Quality assurance tools for therapeutic ultrasound

Compared to diagnostic ultrasound, special phantoms and measurement techniques for therapeutic ultrasound are still far from standardization. In the following article, the development of quality assurance (QA) tools for two therapy methods are described: Extracorporeal shockwave lithotripsy (ESWL) and high intensity focused ultrasound (HiFU). The three consequent parts are QA tools in research and development, QA in clinical environment and standardization. For part one the computerized scanning with hydrophones, the use of Schlieren optics and sound force balances are state of the art. For clinical use the test procedures have to be simple so that routine checking of the equipment becomes convenient.