Color-Changing Reflection Hologram for Quality Assurance of Therapeutic Ultrasound Systems

The acoustic output of clinical therapeutic ultrasound equipment requires regular quality assurance (QA) testing to ensure the safety and efficacy of the treatment and that any potentially harmful deviations from the expected output power density are detected as soon as possible. A hologram, consisting of a reflection grating fabricated in an acrylate photopolymer film, has been developed to produce an immediate, visible, and permanent change in the color of the reconstructed hologram from red to green in response to incident ultrasound energy. The influence of the therapeutic ultrasound insonation parameters (exposure time, ultrasound power density, and proximity to the point of maximum acoustic pressure) on the hologram’s response has been investigated for two types of therapeutic ultrasound systems: a sonoporation system and an ultrasound physiotherapy system. Findings show that, above a switching temperature of 45 °C, the ultrasound-induced temperature rise produces a structural change in the hologram, which manifests as a visible color change. The area of the color change region correlates with the ultrasound exposure conditions. The suitability of the hologram as a simple and quick QA test tool for therapeutic ultrasound systems has been demonstrated. A prototype ultrasound testing unit which facilitates user-friendly, reproducible testing of the holograms in a clinical setting is also reported.