The potential of high‐intensity focused ultrasound (HIFU) will not be realized unless the effects of overlaying tissues are understood in such a way that allows for estimation of HIFU dose distribution at a target tissue. We employ computational models to examine the impact of phase aberration on tissue ablation. Thompson and Roberts have recently studied the effects of phase aberration on ultrasound focusing in aerospace engine materials such as titanium alloy, and have developed a computational model to examine these effects. The ultrasound beam observed after transmission through the fused quartz (homogeneous) and that observed after transmission through the titanium (inhomogeneous) demonstrate the severe beam wavefield amplitude distortion introduced by the velocity inhomogeneity‐induced phase aberration. We study applicability of this approach to model phase aberration in inhomogeneous tissues and its effect on HIFU dose distribution around the focus. It is hypothesized that the ill‐effects of phase aberration accumulate during propagation through intervening tissue in which field intensities are substantially lower than that in the focal zone, and it is therefore appropriate to use a linear acoustic model to describe the transport of energy from the transducer to the volume targeted for ablation. We present initial results of the simulation and experiments of beam measurements under water without and with different tissue layers. © 2006 American Institute of Physics