonic heating waves.
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Citations
15 Claims
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1. A method of monitoring the temperature of a volume of material that is being heated by absorption of ultrasonic energy being directed into said volume of material from its outside, comprising the steps of:
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implanting within said material one end of an optical fiber transmission medium which carries an optical temperature sensor, said sensor and optical transmission medium adjacent said sensor being characterized by being made substantially entirely of non-compressible material and having an outer diameter that is substantially equal to or less than a wavelength of said ultrasonic energy in said material divided by the mathematical constant pi, and monitoring the temperature of said sensor through connection with another end of said optical fiber transmission medium; whereby temperature artifacts that tend to be caused by ultrasonic energy interaction with the temperature sensor are minimized. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7)
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- 8. A temperature sensing probe especially adapted for being implanted into a volume of material that is being heated by absortion of ultrasonic energy being directed into said volume from its outside, comprising an optical temperature sensor attached to one end of an optical fiber transmission medium, said sensor and optical transmission medium immediately adjacent said sensor being characterized by (1) having an outer diameter that is significantly less than a wavelength of said ultrasonic energy in said material divided by the mathematical constant pi, (2) being substantially thermally non-conductive, and (3) being made of substantially non-compressible materials thereby to minimize temperature artifacts that tend to be caused by ultrasonic interaction with the temperature sensing probe.
Specification