Effects of parameter errors in the simulation of transcranial focused ultrasound

Previous numerical simulation work has supported experiments showing that a sharply focused transcranial ultrasound field can be generated for noninvasive therapy and surgery in the brain. The predicted pressure gain and optimal sonicating frequency could be affected by uncertainty in the simulation parameters. We estimate the effects of uncertainty in the speed of sound in the skull and brain, and in CT data that specifies the contour of the skull. The results of our simulations indicate that each of these errors may change the predicted pressure gain by up to a few percent, but the predicted optimal frequency is not significantly affected.