Electroacoustic tomography with dual-frequency array for real-time monitoring of electroporation

Electroacoustic Tomography (EAT) is an imaging technique that detects ultrasound waves induced by electrical pulses, offering a solution for real-time electroporation monitoring. This study presents EAT system using a dual-frequency ultrasound array. The broadband nature of electroacoustic signals requires ultrasound detector to cover both the high-frequency range (around [Formula: see text] [Formula: see text]MHz) signals generated by small targets and the low-frequency range (around [Formula: see text] [Formula: see text]MHz) signals generated by large targets. In our EAT system, we use the 6 MHz array to detect high-frequency signals from the electrodes, and the 1 MHz array for the electrical field. To test this, we conducted simulations using COMSOL Multiphysics[Formula: see text] and MATLAB’s k-Wave toolbox, followed by experiments using a custom-built setup with a dual-frequency transducer and real-time data acquisition. The results demonstrated that the dual-frequency EAT system could accurately and simultaneously monitor the electroporation process, effectively showing both the treatment area and electrode placement with the application of 1[Formula: see text]kV electric pulses with 100[Formula: see text]ns duration. The axial resolution of the 6[Formula: see text]MHz array for EAT was 0.45[Formula: see text]mm, significantly better than the 2[Formula: see text]mm resolution achieved with the 1[Formula: see text]MHz array. These findings validate the potential of dual-frequency EAT as a superior method for real-time electroporation monitoring.