  In this study we established the feasibility of producing localized ablation
zones using microsecond pulsed microwave ablation (MWA) as an alternative to
conventional continuous wave (CW) MWA. We verified that a thin floating-sleeve
dipole ablation probe can withstand pulsed power delivery with peak powers as
high as 25 kW, with pulse widths on the order of 1 us. We conducted MWA
experiments in egg white using CW and pulsed modes of operation and found that
ablation zones achieved via pulsed MWA are comparable in dimension to those
created via CW MWA when the average power and procedure duration are
equivalent. Finally, we performed pulsed MWA experiments in bovine liver and
confirmed that pulsed MWA consistently produces large, localized ablation zones
and temperatures that exceed 100{\deg}C. Establishing the feasibility of pulsed
MWA opens the opportunity for developing a coupled MWA treatment and imaging
system using pulsed MWA and microwave-induced thermoacoustic signals for
real-time monitoring of MWA.
