Enhancing Transcranial Focused Ultrasound Simulation Accuracy: The Impact of Transducer Geometry and Skull Modelling

Low-intensity focused ultrasound (LIFU) allows non-invasive neurological intervention by targeting specific brain regions. However, its efficacy can be compromised by the acoustic heterogeneity of the skull; leading to reliance on subject-specific simulation to aid planning. Current approaches (using software such as k-Wave) treat the transducer purely as a source, overlooking the influence of transducer’s physical presence, potentially neglecting critical wave superposition effects and resultant pressure oscillations. This study aims to incorporate transducer geometry into simulation and validates the outcomes against experimental data. By integrating transducer geometry and empirical segmented skull parameters into the simulation, our prediction difference of focal peak pressure and focal volume were 6.5% and 23.1% compared to the measurement, offering a potential improvement in the neuromodulation planning of transcranial LIFU applications