The Diagnostic Value of Pulsed Wave Tissue Doppler Imaging in Asymptomatic Beta- Thalassemia Major Children and Young Adults; Relation to Chemical Biomarkers of Left Ventricular Function and Iron Overload

PubMed Central

Ragab, Seham M; Fathy, Waleed M; El-Aziz, Walaa FAbd; Helal, Rasha T

2015-01-01

Background Cardiac iron toxicity is the leading cause of death among β-halassaemia major (TM) patients. Once heart failure becomes overt, it is difficult to reverse. Objectives To investigate non-overt cardiac dysfunctions in TM patients using pulsed wave Tissue Doppler Imaging (TD I) and its relation to iron overload and brain natriuretic peptide (BNP). Methods Thorough clinical, conventional echo and pulsed wave TDI parameters were compared between asymptomatic 25 β-TM patients and 20 age and gender matched individuals. Serum ferritin and plasma BNP levels were assayed by ELISA. Results TM patients had significant higher mitral inflow early diastolic (E) wave and non significant other conventional echo parameters. In the patient group, pulsed wave TDI revealed systolic dysfunctions, in the form of significant higher isovolumetric contraction time (ICT), and lower ejection time (E T), with diastolic dysfunction in the form of higher isovolumetric relaxation time (IRT), and lower mitral annulus early diastolic velocity E′ (12.07 ±2.06 vs 15.04±2.65, P= 0.003) compared to the controls. Plasma BNP was higher in patients compared to the controls. Plasma BNP and serum ferritin had a significant correlation with each other and with pulsed wave conventional and TDI indices of systolic and diastolic functions. Patients with E/E′ ≥ 8 had significant higher serum ferritin and plasma BNP levels compared to those with ratio < 8 without a difference in Hb levels. Conclusion Pulsed wave TDI is an important diagnostic tool for latent cardiac dysfunction in iron-loaded TM patients and is related to iron overload and BNP. PMID:26401240

The Diagnostic Value of Pulsed Wave Tissue Doppler Imaging in Asymptomatic Beta- Thalassemia Major Children and Young Adults; Relation to Chemical Biomarkers of Left Ventricular Function and Iron Overload.

PubMed

Ragab, Seham M; Fathy, Waleed M; El-Aziz, Walaa FAbd; Helal, Rasha T

2015-01-01

Cardiac iron toxicity is the leading cause of death among β-halassaemia major (TM) patients. Once heart failure becomes overt, it is difficult to reverse. To investigate non-overt cardiac dysfunctions in TM patients using pulsed wave Tissue Doppler Imaging (TD I) and its relation to iron overload and brain natriuretic peptide (BNP). Thorough clinical, conventional echo and pulsed wave TDI parameters were compared between asymptomatic 25 β-TM patients and 20 age and gender matched individuals. Serum ferritin and plasma BNP levels were assayed by ELISA. TM patients had significant higher mitral inflow early diastolic (E) wave and non significant other conventional echo parameters. In the patient group, pulsed wave TDI revealed systolic dysfunctions, in the form of significant higher isovolumetric contraction time (ICT), and lower ejection time (E T), with diastolic dysfunction in the form of higher isovolumetric relaxation time (IRT), and lower mitral annulus early diastolic velocity E' (12.07 ±2.06 vs 15.04±2.65, P= 0.003) compared to the controls. Plasma BNP was higher in patients compared to the controls. Plasma BNP and serum ferritin had a significant correlation with each other and with pulsed wave conventional and TDI indices of systolic and diastolic functions. Patients with E/E' ≥ 8 had significant higher serum ferritin and plasma BNP levels compared to those with ratio < 8 without a difference in Hb levels. Pulsed wave TDI is an important diagnostic tool for latent cardiac dysfunction in iron-loaded TM patients and is related to iron overload and BNP.

Cavitation clouds created by shock scattering from bubbles during histotripsy

PubMed Central

Maxwell, Adam D.; Wang, Tzu-Yin; Cain, Charles A.; Fowlkes, J. Brian; Sapozhnikov, Oleg A.; Bailey, Michael R.; Xu, Zhen

2011-01-01

Histotripsy is a therapy that focuses short-duration, high-amplitude pulses of ultrasound to incite a localized cavitation cloud that mechanically breaks down tissue. To investigate the mechanism of cloud formation, high-speed photography was used to observe clouds generated during single histotripsy pulses. Pulses of 5−20 cycles duration were applied to a transparent tissue phantom by a 1-MHz spherically focused transducer. Clouds initiated from single cavitation bubbles that formed during the initial cycles of the pulse, and grew along the acoustic axis opposite the propagation direction. Based on these observations, we hypothesized that clouds form as a result of large negative pressure generated by the backscattering of shockwaves from a single bubble. The positive-pressure phase of the wave inverts upon scattering and superimposes on the incident negative-pressure phase to create this negative pressure and cavitation. The process repeats with each cycle of the incident wave, and the bubble cloud elongates toward the transducer. Finite-amplitude propagation distorts the incident wave such that the peak-positive pressure is much greater than the peak-negative pressure, which exaggerates the effect. The hypothesis was tested with two modified incident waves that maintained negative pressure but reduced the positive pressure amplitude. These waves suppressed cloud formation which supported the hypothesis. PMID:21973343

Physical properties of hydrated tissue determined by surface interferometry of laser-induced thermoelastic deformation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Dark, Marta L.; Perelman, Lev T.; Itzkan, Irving; Schaffer, Jonathan L.; Feld, Michael S.

2000-02-01

Knee meniscus is a hydrated tissue; it is a fibrocartilage of the knee joint composed primarily of water. We present results of interferometric surface monitoring by which we measure physical properties of human knee meniscal cartilage. The physical response of biological tissue to a short laser pulse is primarily thermomechanical. When the pulse is shorter than characteristic times (thermal diffusion time and acoustic relaxation time) stresses build and propagate as acoustic waves in the tissue. The tissue responds to the laser-induced stress by thermoelastic expansion. Solving the thermoelastic wave equation numerically predicts the correct laser-induced expansion. By comparing theory with experimental data, we can obtain the longitudinal speed of sound, the effective optical penetration depth and the Grüneisen coefficient. This study yields information about the laser-tissue interaction and determines properties of the meniscus samples that could be used as diagnostic parameters.

Liberation of a pinned spiral wave by a rotating electric pulse

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Chen, Jiang-Xing; Peng, Liang; Ma, Jun; Ying, He-Ping

2014-08-01

Spiral waves may be pinned to anatomical heterogeneities in the cardiac tissue, which leads to monomorphic ventricular tachycardia. Wave emission from heterogeneities (WEH) induced by electric pulses in one direction (EP) is a promising method for liberating such waves by using heterogeneities as internal virtual pacing sites. Here, based on the WEH effect, a new mechanism of liberation by means of a rotating electric pulse (REP) is proposed in a generic model of excitable media. Compared with the EP, the REP has the advantage of opening wider time window to liberate pinned spiral. The influences of rotating direction and frequency of the REP, and the radius of the obstacles on this new mechanism are studied. We believe this strategy may improve manipulations with pinned spiral waves in heart experiments.

Diagnostic Analysis Of Ultrasound Data

DOEpatents

Chambers, David H.; Mast, Jeffrey; Azevedo, Stephen G.; Wuebbeling, Frank; Natterer, Frank; Duric, Neb; Littrup, Peter J.; Holsapple, Earle

2006-01-10

A method and apparatus are provided for investigating tissue in which acoustic data are derived from scattering a plurality of pulsed spherical or cylindrical acoustic waves from a plurality of transmission elements through the tissue to a plurality of receiving elements. The acoustic data, which include a mix of reflected and transmitted acoustic waves, are received and digitized, and a representation of a portion of the tissue is generated from the digitized acoustic data.

Amplitude-modulated ultrasound radiation force combined with phase-sensitive optical coherence tomography for shear wave elastography

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Nguyen, Thu-Mai; Song, Shaozhen; Arnal, Bastien; Wong, Emily Y.; Shen, Tueng T.; Wang, Ruikang K.; O'Donnell, Matthew

2015-03-01

Tissue stiffness can be measured from the propagation speed of shear waves. Acoustic radiation force (ARF) can generate shear waves by focusing ultrasound in tissue for ~100 μs. Safety considerations and electronics abilities limit ultrasound pressures. We previously presented shear wave elastography combining ARF and phase-sensitive optical coherence tomography (PhS-OCT) [1]. Here, we use amplitude-modulated ARF to enhance shear wave signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) at low pressures. Experiments were performed on tissue-mimicking phantoms. ARF was applied using a single-element transducer, driven by a 7.5 MHz, 3-ms, sine wave modulated in amplitude by a linear-swept frequency (1 to 7 kHz). Pressures between 1 to 3 MPa were tested. Displacements were tracked using PhS-OCT and numerically compressed using pulse compression methods detailed in previous work [2]. SNR was compared to that of 200-μs bursts. Stiffness maps were reconstructed using time-of-flight computations. 200-μs bursts give barely detectable displacements at 1 MPa (3.7 dB SNR). Pulse compression gives 36.2 dB at 1.5 MPa. In all cases with detectable displacements, shear wave speeds were determined in 5%-gelatin and 10%-gelatin phantoms and compared to literature values. Applicability to ocular tissues (cornea, intraocular lens) is under investigation.

Visible continuum pulses based on enhanced dispersive wave generation for endogenous fluorescence imaging.

PubMed

Cui, Quan; Chen, Zhongyun; Liu, Qian; Zhang, Zhihong; Luo, Qingming; Fu, Ling

2017-09-01

In this study, we demonstrate endogenous fluorescence imaging using visible continuum pulses based on 100-fs Ti:sapphire oscillator and a nonlinear photonic crystal fiber. Broadband (500-700 nm) and high-power (150 mW) continuum pulses are generated through enhanced dispersive wave generation by pumping femtosecond pulses at the anomalous dispersion region near zero-dispersion wavelength of high-nonlinear photonic crystal fibers. We also minimize the continuum pulse width by determining the proper fiber length. The visible-wavelength two-photon microscopy produces NADH and tryptophan images of mice tissues simultaneously. Our 500-700 nm continuum pulses support extending nonlinear microscopy to visible wavelength range that is inaccessible to 100-fs Ti:sapphire oscillators and other applications requiring visible laser pulses.

Stress wave focusing transducers

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Visuri, S.R., LLNL

Conversion of laser radiation to mechanical energy is the fundamental process behind many medical laser procedures, particularly those involving tissue destruction and removal. Stress waves can be generated with laser radiation in several ways: creation of a plasma and subsequent launch of a shock wave, thermoelastic expansion of the target tissue, vapor bubble collapse, and ablation recoil. Thermoelastic generation of stress waves generally requires short laser pulse durations and high energy density. Thermoelastic stress waves can be formed when the laser pulse duration is shorter than the acoustic transit time of the material: {tau}{sub c} = d/c{sub s} where dmore » = absorption depth or spot diameter, whichever is smaller, and c{sub s} = sound speed in the material. The stress wave due to thermoelastic expansion travels at the sound speed (approximately 1500 m/s in tissue) and leaves the site of irradiation well before subsequent thermal events can be initiated. These stress waves, often evolving into shock waves, can be used to disrupt tissue. Shock waves are used in ophthalmology to perform intraocular microsurgery and photodisruptive procedures as well as in lithotripsy to fragment stones. We have explored a variety of transducers that can efficiently convert optical to mechanical energy. One such class of transducers allows a shock wave to be focused within a material such that the stress magnitude can be greatly increased compared to conventional geometries. Some transducer tips could be made to operate regardless of the absorption properties of the ambient media. The size and nature of the devices enable easy delivery, potentially minimally-invasive procedures, and precise tissue- targeting while limiting thermal loading. The transducer tips may have applications in lithotripsy, ophthalmology, drug delivery, and cardiology.« less

Finite element modelling of radial shock wave therapy for chronic plantar fasciitis.

PubMed

Alkhamaali, Zaied K; Crocombe, Andrew D; Solan, Matthew C; Cirovic, Srdjan

2016-01-01

Therapeutic use of high-amplitude pressure waves, or shock wave therapy (SWT), is emerging as a popular method for treating musculoskeletal disorders. However, the mechanism(s) through which this technique promotes healing are unclear. Finite element models of a shock wave source and the foot were constructed to gain a better understanding of the mechanical stimuli that SWT produces in the context of plantar fasciitis treatment. The model of the shock wave source was based on the geometry of an actual radial shock wave device, in which pressure waves are generated through the collision of two metallic objects: a projectile and an applicator. The foot model was based on the geometry reconstructed from magnetic resonance images of a volunteer and it comprised bones, cartilage, soft tissue, plantar fascia, and Achilles tendon. Dynamic simulations were conducted of a single and of two successive shock wave pulses administered to the foot. The collision between the projectile and the applicator resulted in a stress wave in the applicator. This wave was transmitted into the soft tissue in the form of compression-rarefaction pressure waves with an amplitude of the order of several MPa. The negative pressure at the plantar fascia reached values of over 1.5 MPa, which could be sufficient to generate cavitation in the tissue. The results also show that multiple shock wave pulses may have a cumulative effect in terms of strain energy accumulation in the foot.

Thermal modeling for pulsed radiofrequency ablation: analytical study based on hyperbolic heat conduction.

PubMed

López Molina, Juan A; Rivera, María J; Trujillo, Macarena; Berjano, Enrique J

2009-04-01

The objectives of this study were to model the temperature progress of a pulsed radiofrequency (RF) power during RF heating of biological tissue, and to employ the hyperbolic heat transfer equation (HHTE), which takes the thermal wave behavior into account, and compare the results to those obtained using the heat transfer equation based on Fourier theory (FHTE). A theoretical model was built based on an active spherical electrode completely embedded in the biological tissue, after which HHTE and FHTE were analytically solved. We found three typical waveforms for the temperature progress depending on the relations between the dimensionless duration of the RF pulse delta(a) and the expression square root of lambda(rho-1), with lambda as the dimensionless thermal relaxation time of the tissue and rho as the dimensionless position. In the case of a unique RF pulse, the temperature at any location was the result of the overlapping of two different heat sources delayed for a duration delta(a) (each heat source being produced by a RF pulse of limitless duration). The most remarkable feature in the HHTE analytical solution was the presence of temperature peaks traveling through the medium at a finite speed. These peaks not only occurred during the RF power switch-on period but also during switch off. Finally, a physical explanation for these temperature peaks is proposed based on the interaction of forward and reverse thermal waves. All-purpose analytical solutions for FHTE and HHTE were obtained during pulsed RF heating of biological tissues, which could be used for any value of pulsing frequency and duty cycle.

Modelling far field pacing for terminating spiral waves pinned to ischaemic heterogeneities in cardiac tissue

PubMed Central

Boccia, E.; Luther, S.

2017-01-01

In cardiac tissue, electrical spiral waves pinned to a heterogeneity can be unpinned (and eventually terminated) using electric far field pulses and recruiting the heterogeneity as a virtual electrode. While for isotropic media the process of unpinning is much better understood, the case of an anisotropic substrate with different conductivities in different directions still needs intensive investigation. To study the impact of anisotropy on the unpinning process, we present numerical simulations based on the bidomain formulation of the phase I of the Luo and Rudy action potential model modified due to the occurrence of acute myocardial ischaemia. Simulating a rotating spiral wave pinned to an ischaemic heterogeneity, we compare the success of sequences of far field pulses in the isotropic and the anisotropic case for spirals still in transient or in steady rotation states. Our results clearly indicate that the range of pacing parameters resulting in successful termination of pinned spiral waves is larger in anisotropic tissue than in an isotropic medium. This article is part of the themed issue ‘Mathematical methods in medicine: neuroscience, cardiology and pathology’. PMID:28507234

Modelling far field pacing for terminating spiral waves pinned to ischaemic heterogeneities in cardiac tissue

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Boccia, E.; Luther, S.; Parlitz, U.

2017-05-01

In cardiac tissue, electrical spiral waves pinned to a heterogeneity can be unpinned (and eventually terminated) using electric far field pulses and recruiting the heterogeneity as a virtual electrode. While for isotropic media the process of unpinning is much better understood, the case of an anisotropic substrate with different conductivities in different directions still needs intensive investigation. To study the impact of anisotropy on the unpinning process, we present numerical simulations based on the bidomain formulation of the phase I of the Luo and Rudy action potential model modified due to the occurrence of acute myocardial ischaemia. Simulating a rotating spiral wave pinned to an ischaemic heterogeneity, we compare the success of sequences of far field pulses in the isotropic and the anisotropic case for spirals still in transient or in steady rotation states. Our results clearly indicate that the range of pacing parameters resulting in successful termination of pinned spiral waves is larger in anisotropic tissue than in an isotropic medium. This article is part of the themed issue `Mathematical methods in medicine: neuroscience, cardiology and pathology'.

Effect of Young's modulus on bubble formation and pressure waves during pulsed holmium ablation of tissue phantoms

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Jansen, E. Duco; Asshauer, Thomas; Frenz, Martin; Delacretaz, Guy P.; Motamedi, Massoud; Welch, Ashley J.

1995-05-01

Mechanical injury during pulsed laser ablation of tissue is caused by rapid bubble expansions and collapse or by laser-induced pressure waves. In this study the effect of material elasticity on the ablation process has been investigated. Polyacrylamide tissue phantoms with various water concentrations (75-95%) were made. The Young's moduli of the gels were determined by measuring the stress-strain relationship. An optical fiber (200 or 400 micrometers ) was translated into the clear gel and one pulse of holmium:YAG laser radiation was given. The laser was operated in either the Q-switched mode (tau) p equals 500 ns, Qp equals 14 +/- 1 mJ, 200 micrometers fiber, Ho equals 446 mJ/mm2) or the free-running mode ((tau) p equals 100 microsecond(s) , Qp equals 200 +/- 5 mJ, 400 micrometers fiber, Ho equals 1592 mJ/mm2). Bubble formation inside the gels was recorded using a fast flash photography setup while simultaneously recording pressures with a PVDP needle hydrophone (40 ns risetime) positioned in the gel, approximately 2 mm away from the fibertip. A thermo-elastic expansion wave was measured only during Q-switched pulse delivery. The amplitude of this wave (approximately equals 40 bar at 1 mm from the fiber) did not vary significantly in any of the phantoms investigated. Rapid bubble formation and collapse was observed inside the clear gels. Upon bubble collapse, a pressure transient was emitted; the amplitude of this transient depended strongly on bubble size and geometry. It was found that (1) the bubble was almost spherical for the Q-switched pulse and became more elongated for the free-running pulse, and (2) the maximum bubble size and thus the collapse amplitude decreased with an increase in Young's modulus (from 68 +/- 11 bar at 1 mm in 95% water gel to 25 +/- 10 bar at 1 mm in 75% water gel).

L wave in echo Doppler.

PubMed

Kumar, Vipin; Jose, John; Jose, V Jacob

2014-01-01

62-year-old female presented with progressive dyspnea NYHA class III for six months. Echocardiography showed normal left ventricular (LV) systolic function, mild biatrial enlargement, an L wave in pulse wave Doppler at mitral inflow and in M mode echocardiography across mitral valve. Tissue Doppler imaging at medial mitral annulus showed an L' wave in mid diastole in addition to E' and A' wave. An L wave in pulse wave Doppler and M mode echocardiography represents continued pulmonary vein mid diastolic flow through the left atrium in to LV across mitral valve after early rapid filling. Presence of an L' wave in these patients associated with higher E/E' is indicative of advance diastolic dysfunction with elevated filling pressures. Copyright © 2014 Cardiological Society of India. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Thermal damage produced by high-irradiance continuous wave CO2 laser cutting of tissue.

PubMed

Schomacker, K T; Walsh, J T; Flotte, T J; Deutsch, T F

1990-01-01

Thermal damage produced by continuous wave (cw) CO2 laser ablation of tissue in vitro was measured for irradiances ranging from 360 W/cm2 to 740 kW/cm2 in order to investigate the extent to which ablative cooling can limit tissue damage. Damage zones thinner than 100 microns were readily produced using single pulses to cut guinea pig skin as well as bovine cornea, aorta, and myocardium. Multiple pulses can lead to increased damage. However, a systematic decrease in damage with irradiance, predicted theoretically by an evaporation model of ablation, was not observed. The damage-zone thickness was approximately constant around the periphery of the cut, consistent with the existence of a liquid layer which stores heat and leads to tissue damage, and with a model of damage and ablation recently proposed by Zweig et al.

Impact of shock wave pattern and cavitation bubble size on tissue damage during ureteroscopic electrohydraulic lithotripsy.

PubMed

Vorreuther, R; Corleis, R; Klotz, T; Bernards, P; Engelmann, U

1995-03-01

It is known that electrohydraulic lithotripsy (EHL) during ureteroscopy may cause ureteral damage. To evaluate this trauma potential, find its mechanism and make it possible to avoid it, our research employed photographic evaluation, tissue studies, shock wave measurements and disintegration tests. The setup included a 3.3 F probe attached to an experimental generator with adjustable voltages and capacities providing energies from 25 mJ. to 1300 mJ. per pulse. In general, we distinguish between two traumatic mechanisms: (1) After placing the probe directly on the mucosa the rapid initial plasma penetrates the tissue resulting in a small, nonthermal, punched-like defect, whose depth depends on the energy applied. This trauma has minor clinical implications and is avoided by maintaining a minimum safety distance of 1 mm.; (2) According to physics, each plasma is followed by a cavitation bubble. The maximum size of this bubble depends on the energy applied and ranges from 3 mm. (25 mJ) to > 15 mm. (1300 mJ). In proportion to the bubble size, the ureteral wall may be distended or disrupted, even when the probe is not in direct contact with the mucosa. Therefore, the goal should be to obtain a low energy pressure pulse with high disintegration efficacy. Our evaluation of the pressure waves revealed that the selection of a high voltage and a low capacity leads to short and steep "laser-like" pulses. These pulses have a significant higher impact on stone disintegration than the broader pulses of the same energy provided by currently available generators.

Pulse compression favourable aperiodic infrared imaging approach for non-destructive testing and evaluation of bio-materials

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mulaveesala, Ravibabu; Dua, Geetika; Arora, Vanita; Siddiqui, Juned A.; Muniyappa, Amarnath

2017-05-01

In recent years, aperiodic, transient pulse compression favourable infrared imaging methodologies demonstrated as reliable, quantitative, remote characterization and evaluation techniques for testing and evaluation of various biomaterials. This present work demonstrates a pulse compression favourable aperiodic thermal wave imaging technique, frequency modulated thermal wave imaging technique for bone diagnostics, especially by considering the bone with tissue, skin and muscle over layers. In order to find the capabilities of the proposed frequency modulated thermal wave imaging technique to detect the density variations in a multi layered skin-fat-muscle-bone structure, finite element modeling and simulation studies have been carried out. Further, frequency and time domain post processing approaches have been adopted on the temporal temperature data in order to improve the detection capabilities of frequency modulated thermal wave imaging.

Laser-Neuron Interaction with Femtosecond Beat-Modulated 800-1200 nm Photon Beams, as the Treatment of Brain Cancer Tissue. Laser Neurophysics

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Stefan, V. Alexander

2011-03-01

I propose a novel mechanism for the brain cancer tissue treatment: nonlinear interaction of ultrashort pulses of beat-photon, (ω1 -- ω2) , or double-photon, (ω1 +ω2) , beams with the cancer tissue. The multiphoton scattering is described via photon diffusion equation. The open-scull cerebral tissue can be irradiated with the beat-modulated photon pulses with the laser irradiances in the range of a few mW/cm2 , and repetition rate of a few 100s Hz generated in the beat-wave driven free electron laser. V. Stefan, B. I. Cohen, and C. Joshi, Nonlinear Mixing of Electromagnetic Waves in PlasmasScience 27 January 1989: V. Alexander Stefan, Genomic Medical Physics: A New Physics in the Making, (S-U-Press, 2008).} This highly accurate cancer tissue ablation removal may prove to be an efficient method for the treatment of brain cancer. Work supported in part by Nikola Tesla Laboratories (Stefan University), La Jolla, CA.

Simulation study and guidelines to generate Laser-induced Surface Acoustic Waves for human skin feature detection

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Li, Tingting; Fu, Xing; Chen, Kun; Dorantes-Gonzalez, Dante J.; Li, Yanning; Wu, Sen; Hu, Xiaotang

2015-12-01

Despite the seriously increasing number of people contracting skin cancer every year, limited attention has been given to the investigation of human skin tissues. To this regard, Laser-induced Surface Acoustic Wave (LSAW) technology, with its accurate, non-invasive and rapid testing characteristics, has recently shown promising results in biological and biomedical tissues. In order to improve the measurement accuracy and efficiency of detecting important features in highly opaque and soft surfaces such as human skin, this paper identifies the most important parameters of a pulse laser source, as well as provides practical guidelines to recommended proper ranges to generate Surface Acoustic Waves (SAWs) for characterization purposes. Considering that melanoma is a serious type of skin cancer, we conducted a finite element simulation-based research on the generation and propagation of surface waves in human skin containing a melanoma-like feature, determine best pulse laser parameter ranges of variation, simulation mesh size and time step, working bandwidth, and minimal size of detectable melanoma.

Ultrasound-aided high-resolution biophotonic imaging

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wang, Lihong V.

2003-10-01

We develop novel biophotonic imaging for early-cancer detection, a grand challenge in cancer research, using nonionizing electromagnetic and ultrasonic waves. Unlike ionizing x-ray radiation, nonionizing electromagnetic waves such as optical waves are safe for biomedical applications and reveal new contrast mechanisms and functional information. For example, our spectroscopic oblique-incidence reflectometry can detect skin cancers based on functional hemoglobin parameters and cell nuclear size with 95% accuracy. Unfortunately, electromagnetic waves in the nonionizing spectral region do not penetrate biological tissue in straight paths as do x-rays. Consequently, high-resolution tomography based on nonionizing electromagnetic waves alone, as demonstrated by our Mueller optical coherence tomography, is limited to superficial tissue imaging. Ultrasonic imaging, on the contrary, furnishes good imaging resolution but has poor contrast in early-stage tumors and has strong speckle artifacts as well. We developed ultrasound-mediated imaging modalities by combining electromagnetic and ultrasonic waves synergistically. The hybrid modalities yield speckle-free electromagnetic-contrast at ultrasonic resolution in relatively large biological tissue. In ultrasound-modulated (acousto)-optical tomography, a focused ultrasonic wave encodes diffuse laser light in scattering biological tissue. In photo-acoustic (thermo-acoustic) tomography, a low-energy laser (RF) pulse induces ultrasonic waves in biological tissue due to thermoelastic expansion.

Spatial beam shaping for lowering the threshold energy for femtosecond laser pulse photodisruption

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hansen, Anja; Ripken, Tammo; Heisterkamp, Alexander

2011-10-01

High precision femtosecond laser surgery is achieved by focusing femtosecond (fs) laser pulses in transparent tissues to create an optical breakdown leading to tissue dissection through photodisruption. For moving applications in ophthalmology from corneal or lental applications in the anterior eye to vitreal or retinal surgery in the posterior eye the applied pulse energy needs to be minimized in order to avoid harm to the retina. However, the aberrations of the anterior eye elements cause a distortion of the wave front and consequently an increase in size of the irradiated area and a decrease in photon density in the focal volume. Therefore, higher pulse energy is required to still surpass the threshold irradiance. In this work, aberrations in an eye model consisting of a plano-convex lens for focusing and 2-hydroxyethylmethacrylate (HEMA) in a water cuvette as eye tissue were corrected with a deformable mirror in combination with a Hartmann-Shack-sensor. The influence of an adaptive optics aberration correction on the pulse energy required for photodisruption was investigated. A reduction of the threshold energy was shown in the aberration-corrected case and the spatial confinement raised the irradiance at constant pulse energy. As less energy is required for photodisruption when correcting for wave front aberrations the potential risk of peripheral damage is reduced, especially for the retina during laser surgery in the posterior eye segment. This offers new possibilities for high precision fs-laser surgery in the treatment of several vitreal and retinal pathologies.

Evaluation of an optical fiber probe for in vivo measurement of the photoacoustic response of tissues

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Beard, Paul C.; Mills, Timothy N.

1995-05-01

A miniature (1 mm diameter) all-optical photoacoustic probe for generating and detecting ultrasonic thermoelastic waves in biological media at the tip of an optical fiber has been developed. The probe provides a compact and convenient means of performing pulsed photoacoustic spectroscopy for the characterization of biological tissue. The device is based upon a transparent Fabry Perot polymer film ultrasound sensor mounted directly over the end of a multimode optical fiber. The optical fiber is used to deliver nanosecond laser pulses to the tissue producing thermoelastic waves which are then detected by the sensor. Detection sensitivities of 53 mv/MPa and a 10 kPa acoustic noise floor have been demonstrated giving excellent signal to noise ratios in a strong liquid absorber. Lower, but clearly detectable, signals in post mortem human aorta have also been observed. The performance and small physical size of the device suggest that it has the potential to perform remote in situ photoacoustic measurements in tissue.

Removal of pinned scroll waves in cardiac tissues by electric fields in a generic model of three-dimensional excitable media.

PubMed

Pan, De-Bei; Gao, Xiang; Feng, Xia; Pan, Jun-Ting; Zhang, Hong

2016-02-24

Spirals or scroll waves pinned to heterogeneities in cardiac tissues may cause lethal arrhythmias. To unpin these life-threatening spiral waves, methods of wave emission from heterogeneities (WEH) induced by low-voltage pulsed DC electric fields (PDCEFs) and circularly polarized electric fields (CPEFs) have been used in two-dimensional (2D) cardiac tissues. Nevertheless, the unpinning of scroll waves in three-dimensional (3D) cardiac systems is much more difficult than that of spiral waves in 2D cardiac systems, and there are few reports on the removal of pinned scroll waves in 3D cardiac tissues by electric fields. In this article, we investigate in detail the removal of pinned scroll waves in a generic model of 3D excitable media using PDCEF, AC electric field (ACEF) and CPEF, respectively. We find that spherical waves can be induced from the heterogeneities by these electric fields in initially quiescent excitable media. However, only CPEF can induce spherical waves with frequencies higher than that of the pinned scroll wave. Such higher-frequency spherical waves induced by CPEF can be used to drive the pinned scroll wave out of the cardiac systems. We hope this remarkable ability of CPEF can provide a better alternative to terminate arrhythmias caused by pinned scroll waves.

Effects of stress waves on cells

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Campbell, H L; Da Silva, L B; Visuri, S R

Laser induced stress waves are being used in a variety of medical applications, including drug delivery and targeted tissue disruption. Stress waves can also be an undesirable side effect in laser procedures such as ophthalmology and angioplasty. Thus, a study of the effects of stress waves on a cellular level is useful. Thermoelastic stress waves were produced using a Q-switched frequency-doubled Nd:YAG laser (@.=532nm) with a pulse duration of 4 ns. The laser radiation was delivered to an absorbing media. A thermoelastic stress wave was produced in the absorbing media and propagated into plated cells. The energy per pulse deliveredmore » to a sample and the spot size were varied. Stress waves were quantified. We assayed for cell viability and damage using two methods. The laser parameters within which cells maintain viability were investigated and thresholds for cell damage were defined. A comparison of cell damage thresholds for different cell lines was made.« less

Laser Generated Leaky Acoustic Waves for Needle Visualization.

PubMed

Wu, Kai-Wen; Wang, Yi-An; Li, Pai-Chi

2018-04-01

Ultrasound (US)-guided needle operation is usually used to visualize both tissue and needle position such as tissue biopsy and localized drug delivery. However, the transducer-needle orientation is limited due to reflection of the acoustic waves. We proposed a leaky acoustic wave method to visualize the needle position and orientation. Laser pulses are emitted on top of the needle to generate acoustic waves; then, these acoustic waves propagate along the needle surface. Leaky wave signals are detected by the US array transducer. The needle position can be calculated by phase velocities of two different wave modes and their corresponding emission angles. In our experiments, a series of needles was inserted into a tissue mimicking phantom and porcine tissue to evaluate the accuracy of the proposed method. The results show that the detection depth is up to 51 mm and the insertion angle is up to 40° with needles of different diameters. It is demonstrated that the proposed approach outperforms the conventional B-mode US-guided needle operation in terms of the detection range while achieving similar accuracy. The proposed method reveals the potentials for further clinical applications.

Improved Shear Wave Motion Detection Using Pulse-Inversion Harmonic Imaging with a Phased Array Transducer

PubMed Central

Song, Pengfei; Zhao, Heng; Urban, Matthew W.; Manduca, Armando; Pislaru, Sorin V.; Kinnick, Randall R.; Pislaru, Cristina; Greenleaf, James F.; Chen, Shigao

2013-01-01

Ultrasound tissue harmonic imaging is widely used to improve ultrasound B-mode imaging quality thanks to its effectiveness in suppressing imaging artifacts associated with ultrasound reverberation, phase aberration, and clutter noise. In ultrasound shear wave elastography (SWE), because the shear wave motion signal is extracted from the ultrasound signal, these noise sources can significantly deteriorate the shear wave motion tracking process and consequently result in noisy and biased shear wave motion detection. This situation is exacerbated in in vivo SWE applications such as heart, liver, and kidney. This paper, therefore, investigated the possibility of implementing harmonic imaging, specifically pulse-inversion harmonic imaging, in shear wave tracking, with the hypothesis that harmonic imaging can improve shear wave motion detection based on the same principles that apply to general harmonic B-mode imaging. We first designed an experiment with a gelatin phantom covered by an excised piece of pork belly and show that harmonic imaging can significantly improve shear wave motion detection by producing less underestimated shear wave motion and more consistent shear wave speed measurements than fundamental imaging. Then, a transthoracic heart experiment on a freshly sacrificed pig showed that harmonic imaging could robustly track the shear wave motion and give consistent shear wave speed measurements while fundamental imaging could not. Finally, an in vivo transthoracic study of seven healthy volunteers showed that the proposed harmonic imaging tracking sequence could provide consistent estimates of the left ventricular myocardium stiffness in end-diastole with a general success rate of 80% and a success rate of 93.3% when excluding the subject with Body Mass Index (BMI) higher than 25. These promising results indicate that pulse-inversion harmonic imaging can significantly improve shear wave motion tracking and thus potentially facilitate more robust assessment of tissue elasticity by SWE. PMID:24021638

Interaction of excitable waves emitted from two defects by pulsed electric fields

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Chen, Jiang-Xing; Zhang, Han; Qiao, Li-Yan; Liang, Hong; Sun, Wei-Gang

2018-01-01

In response to a pulsed electric field, spatial distributed heterogeneities in excitable media can serve as nucleation sites for the generation of intramural electrical waves, a phenomenon called as ;wave emission from heterogeneities; (WEH effect). Heterogeneities in cardiac tissue strongly influence each other in the WEH effect. We study the WEH effect in a medium possessing two defects. The role of two defects and their interaction by pulsed DC electric fields (DEF) and rotating electric fields (REF) are investigated. The direction of the applied electric field plays a major role not only in the minimum electrical field necessary to originate wave propagation, but also in the degree of influences of nearby defects. The distance between two defects, i.e. the density of defects, also play an important role in the WEH effect. Generally, the REF is better than the DEF when pulsed electric fields are applied. These results may contribute to the improved application of WEH, especially in older patients with fibrosis and scarring, which are accompanied by a higher incidence of conductivity discontinuities.

Histologic evaluation of laser lipolysis comparing continuous wave vs pulsed lasers in an in vivo pig model.

PubMed

Levi, Jessica R; Veerappan, Anna; Chen, Bo; Mirkov, Mirko; Sierra, Ray; Spiegel, Jeffrey H

2011-01-01

To evaluate acute and delayed laser effects of subdermal lipolysis and collagen deposition using an in vivo pig model and to compare histologic findings in fatty tissue after continuous wave diode (CW) vs pulsed laser treatment. Three CW lasers (980, 1370, and 1470 nm) and 3 pulsed lasers (1064, 1320, and 1440 nm) were used to treat 4 Göttingen minipigs. Following administration of Klein tumescent solution, a laser cannula was inserted at the top of a 10 × 2.5-cm rectangle and was passed subdermally to create separate laser "tunnels." Temperatures at the surface and at intervals of 4-mm to 20-mm depths were recorded immediately after exposure and were correlated with skin injury. Full-thickness cutaneous biopsy specimens were obtained at 1 day, 1 week, and 1 month after exposure and were stained with hematoxylin-eosin and trichrome stain. Qualitative and semiquantitative histopathologic evaluations were performed with attention to vascular damage, lipolysis, and collagen deposition. Skin surface damage occurred at temperatures exceeding 46°C. Histologic examination at 1 day after exposure showed hemorrhage, fibrous collagen fiber coagulation, and adipocyte damage. Adipocytes surrounded by histiocytes, a marker of lipolysis, were present at 1 week and 1 month after exposure. Collagen deposition in subdermal fatty tissue and in reticular dermis of some specimens was noted at 1 week and had increased at 1 month. Tissue treated with CW laser at 1470 nm demonstrated greater hemorrhage and more histiocytes at damage sites than tissue treated with pulsed laser at 1440 nm. There was a trend toward more collagen deposition with pulsed lasers than with CW lasers, but this was not statistically significant. Histopathologic comparison between results of CW laser at 980 nm vs pulsed laser at 1064 nm showed the same trend. Hemorrhage differences may result from pulse duration variations. A theoretical calculation estimating temperature rise in vessels supported this hypothesis. Pulsed lasers with higher peak powers provided better hemostatic effects than CW lasers. The degree of lipolysis depended on wavelength, laser power, and energy density. Subdermal laser irradiation can stimulate collagen deposition in subdermal tissue and reticular dermis.

Reduction of thermal damage in photodynamic therapy by laser irradiation techniques.

PubMed

Lim, Hyun Soo

2012-12-01

General application of continuous-wave (CW) laser irradiation modes in photodynamic therapy can cause thermal damage to normal tissues in addition to tumors. A new photodynamic laser therapy system using a pulse irradiation mode was optimized to reduce nonspecific thermal damage. In in vitro tissue specimens, tissue energy deposition rates were measured in three irradiation modes, CW, pulse, and burst-pulse. In addition, methods were tested for reducing variations in laser output and specific wavelength shifts using a thermoelectric cooler and thermistor. The average temperature elevation per 10 J/cm2 was 0.27°C, 0.09°C, and 0.08°C using the three methods, respectively, in pig muscle tissue. Variations in laser output were controlled within ± 0.2%, and specific wavelength shift was limited to ± 3 nm. Thus, optimization of a photodynamic laser system was achieved using a new pulse irradiation mode and controlled laser output to reduce potential thermal damage during conventional CW-based photodynamic therapy.

Multi-time-scale heat transfer modeling of turbid tissues exposed to short-pulsed irradiations.

PubMed

Kim, Kyunghan; Guo, Zhixiong

2007-05-01

A combined hyperbolic radiation and conduction heat transfer model is developed to simulate multi-time-scale heat transfer in turbid tissues exposed to short-pulsed irradiations. An initial temperature response of a tissue to an ultrashort pulse irradiation is analyzed by the volume-average method in combination with the transient discrete ordinates method for modeling the ultrafast radiation heat transfer. This response is found to reach pseudo steady state within 1 ns for the considered tissues. The single pulse result is then utilized to obtain the temperature response to pulse train irradiation at the microsecond/millisecond time scales. After that, the temperature field is predicted by the hyperbolic heat conduction model which is solved by the MacCormack's scheme with error terms correction. Finally, the hyperbolic conduction is compared with the traditional parabolic heat diffusion model. It is found that the maximum local temperatures are larger in the hyperbolic prediction than the parabolic prediction. In the modeled dermis tissue, a 7% non-dimensional temperature increase is found. After about 10 thermal relaxation times, thermal waves fade away and the predictions between the hyperbolic and parabolic models are consistent.

Supersonic transient magnetic resonance elastography for quantitative assessment of tissue elasticity

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Liu, Yu; Liu, Jingfei; Fite, Brett Z.; Foiret, Josquin; Ilovitsh, Asaf; Leach, J. Kent; Dumont, Erik; Caskey, Charles F.; Ferrara, Katherine W.

2017-05-01

Non-invasive, quantitative methods to assess the properties of biological tissues are needed for many therapeutic and tissue engineering applications. Magnetic resonance elastography (MRE) has historically relied on external vibration to generate periodic shear waves. In order to focally assess a biomaterial or to monitor the response to ablative therapy, the interrogation of a specific region of interest by a focused beam is desirable and transient MRE (t-MRE) techniques have previously been developed to accomplish this goal. Also, strategies employing a series of discrete ultrasound pulses directed to increasing depths along a single line-of-sight have been designed to generate a quasi-planar shear wave. Such ‘supersonic’ excitations have been applied for ultrasound elasticity measurements. The resulting shear wave is higher in amplitude than that generated from a single excitation and the properties of the media are simply visualized and quantified due to the quasi-planar wave geometry and the opportunity to generate the wave at the site of interest. Here for the first time, we extend the application of supersonic methods by developing a protocol for supersonic transient magnetic resonance elastography (sst-MRE) using an MR-guided focused ultrasound system capable of therapeutic ablation. We apply the new protocol to quantify tissue elasticity in vitro using biologically-relevant inclusions and tissue-mimicking phantoms, compare the results with elasticity maps acquired with ultrasound shear wave elasticity imaging (US-SWEI), and validate both methods with mechanical testing. We found that a modified time-of-flight (TOF) method efficiently quantified shear modulus from sst-MRE data, and both the TOF and local inversion methods result in similar maps based on US-SWEI. With a three-pulse excitation, the proposed sst-MRE protocol was capable of visualizing quasi-planar shear waves propagating away from the excitation location and detecting differences in shear modulus of 1 kPa. The techniques demonstrated here have potential application in real-time in vivo lesion detection and monitoring, with particular significance for image-guided interventions.

Supersonic transient magnetic resonance elastography for quantitative assessment of tissue elasticity.

PubMed

Liu, Yu; Liu, Jingfei; Fite, Brett Z; Foiret, Josquin; Ilovitsh, Asaf; Leach, J Kent; Dumont, Erik; Caskey, Charles F; Ferrara, Katherine W

2017-05-21

Non-invasive, quantitative methods to assess the properties of biological tissues are needed for many therapeutic and tissue engineering applications. Magnetic resonance elastography (MRE) has historically relied on external vibration to generate periodic shear waves. In order to focally assess a biomaterial or to monitor the response to ablative therapy, the interrogation of a specific region of interest by a focused beam is desirable and transient MRE (t-MRE) techniques have previously been developed to accomplish this goal. Also, strategies employing a series of discrete ultrasound pulses directed to increasing depths along a single line-of-sight have been designed to generate a quasi-planar shear wave. Such 'supersonic' excitations have been applied for ultrasound elasticity measurements. The resulting shear wave is higher in amplitude than that generated from a single excitation and the properties of the media are simply visualized and quantified due to the quasi-planar wave geometry and the opportunity to generate the wave at the site of interest. Here for the first time, we extend the application of supersonic methods by developing a protocol for supersonic transient magnetic resonance elastography (sst-MRE) using an MR-guided focused ultrasound system capable of therapeutic ablation. We apply the new protocol to quantify tissue elasticity in vitro using biologically-relevant inclusions and tissue-mimicking phantoms, compare the results with elasticity maps acquired with ultrasound shear wave elasticity imaging (US-SWEI), and validate both methods with mechanical testing. We found that a modified time-of-flight (TOF) method efficiently quantified shear modulus from sst-MRE data, and both the TOF and local inversion methods result in similar maps based on US-SWEI. With a three-pulse excitation, the proposed sst-MRE protocol was capable of visualizing quasi-planar shear waves propagating away from the excitation location and detecting differences in shear modulus of 1 kPa. The techniques demonstrated here have potential application in real-time in vivo lesion detection and monitoring, with particular significance for image-guided interventions.

Supersonic transient magnetic resonance elastography for quantitative assessment of tissue elasticity

PubMed Central

Liu, Yu; Liu, Jingfei; Fite, Brett Z; Foiret, Josquin; Ilovitsh, Asaf; Leach, J Kent; Dumont, Erik; Caskey, Charles F; Ferrara, Katherine W

2017-01-01

Non-invasive, quantitative methods to assess the properties of biological tissues are needed for many therapeutic and tissue engineering applications. Magnetic resonance elastography (MRE) has historically relied on external vibration to generate periodic shear waves. In order to focally assess a biomaterial or to monitor the response to ablative therapy, the interrogation of a specific region of interest by a focused beam is desirable and transient MRE (t-MRE) techniques have previously been developed to accomplish this goal. Also, strategies employing a series of discrete ultrasound pulses directed to increasing depths along a single line-of-sight have been designed to generate a quasi-planar shear wave. Such ‘supersonic’ excitations have been applied for ultrasound elasticity measurements. The resulting shear wave is higher in amplitude than that generated from a single excitation and the properties of the media are simply visualized and quantified due to the quasiplanar wave geometry and the opportunity to generate the wave at the site of interest. Here for the first time, we extend the application of supersonic methods by developing a protocol for supersonic transient magnetic resonance elastography (sst-MRE) using an MR-guided focused ultrasound system capable of therapeutic ablation. We apply the new protocol to quantify tissue elasticity in vitro using biologically-relevant inclusions and tissue-mimicking phantoms, compare the results with elasticity maps acquired with ultrasound shear wave elasticity imaging (US-SWEI), and validate both methods with mechanical testing. We found that a modified time-of-flight (TOF) method efficiently quantified shear modulus from sst-MRE data, and both the TOF and local inversion methods result in similar maps based on US-SWEI. With a three-pulse excitation, the proposed sst-MRE protocol was capable of visualizing quasi-planar shear waves propagating away from the excitation location and detecting differences in shear modulus of 1 kPa. The techniques demonstrated here have potential application in real-time in vivo lesion detection and monitoring, with particular significance for image-guided interventions. PMID:28426437

Measurement of mechanical properties of homogeneous tissue with ultrasonically induced shear waves

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Greenleaf, James F.; Chen, Shigao

2007-03-01

Fundamental mechanical properties of tissue are altered by many diseases. Regional and systemic diseases can cause changes in tissue properties. Liver stiffness is caused by cirrhosis and fibrosis. Vascular wall stiffness and tone are altered by smoking, diabetes and other diseases. Measurement of tissue mechanical properties has historically been done with palpation. However palpation is subjective, relative, and not quantitative or reproducible. Elastography in which strain is measured due to stress application gives a qualitative estimate of Young's modulus at low frequency. We have developed a method that takes advantage of the fact that the wave equation is local and shear wave propagation depends only on storage and loss moduli in addition to density, which does not vary much in soft tissues. Our method is called shearwave dispersion ultrasonic velocity measurement (SDUV). The method uses ultrasonic radiation force to produce repeated motion in tissue that induces shear waves to propagate. The shear wave propagation speed is measured with pulse echo ultrasound as a function of frequency of the shear wave. The resulting velocity dispersion curve is fit with a Voight model to determine the elastic and viscous moduli of the tissue. Results indicate accurate and precise measurements are possible using this "noninvasive biopsy" method. Measurements in beef along and across the fibers are consistent with the literature values.

Three-dimensional cell to tissue development process

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Goodwin, Thomas J. (Inventor); Parker, Clayton R. (Inventor)

2008-01-01

An improved three-dimensional cell to tissue development process using a specific time varying electromagnetic force, pulsed, square wave, with minimum fluid shear stress, freedom for 3-dimensional spatial orientation of the suspended particles and localization of particles with differing or similar sedimentation properties in a similar spatial region.

Dynamic tissue phantoms and their use in assessment of a noninvasive optical plethysmography imaging device

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Thatcher, Jeffrey E.; Plant, Kevin D.; King, Darlene R.; Block, Kenneth L.; Fan, Wensheng; DiMaio, J. Michael

2014-05-01

Non-contact photoplethysmography (PPG) has been studied as a method to provide low-cost and non-invasive medical imaging for a variety of near-surface pathologies and two dimensional blood oxygenation measurements. Dynamic tissue phantoms were developed to evaluate this technology in a laboratory setting. The purpose of these phantoms was to generate a tissue model with tunable parameters including: blood vessel volume change; pulse wave frequency; and optical scattering and absorption parameters. A non-contact PPG imaging system was evaluated on this model and compared against laser Doppler imaging (LDI) and a traditional pulse oximeter. Results indicate non-contact PPG accurately identifies pulse frequency and appears to identify signals from optically dense phantoms with significantly higher detection thresholds than LDI.

Continuous-wave terahertz imaging of nonmelanoma skin cancers

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Joseph, Cecil Sudhir

Continuous wave terahertz imaging has the potential to offer a safe, non-invasive medical imaging modality for detecting different types of human skin cancers. Terahertz pulse imaging (TPI) has already shown that there is contrast between basal cell carcinoma and normal skin. Continuous-wave imaging offers a simpler, lower cost alternative to terahertz pulse imaging. This project aims to isolate the optimal contrast frequency for a continuous wave terahertz imaging system and demonstrate transmission based, in-vitro , imaging of thin sections of non-melanoma skin cancers and correlate the images to sample histology. The aim of this project is to conduct a proof-of-principle experiment that establishes whether continuous-wave terahertz imaging can detect differences between cancerous and normal tissue while outlining the basic requirements for building a system capable of performing in vivo tests.

Assessment of a Modified Acoustic Lens for Electromagnetic Shock Wave Lithotripters in a Swine Model

PubMed Central

Mancini, John G.; Neisius, Andreas; Smith, Nathan; Sankin, Georgy; Astroza, Gaston M.; Lipkin, Michael E.; Simmons, Walther N.; Preminger, Glenn M.; Zhong, Pei

2013-01-01

Purpose The acoustic lens of the Siemens Modularis electromagnetic (EM) shock wave lithotripter has been modified to produce a pressure waveform and focal zone more closely resembling that of the original Dornier HM3 device. Herein, we assess the newly designed acoustic lens in vivo in an animal model. Materials and Methods Stone fragmentation and tissue injury produced by the original and modified lenses of a Siemens lithotripter were evaluated in a swine model under equivalent acoustic pulse energy (~45 mJ) at 1 Hz pulse repetition frequency. Stone fragmentation was determined by the weight percent of stone fragments less than 2 mm. For tissue injury assessment, shock wave-treated kidneys were perfused, dehydrated, cast in paraffin wax and sectioned. Digital images were captured every 120 µm and processed to determine the functional renal volume damage. Results After 500 shocks, stone fragmentation efficiency produced by the original and modified lenses was 48 ± 12% and 52 ± 17% (p=0.60), respectively. However, after 2000 shocks, the modified lens showed significantly improved stone fragmentation of 86 ± 10%, compared to 72 ± 12% for the original lens (p=0.02). Tissue injury caused by the original and modified lenses was minimal at 0.57 ± 0.44% and 0.25 ± 0.25% (p=0.27), respectively. Conclusions With lens modification, the Siemens Modularis lithotripter demonstrates significantly improved stone fragmentation with minimal tissue injury at clinically relevant acoustic pulse energy. This new lens design could potentially be retrofitted to existing lithotripters, thereby improving the effectiveness of EM lithotripters. PMID:23485509

Stress wave emission from plasmonic nanobubbles

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Brujan, Emil-Alexandru

2017-01-01

Stress wave emission from the collapse of cavitation nanobubbles, generated after irradiation of single-spherical gold nanoparticles with laser pulses, was investigated numerically. The significant parameters of this study are the nanoparticle radius, laser pulse duration, and laser fluence. For conditions comparable to those existing during plasmonic photothermal therapy, a purely compressive pressure wave is emitted during nanobubble collapse, not a shock. In the initial stage of its propagation, the stress wave amplitude is proportional to the inverse of the stress wave radius. The maximum amplitude and the duration of the stress wave decreases with the laser fluence, laser pulse duration, and gold nanoparticle radius. The full width at half maximum duration of the stress wave is almost constant up to a distance of 50 µm from the emission center. The stress wave amplitude is smaller than 5 MPa, while the stress wave duration is smaller than 35 ns. The stress wave propagation results in minor mechanical effects on biological tissue that are restricted to very small dimensions on a cellular or sub-cellular level. The stress wave is, however, able to produce breaching of the human cell membrane and bacterial wall even at distances as large as 50 µm from the emission centre. The experimentally observed melting of gold nanoparticles comes from the large temperature reached inside the nanoparticles during laser irradiation and not from the propagation of the stress wave into the surrounding liquid during nanobubble rebound.

Model development and experimental validation for analyzing initial transients of irradiation of tissues during thermal therapy using short pulse lasers.

PubMed

Ganguly, Mohit; Miller, Stephanie; Mitra, Kunal

2015-11-01

Short pulse lasers with pulse durations in the range of nanoseconds and shorter are effective in the targeted delivery of heat energy for precise tissue heating and ablation. This photothermal therapy is useful where the removal of cancerous tissue sections is required. The objective of this paper is to use finite element modeling to demonstrate the differences in the thermal response of skin tissue to short-pulse and continuous wave laser irradiation in the initial stages of the irradiation. Models have been developed to validate the temperature distribution and heat affected zone during laser irradiation of excised rat skin samples and live anesthetized mouse tissue. Excised rat skin samples and live anesthetized mice were subjected to Nd:YAG pulsed laser (1,064 nm, 500 ns) irradiation of varying powers. A thermal camera was used to measure the rise in surface temperature as a result of the laser irradiation. Histological analyses of the heat affected zone created in the tissue samples due to the temperature rise were performed. The thermal interaction of the laser with the tissue was quantified by measuring the thermal dose delivered by the laser. Finite element geometries of three-dimensional tissue sections for continuum and vascular models were developed using COMSOL Multiphysics. Blood flow was incorporated into the vascular model to mimic the presence of discrete blood vessels and contrasted with the continuum model without blood perfusion. The temperature rises predicted by the continuum and the vascular models agreed with the temperature rises observed at the surface of the excised rat tissue samples and live anesthetized mice due to laser irradiation respectively. The vascular model developed was able to predict the cooling produced by the blood vessels in the region where the vessels were present. The temperature rise in the continuum model due to pulsed laser irradiation was higher than that due to continuous wave (CW) laser irradiation in the initial stages of the irradiation. The temperature rise due to pulsed and CW laser irradiation converged as the time of irradiation increased. A similar trend was observed when comparing the thermal dose for pulsed and CW laser irradiation in the vascular model. Finite element models (continuum and vascular) were developed that can be used to predict temperature rise and quantify the thermal dose resulting from laser irradiation of excised rat skin samples and live anesthetized mouse tissue. The vascular model incorporating blood perfusion effects predicted temperature rise better in the live animal tissue. The models developed demonstrated that pulsed lasers caused greater temperature rise and delivered a greater thermal dose than CW lasers of equal average power, especially during the initial transients of irradiation. This analysis will be beneficial for thermal therapy applications where maximum delivery of thermal dose over a short period of time is important. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Removal of pinned scroll waves in cardiac tissues by electric fields in a generic model of three-dimensional excitable media

PubMed Central

Pan, De-Bei; Gao, Xiang; Feng, Xia; Pan, Jun-Ting; Zhang, Hong

2016-01-01

Spirals or scroll waves pinned to heterogeneities in cardiac tissues may cause lethal arrhythmias. To unpin these life-threatening spiral waves, methods of wave emission from heterogeneities (WEH) induced by low-voltage pulsed DC electric fields (PDCEFs) and circularly polarized electric fields (CPEFs) have been used in two-dimensional (2D) cardiac tissues. Nevertheless, the unpinning of scroll waves in three-dimensional (3D) cardiac systems is much more difficult than that of spiral waves in 2D cardiac systems, and there are few reports on the removal of pinned scroll waves in 3D cardiac tissues by electric fields. In this article, we investigate in detail the removal of pinned scroll waves in a generic model of 3D excitable media using PDCEF, AC electric field (ACEF) and CPEF, respectively. We find that spherical waves can be induced from the heterogeneities by these electric fields in initially quiescent excitable media. However, only CPEF can induce spherical waves with frequencies higher than that of the pinned scroll wave. Such higher-frequency spherical waves induced by CPEF can be used to drive the pinned scroll wave out of the cardiac systems. We hope this remarkable ability of CPEF can provide a better alternative to terminate arrhythmias caused by pinned scroll waves. PMID:26905367

Considerations for human exposure standards for fast-rise-time high-peak-power electromagnetic pulses.

PubMed

Merritt, J H; Kiel, J L; Hurt, W D

1995-06-01

Development of new emitter systems capable of producing high-peak-power electromagnetic pulses with very fast rise times and narrow pulse widths is continuing. Such directed energy weapons systems will be used in the future to defeat electronically vulnerable targets. Human exposures to these pulses can be expected during testing and operations. Development of these technologies for radar and communications purposes has the potential for wider environmental exposure, as well. Current IEEE C95.1-1991 human exposure guidelines do not specifically address these types of pulses, though limits are stated for pulsed emissions. The process for developing standards includes an evaluation of the relevant bioeffects data base. A recommendation has been made that human exposure to ultrashort electromagnetic pulses that engender electromagnetic transients, called precursor waves, should be avoided. Studies that purport to show the potential for tissue damage induced by such pulses were described. The studies cited in support of the recommendation were not relevant to the issues of tissue damage by propagated pulses. A number of investigations are cited in this review that directly address the biological effects of electromagnetic pulses. These studies have not shown evidence of tissue damage as a result of exposure to high-peak-power pulsed microwaves. It is our opinion that the current guidelines are sufficiently protective for human exposure to these pulses.

Methods of Soft Tissue Emulsification Using a Mechanism of Ultrasonic Atomization Inside Gas or Vapor Cavities and Associated Systems and Devices

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Bailey, Michael R. (Inventor); Simon, Julianna C. (Inventor); Crum, Lawrence A. (Inventor); Khokhlova, Vera A. (Inventor); Wang, Yak-Nam (Inventor); Sapozhnikov, Oleg A. (Inventor); Khokhlova, Tatiana D. (Inventor)

2016-01-01

The present technology is directed to methods of soft tissue emulsification using a mechanism of ultrasonic atomization inside gas or vapor cavities, and associated systems and devices. In several embodiments, for example, a method of non-invasively treating tissue includes pulsing ultrasound energy from the ultrasound source toward the target site in tissue. The ultrasound source is configured to emit high intensity focused ultrasound (HIFU) waves. The target site comprises a pressure-release interface of a gas or vapor cavity located within the tissue. The method continues by generating shock waves in the tissue to induce a lesion in the tissue at the target site. The method additionally includes characterizing the lesion based on a degree of at least one of a mechanical or thermal ablation of the tissue.

Probe Oscillation Shear Elastography (PROSE): A High Frame-Rate Method for Two-Dimensional Ultrasound Shear Wave Elastography.

PubMed

Mellema, Daniel C; Song, Pengfei; Kinnick, Randall R; Urban, Matthew W; Greenleaf, James F; Manduca, Armando; Chen, Shigao

2016-09-01

Ultrasound shear wave elastography (SWE) utilizes the propagation of induced shear waves to characterize the shear modulus of soft tissue. Many methods rely on an acoustic radiation force (ARF) "push beam" to generate shear waves. However, specialized hardware is required to generate the push beams, and the thermal stress that is placed upon the ultrasound system, transducer, and tissue by the push beams currently limits the frame-rate to about 1 Hz. These constraints have limited the implementation of ARF to high-end clinical systems. This paper presents Probe Oscillation Shear Elastography (PROSE) as an alternative method to measure tissue elasticity. PROSE generates shear waves using a harmonic mechanical vibration of an ultrasound transducer, while simultaneously detecting motion with the same transducer under pulse-echo mode. Motion of the transducer during detection produces a "strain-like" compression artifact that is coupled with the observed shear waves. A novel symmetric sampling scheme is proposed such that pulse-echo detection events are acquired when the ultrasound transducer returns to the same physical position, allowing the shear waves to be decoupled from the compression artifact. Full field-of-view (FOV) two-dimensional (2D) shear wave speed images were obtained by applying a local frequency estimation (LFE) technique, capable of generating a 2D map from a single frame of shear wave motion. The shear wave imaging frame rate of PROSE is comparable to the vibration frequency, which can be an order of magnitude higher than ARF based techniques. PROSE was able to produce smooth and accurate shear wave images from three homogeneous phantoms with different moduli, with an effective frame rate of 300 Hz. An inclusion phantom study showed that increased vibration frequencies improved the accuracy of inclusion imaging, and allowed targets as small as 6.5 mm to be resolved with good contrast (contrast-to-noise ratio ≥ 19 dB) between the target and background.

Probe Oscillation Shear Elastography (PROSE): A High Frame-Rate Method for Two-Dimensional Ultrasound Shear Wave Elastography

PubMed Central

Mellema, Daniel C.; Song, Pengfei; Kinnick, Randall R.; Urban, Matthew W.; Greenleaf, James F.; Manduca, Armando; Chen, Shigao

2017-01-01

Ultrasound shear wave elastography (SWE) utilizes the propagation of induced shear waves to characterize the shear modulus of soft tissue. Many methods rely on an acoustic radiation force (ARF) “push beam” to generate shear waves. However, specialized hardware is required to generate the push beams, and the thermal stress that is placed upon the ultrasound system, transducer, and tissue by the push beams currently limits the frame-rate to about 1 Hz. These constraints have limited the implementation of ARF to high-end clinical systems. This paper presents Probe Oscillation Shear Elastography (PROSE) as an alternative method to measure tissue elasticity. PROSE generates shear waves using a harmonic mechanical vibration of an ultrasound transducer, while simultaneously detecting motion with the same transducer under pulse-echo mode. Motion of the transducer during detection produces a “strain-like” compression artifact that is coupled with the observed shear waves. A novel symmetric sampling scheme is proposed such that pulse-echo detection events are acquired when the ultrasound transducer returns to the same physical position, allowing the shear waves to be decoupled from the compression artifact. Full field-of-view (FOV) two-dimensional (2D) shear wave speed images were obtained by applying a local frequency estimation (LFE) technique, capable of generating a 2D map from a single frame of shear wave motion. The shear wave imaging frame rate of PROSE is comparable to the vibration frequency, which can be an order of magnitude higher than ARF based techniques. PROSE was able to produce smooth and accurate shear wave images from three homogeneous phantoms with different moduli, with an effective frame rate of 300Hz. An inclusion phantom study showed that increased vibration frequencies improved the accuracy of inclusion imaging, and allowed targets as small as 6.5 mm to be resolved with good contrast (contrast-to-noise ratio ≥19 dB) between the target and background. PMID:27076352

Optoacoustic detection of thermal lesions

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Arsenault, Michel G.; Kolios, Michael C.; Whelan, William M.

2009-02-01

Minimally invasive thermal therapy is being investigated as an alternative cancer treatment. It involves heating tissues to greater than 55°C over a period of a few minutes, which results in tissue coagulation. Optoacoustic (OA) imaging is a new imaging technique that involves exposing tissues to pulsed light and detecting the acoustic waves that are generated. In this study, adult bovine liver tissue samples were heated using continuous wave laser energy for various times, then scanned using an optoacoustic imaging system. Large optoacoustic signal variability was observed in the native tissue prior to heating. OA signal amplitude increased with maximum tissue temperature achieved, characterized by a correlation coefficient of 0.63. In this study we show that there are detectable changes in optoacoustic signal strength that arise from tissue coagulation, which demonstrates the potential of optoacoustic technology for the monitoring of thermal therapy delivery.

Characterization of photoacoustic sources in tissue using time domain measurements

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Viator, John Andrew

Photoacoustic phenomenon in tissue and tissue phantoms is investigated with the particular goal of discrimination of diseased and healthy tissue. Propagation of broadband photoacoustic sources in tissue phantoms is studied with emphasis on attenuation, dispersion, and diffraction. Attenuation of photoacoustic waves induced by a circular laser spot on an absorber/air interface is modeled by the on-axis approximation of the acoustic field of a baffled piston source. Dispersion is studied in a diffraction free situation, where the disk of irradiation was created by a 5 mm laser spot on a 200 cm -1 solution. The genesis of diffraction in an absorbing solution was displayed by showing the merging of a boundary wave with a plane wave from a circular laser spot on an absorbing solution. Depth profiling of absorbing tissue phantoms and stained tissue was shown using a photoacoustic method. Acrylamide gels with layers of different optical absorption and stained elastin biomaterials were irradiated with stress confined laser pulses. The resulting acoustic waves were detected with a lithium niobate wideband acoustic transducer and processed in an algorithm to determine absorption coefficient as a function of depth. Spherical photoacoustic sources were generated in optically clear and turbid tissue phantoms. Propagation time and acoustic pulse duration were used to determine location and size, respectively. The photoacoustic sources were imaged using a multiplicative backprojection scheme. Image sources from acoustic boundaries were detected and dipole sources were detected and imaged. Finally an endoscopic photoacoustic probe was designed, built, and tested for use in determining treatment depth after palliative photodynamic therapy of esophageal cancer. The probe was less than 2.5 mm in diameter and consisted of a side firing 600 mum optical fiber to deliver laser energy and a 890 mum diameter, side viewing piezoelectric detector. The sensitivity of the probe was determined. The probe was also tested on coagulated and non-coagulated liver, ex vivo and on normally perfused and underperfused human skin, in vivo.

Acoustic radiation force impulse elastography of the kidneys: is shear wave velocity affected by tissue fibrosis or renal blood flow?

PubMed

Asano, Kenichiro; Ogata, Ai; Tanaka, Keiko; Ide, Yoko; Sankoda, Akiko; Kawakita, Chieko; Nishikawa, Mana; Ohmori, Kazuyoshi; Kinomura, Masaru; Shimada, Noriaki; Fukushima, Masaki

2014-05-01

The aim of this study was to identify the main influencing factor of the shear wave velocity (SWV) of the kidneys measured by acoustic radiation force impulse elastography. The SWV was measured in the kidneys of 14 healthy volunteers and 319 patients with chronic kidney disease. The estimated glomerular filtration rate was calculated by the serum creatinine concentration and age. As an indicator of arteriosclerosis of large vessels, the brachial-ankle pulse wave velocity was measured in 183 patients. Compared to the degree of interobserver and intraobserver deviation, a large variance of SWV values was observed in the kidneys of the patients with chronic kidney disease. Shear wave velocity values in the right and left kidneys of each patient correlated well, with high correlation coefficients (r = 0.580-0.732). The SWV decreased concurrently with a decline in the estimated glomerular filtration rate. A low SWV was obtained in patients with a high brachial-ankle pulse wave velocity. Despite progression of renal fibrosis in the advanced stages of chronic kidney disease, these results were in contrast to findings for chronic liver disease, in which progression of hepatic fibrosis results in an increase in the SWV. Considering that a high brachial-ankle pulse wave velocity represents the progression of arteriosclerosis in the large vessels, the reduction of elasticity succeeding diminution of blood flow was suspected to be the main influencing factor of the SWV in the kidneys. This study indicates that diminution of blood flow may affect SWV values in the kidneys more than the progression of tissue fibrosis. Future studies for reducing data variance are needed for effective use of acoustic radiation force impulse elastography in patients with chronic kidney disease.

Counter-propagating wave interaction for contrast-enhanced ultrasound imaging

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Renaud, G.; Bosch, J. G.; ten Kate, G. L.; Shamdasani, V.; Entrekin, R.; de Jong, N.; van der Steen, A. F. W.

2012-11-01

Most techniques for contrast-enhanced ultrasound imaging require linear propagation to detect nonlinear scattering of contrast agent microbubbles. Waveform distortion due to nonlinear propagation impairs their ability to distinguish microbubbles from tissue. As a result, tissue can be misclassified as microbubbles, and contrast agent concentration can be overestimated; therefore, these artifacts can significantly impair the quality of medical diagnoses. Contrary to biological tissue, lipid-coated gas microbubbles used as a contrast agent allow the interaction of two acoustic waves propagating in opposite directions (counter-propagation). Based on that principle, we describe a strategy to detect microbubbles that is free from nonlinear propagation artifacts. In vitro images were acquired with an ultrasound scanner in a phantom of tissue-mimicking material with a cavity containing a contrast agent. Unlike the default mode of the scanner using amplitude modulation to detect microbubbles, the pulse sequence exploiting counter-propagating wave interaction creates no pseudoenhancement behind the cavity in the contrast image.

Acoustic transients in pulsed holmium laser ablation: effects of pulse duration

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Asshauer, Thomas; Delacretaz, Guy P.; Jansen, E. Duco; Welch, Ashley J.; Frenz, Martin

1995-01-01

The goal of this work was to study the influence of pulse duration on acoustic transient generation in holmium laser ablation. For this, the generation and collapse of cavitation bubbles induced by Q-switched and free-running laser pulses delivered under water were investigated. Polyacrylamide gel of 84% water content served as a model for soft tissue. This gel is a more realistic tissue phantom than water because it mimics not only the optical properties but also the mechanical properties of tissue. The dynamics of bubble formation inside the clear gel were observed by 1 ns time resolved flash videography. A polyvinylidenefluoride (PVDF) needle probe transducer measured absolute values of pressure amplitudes. Pressure wave generation by cavitation bubble collapse was observed in all phantoms used. Maximum pressures of more than 180 bars at 1 mm from the collapse center were observed in water and high water-contents gels with a pulse energy of 200 mJ and a 400 micrometers fiber. A strong dependency of the bubble collapse pressure on the pulse duration for constant pulse energy was observed in gel as well as in water. For pulse durations longer than 400 microsecond(s) a 90% reduction of pressure amplitudes relative to 100 microsecond(s) pulses was found. This suggests that optimization of pulse duration offers a degree of freedom allowing us to minimize the risk of acoustical damage in medical applications like arthroscopy and angioplasty.

Shear-Wave Elastography: Basic Physics and Musculoskeletal Applications.

PubMed

Taljanovic, Mihra S; Gimber, Lana H; Becker, Giles W; Latt, L Daniel; Klauser, Andrea S; Melville, David M; Gao, Liang; Witte, Russell S

2017-01-01

In the past 2 decades, sonoelastography has been progressively used as a tool to help evaluate soft-tissue elasticity and add to information obtained with conventional gray-scale and Doppler ultrasonographic techniques. Recently introduced on clinical scanners, shear-wave elastography (SWE) is considered to be more objective, quantitative, and reproducible than compression sonoelastography with increasing applications to the musculoskeletal system. SWE uses an acoustic radiation force pulse sequence to generate shear waves, which propagate perpendicular to the ultrasound beam, causing transient displacements. The distribution of shear-wave velocities at each pixel is directly related to the shear modulus, an absolute measure of the tissue's elastic properties. Shear-wave images are automatically coregistered with standard B-mode images to provide quantitative color elastograms with anatomic specificity. Shear waves propagate faster through stiffer contracted tissue, as well as along the long axis of tendon and muscle. SWE has a promising role in determining the severity of disease and treatment follow-up of various musculoskeletal tissues including tendons, muscles, nerves, and ligaments. This article describes the basic ultrasound physics of SWE and its applications in the evaluation of various traumatic and pathologic conditions of the musculoskeletal system. © RSNA, 2017.

In vivo analysis of THz wave irradiation induced acute inflammatory response in skin by laser-scanning confocal microscopy.

PubMed

Hwang, Yoonha; Ahn, Jinhyo; Mun, Jungho; Bae, Sangyoon; Jeong, Young Uk; Vinokurov, Nikolay A; Kim, Pilhan

2014-05-19

The recent development of THz sources in a wide range of THz frequencies and power levels has led to greatly increased interest in potential biomedical applications such as cancer and burn wound diagnosis. However, despite its importance in realizing THz wave based applications, our knowledge of how THz wave irradiation can affect a live tissue at the cellular level is very limited. In this study, an acute inflammatory response caused by pulsed THz wave irradiation on the skin of a live mouse was analyzed at the cellular level using intravital laser-scanning confocal microscopy. Pulsed THz wave (2.7 THz, 4 μs pulsewidth, 61.4 μJ per pulse, 3Hz repetition), generated using compact FEL, was used to irradiate an anesthetized mouse's ear skin with an average power of 260 mW/cm(2) for 30 minutes using a high-precision focused THz wave irradiation setup. In contrast to in vitro analysis using cultured cells at similar power levels of CW THz wave irradiation, no temperature change at the surface of the ear skin was observed when skin was examined with an IR camera. To monitor any potential inflammatory response, resident neutrophils in the same area of ear skin were repeatedly visualized before and after THz wave irradiation using a custom-built laser-scanning confocal microscopy system optimized for in vivo visualization. While non-irradiated control skin area showed no changes in the number of resident neutrophils, a massive recruitment of newly infiltrated neutrophils was observed in the THz wave irradiated skin area after 6 hours, which suggests an induction of acute inflammatory response by the pulsed THz wave irradiation on the skin via a non-thermal process.

Pulsed solid state lasers for medicine

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kertesz, Ivan; Danileiko, A. Y.; Denker, Boris I.; Kroo, Norbert; Osiko, Vyacheslav V.; Prokhorov, Alexander M.

1994-02-01

The effect on living tissues of different pulsed solid state lasers: Nd:YAG ((lambda) equals 1.06 micrometers ) Er:glass (1.54 micrometers ), Ho:YAG (2.1 micrometers ) and Er:YAG (2.94 micrometers ) is compared with the continuous wave Nd:YAG- and CO2-lasers used in operating theaters. Portable Er:glass- and Er:YAG-lasers are developed for surgery/cosmetics and HIV-safe blood testing.

Compact biomedical pulsed signal generator for bone tissue stimulation

DOEpatents

Kronberg, J.W.

1993-06-08

An apparatus for stimulating bone tissue for stimulating bone growth or treating osteoporosis by applying directly to the skin of the patient an alternating current electrical signal comprising wave forms known to simulate the piezoelectric constituents in bone. The apparatus may, by moving a switch, stimulate bone growth or treat osteoporosis, as desired. Based on low-power CMOS technology and enclosed in a moisture-resistant case shaped to fit comfortably, two astable multivibrators produce the desired waveforms. The amplitude, pulse width and pulse frequency, and the subpulse width and subpulse frequency of the waveforms are adjustable. The apparatus, preferably powered by a standard 9-volt battery, includes signal amplitude sensors and warning signals indicate an output is being produced and the battery needs to be replaced.

Compact biomedical pulsed signal generator for bone tissue stimulation

DOEpatents

Kronberg, James W.

1993-01-01

An apparatus for stimulating bone tissue for stimulating bone growth or treating osteoporosis by applying directly to the skin of the patient an alternating current electrical signal comprising wave forms known to simulate the piezoelectric constituents in bone. The apparatus may, by moving a switch, stimulate bone growth or treat osteoporosis, as desired. Based on low-power CMOS technology and enclosed in a moisture-resistant case shaped to fit comfortably, two astable multivibrators produce the desired waveforms. The amplitude, pulse width and pulse frequency, and the subpulse width and subpulse frequency of the waveforms are adjustable. The apparatus, preferably powered by a standard 9-volt battery, includes signal amplitude sensors and warning signals indicate an output is being produced and the battery needs to be replaced.

Differentiation of tumor from viable myocardium using cardiac tagging with MR imaging.

PubMed

Bouton, S; Yang, A; McCrindle, B W; Kidd, L; McVeigh, E R; Zerhouni, E A

1991-01-01

We report the application of myocardial tagging by MR to define tissue planes and differentiate contractile from noncontractile tissue in a neonate with congenital cardiac rhabdomyoma. Using custom-written pulse programming software, six 2 mm thick radiofrequency (RF) slice-selective presaturation pulses (tags) were used to label the chest wall and myocardium in a star pattern in diastole, approximately 60 ms before the R-wave gating trigger. This method successfully delineated the myocardium from noncontractile tumor, providing information that influenced clinical management. This RF tagging technique allowed us to confirm the exact intramyocardial location of a congenital cardiac tumor.

Laser ablation of human atherosclerotic plaque without adjacent tissue injury

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Grundfest, W. S.; Litvack, F.; Forrester, J. S.; Goldenberg, T.; Swan, H. J. C.

1985-01-01

Seventy samples of human cadaver atherosclerotic aorta were irradiated in vitro using a 308 nm xenon chloride excimer laser. Energy per pulse, pulse duration and frequency were varied. For comparison, 60 segments were also irradiated with an argon ion and an Nd:YAG laser operated in the continuous mode. Tissue was fixed in formalin, sectioned and examined microscopically. The Nd:YAG and argon ion-irradiated tissue exhibited a central crater with irregular edges and concentric zones of thermal and blast injury. In contrast, the excimer laser-irradiated tissue had narrow deep incisions with minimal or no thermal injury. These preliminary experiments indicate that the excimer laser vaporizes tissue in a manner different from that of the continuous wave Nd:YAG or argon ion laser. The sharp incision margins and minimal damage to adjacent normal tissue suggest that the excimer laser is more desirable for general surgical and intravascular uses than are the conventionally used medical lasers.

Adjustable fetal phantom for pulse oximetry

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Stubán, Norbert; Niwayama, Masatsugu

2009-05-01

As the measuring head of a fetal pulse oximeter must be attached to the head of the fetus inside the mother's uterus during labor, testing, and developing of fetal pulse oximeters in real environment have several difficulties. A fetal phantom could enable evaluation of pulse oximeters in a simulated environment without the restrictions and difficultness of medical experiments in the labor room. Based on anatomic data we developed an adjustable fetal head phantom with three different tissue layers and artificial arteries. The phantom consisted of two arteries with an inner diameter of 0.2 and 0.4 mm. An electronically controlled pump produced pulse waves in the arteries. With the phantom we investigated the sensitivity of a custom-designed wireless pulse oximeter at different pulsation intensity and artery diameters. The results showed that the oximeter was capable of identifying 4% and 2% changes in diameter between the diastolic and systolic point in arteries of over 0.2 and 0.4 mm inner diameter, respectively. As the structure of the phantom is based on reported anatomic values, the results predict that the investigated custom-designed wireless pulse oximeter has sufficient sensitivity to detect the pulse waves and to calculate the R rate on the fetal head.

Detecting Subclinical Biventricular Impairment in Scleroderma Patients by Use of Pulsed-Wave Tissue Doppler Imaging

PubMed Central

Can, Ilknur; Onat, Ahmet Mesut; Aytemir, Kudret; Akdogan, Ali; Ureten, Kemal; Kiraz, Sedat; Ertenli, Ihsan; Tokgozoglu, Lale; Oto, Ali

2009-01-01

Systemic scleroderma is a disease that is characterized by excessive fibroblastic activity and collagen deposition in various organs, including the heart. We sought to evaluate the limits of biventricular function as derived noninvasively from pulsed-wave tissue Doppler imaging (TDI) of tricuspid and mitral annular motion in patients who had scleroderma. We enrolled 24 patients with scleroderma (study group; mean age, 49 ± 11 yr; 20 women) and 24 healthy participants (control group; mean age, 51 ± 9 yr; 19 women). Persons with cardiovascular risk factors were excluded. We obtained images by conventional echocardiography and by pulsed-wave TDI, measuring the respective peak systolic velocities (S, Sm) and peak early (E, Em) and late (A, Am) diastolic velocities. Mean Sm, mean Em, and mean Am were averages of the 4 measured sites (anterior, inferior, lateral, and septal). We calculated noninvasive estimates of left ventricular (LV) filling pressure by dividing E velocities (from the mitral inflow) by Em velocities (E/Em ratios). Biventricular regional Sm, regional LV myocardial Em, and ratios of myocardial Em/atrial component velocity (Em/Am) for the LV, and mean Sm, mean Em, and mean Em/mean Am ratios for the LV were significantly lower in the study group. The E/Em ratio was higher in the study group (7.3 ± 2.6 vs 5.2 ± 1.0, P = 0.01). Global LV systolic and diastolic function did not differ between the groups. Tissue Doppler imaging complements conventional echocardiography in detecting subclinical biventricular impairment in patients with scleroderma who have normal global measurements. PMID:19436783

Fundus oculi pigmentation studies simulating the fs-LASIK process Fundus oculi pigmentation studies simulating the fs-LASIK process

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sander, M.; Minet, O.; Zabarylo, U.; Müller, M.; Tetz, M. R.

2012-06-01

The femtosecond-laser in situ keratomileusis (fs-LASIK) technique has successfully entered the refractive surgery market to correct ametropia by cutting transparent corneal tissue with ultra-short laser pulses based on photodisruption. The laser pulses in the near infrared range (NIR) generate a laser-induced breakdown (LIOB) in the cornea. By propagating through the eye, a certain amount of the pulse is deposited in the cornea and the remaining energy interacts with the strong absorbing tissue behind. Due to the absorption by the retinal pigment epithelium and the transfer of the thermal energy to surrounding tissue, the transmitted energy can induce damage to the retina. The aim of this project was to find out the threshold influences concerning the tissue and the correlation between the results of the macroscopical appraisal and the fundus oculi pigmentation by simulating the fs-LASIK procedure with two various laser systems in the continuous wave (CW) and fs-regime. Therefore ex-vivo determinations were carried out macroscopically and histopathologically on porcine tissue.

Lithotripsy of gallstones by means of a quality-switched giant-pulse neodymium:yttrium-aluminum-garnet laser. Basic in vitro studies using a highly flexible fiber system.

PubMed

Hochberger, J; Gruber, E; Wirtz, P; Dürr, U; Kolb, A; Zanger, U; Hahn, E G; Ell, C

1991-11-01

The quality-switched neodymium:yttrium-aluminum-garnet laser represents a new instrument for athermal fragmentation of gallstones by transformation of optical energy into mechanical energy in the form of shock waves via local plasma formation. A highly flexible 300-micron fiber transmission system was used in basic investigations to determine the influence of varying pulse repetition rates (5-30 Hz) and pulse energies (15 and 20 mJ) on shock wave intensity and stone fragmentation in vitro for 105 biliary calculi of known size and chemical composition. After performance of 1200 shock wave pressure measurements using polyvinylidenefluoride hydrophones, stone fragmentation was analyzed by determination of fragment removal rates (volume of fragments removed per fragmentation time), ablation rates (mean volume removed per laser pulse), and median fragment sizes for each laser setting. With the quality-switched neodymium:yttrium-aluminum-garnet laser system, all concrements could be reliably disintegrated into small fragments (median diameter, 0.7-1.7 mm). Compared with pure cholesterol stones, a significantly higher fragment removal rate was achieved in cholesterol stones containing 30% calcium phosphate (P = 0.039), in cholesterol stones containing 20% pigment (P = 0.015), and in pure pigment stones (P = 0.007). Fragment removal rates, local shock wave pressures, and median grain sizes were significantly higher at a pulse energy of 20 mJ than with 15 mJ. Shock wave pressures showed a distinct dependence on pulse repetition rates at 20 mJ, yet not at 15 mJ. Because there is no evident hazard of thermal damage to tissue using the quality-switched neodymium:yttrium-aluminum-garnet laser, it appears to be a promising device for nonsurgical biliary stone therapy.

Termination of atrial fibrillation using pulsed low-energy far-field stimulation

PubMed Central

Fenton, Flavio H.; Luther, Stefan; Cherry, Elizabeth M.; Otani, Niels F.; Krinsky, Valentin; Pumir, Alain; Bodenschatz, Eberhard; Gilmour, Robert F.

2010-01-01

Background Electrically-based therapies for terminating atrial fibrillation (AF) currently fall into two categories: anti-tachycardia pacing (ATP) and cardioversion. ATP utilizes low-intensity pacing stimuli delivered via a single electrode and is effective for terminating slower tachycardias, but is less effective for treating AF. In contrast, cardioversion uses a single high-voltage shock to terminate AF reliably, but the voltages required produce undesirable side effects, including tissue damage and pain. We propose a new method to terminate AF called far-field anti-fibrillation pacing (FF-AFP), which delivers a short train of low-intensity electrical pulses at the frequency of ATP, but from field electrodes. Prior theoretical work has suggested that this approach can create a large number of activation sites (“virtual” electrodes) that emit propagating waves within the tissue without implanting physical electrodes and thereby may be more effective than point-source stimulation. Methods and Results Using optical mapping in isolated perfused canine atrial preparations, we show that a series of pulses at low field strength (0.9-1.4 V/cm) is sufficient to entrain and subsequently extinguish AF with a success rate of 93 percent (69/74 trials in 8 preparations). We further demonstrate that the mechanism behind FFAFP success is the generation of wave emission sites within the tissue by the applied electric field, which entrains the tissue as the field is pulsed. Conclusions AF in our model can be terminated by FF-AFP using only 13% of the energy required for cardioversion. Further studies are needed to determine whether this marked reduction in energy can increase the effectiveness and safety of terminating atrial tachyarrhythmias clinically. PMID:19635972

Improved Contrast-Enhanced Ultrasound Imaging With Multiplane-Wave Imaging.

PubMed

Gong, Ping; Song, Pengfei; Chen, Shigao

2018-02-01

Contrast-enhanced ultrasound (CEUS) imaging has great potential for use in new ultrasound clinical applications such as myocardial perfusion imaging and abdominal lesion characterization. In CEUS imaging, contrast agents (i.e., microbubbles) are used to improve contrast between blood and tissue because of their high nonlinearity under low ultrasound pressure. However, the quality of CEUS imaging sometimes suffers from a low signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) in deeper imaging regions when a low mechanical index (MI) is used to avoid microbubble disruption, especially for imaging at off-resonance transmit frequencies. In this paper, we propose a new strategy of combining CEUS sequences with the recently proposed multiplane-wave (MW) compounding method to improve the SNR of CEUS in deeper imaging regions without increasing MI or sacrificing frame rate. The MW-CEUS method emits multiple Hadamard-coded CEUS pulses in each transmission event (i.e., pulse-echo event). The received echo signals first undergo fundamental bandpass filtering (i.e., the filter is centered on the transmit frequency) to eliminate the microbubble's second-harmonic signals because they cannot be encoded by pulse inversion. The filtered signals are then Hadamard decoded and realigned in fast time to recover the signals as they would have been obtained using classic CEUS pulses, followed by designed recombination to cancel the linear tissue responses. The MW-CEUS method significantly improved contrast-to-tissue ratio and SNR of CEUS imaging by transmitting longer coded pulses. The image resolution was also preserved. The microbubble disruption ratio and motion artifacts in MW-CEUS were similar to those of classic CEUS imaging. In addition, the MW-CEUS sequence can be adapted to other transmission coding formats. These properties of MW-CEUS can potentially facilitate CEUS imaging for many clinical applications, especially assessing deep abdominal organs or the heart.

High-resolution all-optical photoacoustic imaging system for remote interrogation of biological specimens

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sampathkumar, Ashwin

2014-05-01

Conventional photoacoustic imaging (PAI) employs light pulses to produce a photoacoustic (PA) effect and detects the resulting acoustic waves using an ultrasound transducer acoustically coupled to the target tissue. The resolution of conventional PAI is limited by the sensitivity and bandwidth of the ultrasound transducer. We have developed an all-optical versatile PAI system for characterizing ex vivo and in vivo biological specimens. The system employs noncontact interferometric detection of the acoustic signals that overcomes limitations of conventional PAI. A 532-nm pump laser with a pulse duration of 5 ns excited the PA effect in tissue. Resulting acoustic waves produced surface displacements that were sensed using a 532-nm continuous-wave (CW) probe laser in a Michelson interferometer with a GHz bandwidth. The pump and probe beams were coaxially focused using a 50X objective giving a diffraction-limited spot size of 0.48 μm. The phase-encoded probe beam was demodulated using a homodyne interferometer. The detected time-domain signal was time reversed using k-space wave-propagation methods to produce a spatial distribution of PA sources in the target tissue. Performance was assessed using PA images of ex vivo rabbit lymph node specimens and human tooth samples. A minimum peak surface displacement sensitivity of 0.19 pm was measured. The all-optical PAI (AOPAI) system is well suited for assessment of retinal diseases, caries lesion detection, skin burns, section less histology and pressure or friction ulcers.

Effect of extracorporeal shock wave on proliferation and differentiation of equine adipose tissue-derived mesenchymal stem cells in vitro

PubMed Central

Raabe, O; Shell, K; Goessl, A; Crispens, C; Delhasse, Y; Eva, A; Scheiner-Bobis, G; Wenisch, S; Arnhold, S

2013-01-01

Mesenchymal stem cells are regarded as common cellular precursors of the musculoskeletal tissue and are responsible for tissue regeneration in the course of musculoskeletal disorders. In equine veterinary medicine extracorporeal shock wave therapy (ESWT) is used to optimize healing processes of bone, tendon and cartilage. Nevertheless, little is known about the effects of the shock waves on cells and tissues. Thus, the aim of this study was to investigate the influence of focused ESWT on the viability, proliferation, and differentiation capacity of adipose tissue-derived mesenchymal stem cells (ASCs) and to explore its effects on gap junctional communication and the activation of signalling cascades associated with cell proliferation and differentiation. ASCs were treated with different pulses of focused ESWT. Treated cells showed increased proliferation and expression of Cx43, as detected by means of qRT-PCR, histological staining, immunocytochemistry and western blot. At the same time, cells responded to ESWT by significant activation (phosphorylation) of Erk1/2, detected in western blots. No significant effects on the differentiation potential of the ASCs were evident. Taken together, the present results show significant effects of shock waves on stem cells in vitro. PMID:23671817

Turbulent Water Coupling in Shock Wave Lithotripsy

PubMed Central

Lautz, Jaclyn; Sankin, Georgy; Zhong, Pei

2013-01-01

Previous studies have demonstrated that stone comminution decreases with increased pulse repetition frequency as a result of bubble proliferation in the cavitation field of a shock wave lithotripter (Pishchalnikov et al., 2011). If cavitation nuclei remain in the propagation path of successive lithotripter pulses, especially in the acoustic coupling cushion of the shock wave source, they will consume part of the incident wave energy, leading to reduced tensile pressure in the focal region and thus lower stone comminution efficiency. We introduce a method to remove cavitation nuclei from the coupling cushion between successive shock exposures using a jet of degassed water. As a result, pre-focal bubble nuclei lifetime quantified by B-mode ultrasound imaging was reduced from 7 s to 0.3 s by a jet with an exit velocity of 62 cm/s. Stone fragmentation (percent mass < 2 mm) after 250 shocks delivered at 1 Hz was enhanced from 22 ± 6% to 33 ± 5% (p = 0.007) in water without interposing tissue mimicking materials. Stone fragmentation after 500 shocks delivered at 2 Hz was increased from 18 ± 6% to 28 ± 8% (p = 0.04) with an interposing tissue phantom of 8 cm thick. These results demonstrate the critical influence of cavitation bubbles in the coupling cushion on stone comminution and suggest a potential strategy to improve the efficacy of contemporary shock wave lithotripters. PMID:23322027

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Hofmann, R.; Hartung, R.; Geissdoerfer, K.A.

Laser energy of a Nd-YAG laser (1064 nm. wave length, 8 nsec pulse duration) was directed against various tissue cultures and the urothelium of the ureter, bladder and kidney parenchyma in pigs. Single pulse energy was 50 to 120 mJ with a repetition rate of 20 Hz. Urothelium and kidney parenchyma were irradiated in seven pigs. Tissue samples were examined histologically and electron microscopically directly, two, four, eight and 12 days after irradiation. No macroscopic lesion could be found. Maximum energy caused a small rupture cone of 40 micron. depth. No thermic effects or necrosis resulted, so that no harmmore » is to be expected with unintentional irradiation during laser stone disintegration.« less

Improvement in skin elasticity in the treatment of cellulite and connective tissue weakness by means of extracorporeal pulse activation therapy.

PubMed

Christ, Christophe; Brenke, Rainer; Sattler, Gerhard; Siems, Werner; Novak, Pavel; Daser, A

2008-01-01

Extracorporeal pulse activation therapy (EPAT), also called extracorporeal acoustic wave therapy, seeks to achieve effective and long-lasting improvement of age-related connective tissue weakness in the extremities, especially in the treatment of unsightly cosmetic skin defects referred to as cellulite. The objective of this study was to stimulate metabolic activity in subcutaneous fat tissue by means of EPAT in order evaluate its effectiveness in enhancing connective tissue firmness and improving skin texture and structure. Fifty-nine women with advanced cellulite were divided into 2 groups; one group of 15 patients received planar acoustic wave treatment for 6 therapy sessions within 3 weeks; a second group of 44 patients received 8 therapy sessions within 4 weeks. Changes in connective tissue were evaluated using the DermaScan C ultrasound system (Cortex Technology, Hadsund, Denmark). Skin elasticity measurements were performed using the DermaLab system (Cortex Technology). Photographs of treated areas were taken at each therapy session and at follow-up sessions. Skin elasticity values gradually improved over the course of EPAT therapy and revealed a 73% increase at the end of therapy. At 3- and 6-month follow-ups, skin elasticity had even improved by 95% and 105%, respectively. Side effects included minor pain for 3 patients during therapy and slight skin reddening. This study confirmed the effects of acoustic wave therapy on biologic tissue, including stimulation of microcirculation and improvement of cell permeability. Ultrasound evaluation demonstrated increased density and firmness in the network of collagen/elastic fibers in the dermis and subcutis. Treatment was most effective in older patients with a long history of cellulite.

An analysis of beam parameters on proton-acoustic waves through an analytic approach.

PubMed

Kipergil, Esra Aytac; Erkol, Hakan; Kaya, Serhat; Gulsen, Gultekin; Unlu, Mehmet Burcin

2017-06-21

It has been reported that acoustic waves are generated when a high-energy pulsed proton beam is deposited in a small volume within tissue. One possible application of proton-induced acoustics is to get real-time feedback for intra-treatment adjustments by monitoring such acoustic waves. A high spatial resolution in ultrasound imaging may reduce proton range uncertainty. Thus, it is crucial to understand the dependence of the acoustic waves on the proton beam characteristics. In this manuscript, firstly, an analytic solution for the proton-induced acoustic wave is presented to reveal the dependence of the signal on the beam parameters; then it is combined with an analytic approximation of the Bragg curve. The influence of the beam energy, pulse duration and beam diameter variation on the acoustic waveform are investigated. Further analysis is performed regarding the Fourier decomposition of the proton-acoustic signals. Our results show that the smaller spill time of the proton beam upsurges the amplitude of the acoustic wave for a constant number of protons, which is hence beneficial for dose monitoring. The increase in the energy of each individual proton in the beam leads to the spatial broadening of the Bragg curve, which also yields acoustic waves of greater amplitude. The pulse duration and the beam width of the proton beam do not affect the central frequency of the acoustic wave, but they change the amplitude of the spectral components.

High-intensity focused ultrasound for ex vivo kidney tissue ablation: influence of generator power and pulse duration.

PubMed

Häcker, Axel; Köhrmann, Kai Uwe; Knoll, Thomas; Langbein, Sigrun; Steidler, Annette; Kraut, Oliver; Marlinghaus, Ernst; Alken, Peter; Michel, Maurice Stephan

2004-11-01

The therapeutic application of noninvasive tissue ablation by high-intensity focused ultrasound (HIFU) requires precise physical definition of the focal size and determination of control parameters. The objective of this study was to measure the extent of ex-vivo porcine kidney tissue ablation at variable generator parameters and to identify parameters to control lesion size. The ultrasound waves generated by a cylindrical piezoceramic element (1.04 MHz) were focused at a depth of 100 mm using a parabolic reflector (diameter 100 mm). A needle hydrophone was used to measure the field distribution of the sound pressure. The morphology and extent of tissue necrosis were examined at generator powers of up to 400 W (P(el)) and single pulse durations of as long as 8 seconds. The two-dimensional field distribution resulted in an approximately ellipsoidal focus of 32 x 4 mm (-6 dB). A sharp demarcation between coagulation necrosis and intact tissue was observed. Lesion size was controlled by both the variation of generator power and the pulse duration. At a constant pulse duration of 2 seconds, a generator power of 100 W remained below the threshold doses for inducing a reproducible lesion. An increase in power to as high as 400 W induced lesions with average dimensions of as much as 11.2 x 3 mm. At constant total energy (generator power x pulse duration), lesion size increased at higher generator power. This ultrasound generator can induce defined and reproducible necrosis in ex-vivo kidney tissue. Lesion size can be controlled by adjusting the generator power and pulse duration. Generator power, in particular, turned out to be a suitable control parameter for obtaining a lesion of a defined size.

High speed all optical shear wave imaging optical coherence elastography (Conference Presentation)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Song, Shaozhen; Hsieh, Bao-Yu; Wei, Wei; Shen, Tueng; O'Donnell, Matthew; Wang, Ruikang K.

2016-03-01

Optical Coherence Elastography (OCE) is a non-invasive testing modality that maps the mechanical property of soft tissues with high sensitivity and spatial resolution using phase-sensitive optical coherence tomography (PhS-OCT). Shear wave OCE (SW-OCE) is a leading technique that relies on the speed of propagating shear waves to provide a quantitative elastography. Previous shear wave imaging OCT techniques are based on repeated M-B scans, which have several drawbacks such as long acquisition time and repeated wave stimulations. Recent developments of Fourier domain mode-locked high-speed swept-source OCT system has enabled enough speed to perform KHz B-scan rate OCT imaging. Here we propose ultra-high speed, single shot shear wave imaging to capture single-shot transient shear wave propagation to perform SW-OCE. The frame rate of shear wave imaging is 16 kHz, at A-line rate of ~1.62 MHz, which allows the detection of high-frequency shear wave of up to 8 kHz. The shear wave is generated photothermal-acoustically, by ultra-violet pulsed laser, which requires no contact to OCE subjects, while launching high frequency shear waves that carries rich localized elasticity information. The image acquisition and processing can be performed at video-rate, which enables real-time 3D elastography. SW-OCE measurements are demonstrated on tissue-mimicking phantoms and porcine ocular tissue. This approach opens up the feasibility to perform real-time 3D SW-OCE in clinical applications, to obtain high-resolution localized quantitative measurement of tissue biomechanical property.

Shear-Wave Elastography: Basic Physics and Musculoskeletal Applications

PubMed Central

Gimber, Lana H.; Becker, Giles W.; Latt, L. Daniel; Klauser, Andrea S.; Melville, David M.; Gao, Liang; Witte, Russell S.

2017-01-01

In the past 2 decades, sonoelastography has been progressively used as a tool to help evaluate soft-tissue elasticity and add to information obtained with conventional gray-scale and Doppler ultrasonographic techniques. Recently introduced on clinical scanners, shear-wave elastography (SWE) is considered to be more objective, quantitative, and reproducible than compression sonoelastography with increasing applications to the musculoskeletal system. SWE uses an acoustic radiation force pulse sequence to generate shear waves, which propagate perpendicular to the ultrasound beam, causing transient displacements. The distribution of shear-wave velocities at each pixel is directly related to the shear modulus, an absolute measure of the tissue’s elastic properties. Shear-wave images are automatically coregistered with standard B-mode images to provide quantitative color elastograms with anatomic specificity. Shear waves propagate faster through stiffer contracted tissue, as well as along the long axis of tendon and muscle. SWE has a promising role in determining the severity of disease and treatment follow-up of various musculoskeletal tissues including tendons, muscles, nerves, and ligaments. This article describes the basic ultrasound physics of SWE and its applications in the evaluation of various traumatic and pathologic conditions of the musculoskeletal system. ©RSNA, 2017 PMID:28493799

Selective mucosal ablation using CO2 laser for the development of novel endoscopic submucosal dissection: comparison of continuous wave and nanosecond pulsed wave

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ishii, K.; Watanabe, S.; Obata, D.; Hazama, H.; Morita, Y.; Matsuoka, Y.; Kutsumi, H.; Azuma, T.; Awazu, K.

2010-02-01

Endoscopic submucosal dissection (ESD) is accepted as a minimally invasive treatment technique for small early gastric cancers. Procedures are carried out using some specialized electrosurgical knifes with a submucosal injection solution. However it is not widely used because its procedure is difficult. The objective of this study is to develop a novel ESD method which is safe in principle and widely used by using laser techniques. In this study, we used CO2 lasers with a wavelength of 10.6 μm for mucosal ablation. Two types of pulse, continuous wave and pulsed wave with a pulse width of 110 ns, were studied to compare their values. Porcine stomach tissues were used as a sample. Aqueous solution of sodium hyaluronate (MucoUpR) with 50 mg/ml sodium dihydrogenphosphate is injected to a submucosal layer. As a result, ablation effect by CO2 laser irradiation was stopped because submucosal injection solution completely absorbed CO2 laser energy in the invasive energy condition which perforates a muscle layer without submucosal injection solution. Mucosal ablation by the combination of CO2 Laser and a submucosal injection solution is a feasible technique for treating early gastric cancers safely because it provides a selective mucosal resection and less-invasive interaction to muscle layer.

Angiography in the Isolated Perfused Kidney: Radiological Evaluation of Vascular Protection in Tissue Ablation by Nonthermal Irreversible Electroporation

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Wendler, Johann Jakob, E-mail: johann.wendler@med.ovgu.de; Pech, Maciej; Blaschke, Simon

2012-04-15

Purpose: The nonthermal irreversible electroporation (NTIRE) is a novel nonthermal tissue ablation technique by local application of high-voltage current within microseconds leading to a delayed apoptosis. The purpose of this experimental study was the first angiographic evaluation of the acute damage of renal vascular structure in NTIRE. Methods: Results of conventional dynamic digital substraction angiography (DSA) and visualization of the terminal vascular bed of renal parenchyma by high-resolution X-ray in mammography technique were evaluated before, during, and after NTIRE of three isolated perfused porcine ex vivo kidneys. Results: In the dedicated investigation, no acute vascular destruction of the renal parenchymamore » and no dysfunction of the kidney perfusion model were observed during or after NTIRE. Conspicuous were concentric wave-like fluctuations of the DSA contrast agent simultaneous to the NTIRE pulses resulting from NTIRE pulse shock wave. Conclusion: The NTIRE offers an ablation method with no acute collateral vascular damage in angiographic evaluation.« less

Clinical applications of low-intensity pulsed ultrasound and its potential role in urology

PubMed Central

Lin, Guiting; Lei, Hongen; Lue, Tom F.; Guo, Yinglu

2016-01-01

Low-intensity pulsed ultrasound (LIPUS) is a form of ultrasound that delivered at a much lower intensity (<3 W/cm2) than traditional ultrasound energy and output in the mode of pulse wave, and it is typically used for therapeutic purpose in rehabilitation medicine. LIPUS has minimal thermal effects due to its low intensity and pulsed output mode, and its non-thermal effects which is normally claimed to induce therapeutic changes in tissues attract most researchers’ attentions. LIPUS have been demonstrated to have a rage of biological effects on tissues, including promoting bone-fracture healing, accelerating soft-tissue regeneration, inhibiting inflammatory responses and so on. Recent studies showed that biological effects of LIPUS in healing morbid body tissues may be mainly associated with the upregulation of cell proliferation through activation of integrin receptors and Rho/ROCK/Src/ERK signaling pathway, and with promoting multilineage differentiation of mesenchyme stem/progenitor cell lines through ROCK-Cot/Tpl2-MEK-ERK signaling pathway. Hopefully, LIPUS may become an effective clinical procedure for the treatment of urological diseases, such as chronic prostatitis/chronic pelvic pain syndrome (CP/CPPS), erectile dysfunction (ED), and stress urinary incontinence (SUI) in the field of urology. It still needs an intense effort for basic-science and clinical investigators to explore the biomedical applications of ultrasound. PMID:27141455

Spatial-temporal ultrasound imaging of residual cavitation bubbles around a fluid-tissue interface in histotripsy.

PubMed

Hu, Hong; Xu, Shanshan; Yuan, Yuan; Liu, Runna; Wang, Supin; Wan, Mingxi

2015-05-01

Cavitation is considered as the primary mechanism of soft tissue fragmentation (histotripsy) by pulsed high-intensity focused ultrasound. The residual cavitation bubbles have a dual influence on the histotripsy pulses: these serve as nuclei for easy generation of new cavitation, and act as strong scatterers causing energy "shadowing." To monitor the residual cavitation bubbles in histotripsy, an ultrafast active cavitation imaging method with relatively high signal-to-noise ratio and good spatial-temporal resolution was proposed in this paper, which combined plane wave transmission, minimum variance beamforming, and coherence factor weighting. The spatial-temporal evolutions of residual cavitation bubbles around a fluid-tissue interface in histotripsy under pulse duration (PD) of 10-40 μs and pulse repetition frequency (PRF) of 0.67-2 kHz were monitored by this method. The integrated bubble area curves inside the tissue interface were acquired from the bubble image sequence, and the formation process of histotripsy damage was estimated. It was observed that the histotripsy efficiency decreased with both longer PDs and higher PRFs. A direct relationship with a coefficient of 1.0365 between histotripsy lesion area and inner residual bubble area was found. These results can assist in monitoring and optimization of the histotripsy treatment further.

All-optical photoacoustic microscopy (AOPAM) system for remote characterization of biological tissues

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sampathkumar, Ashwin; Chitnis, Parag V.; Silverman, Ronald H.

2014-03-01

Conventional photoacoustic microscopy (PAM) employs light pulses to produce a photoacoustic (PA) effect and detects the resulting acoustic waves using an ultrasound transducer acoustically coupled to the target. The resolution of conventional PAM is limited by the sensitivity and bandwidth of the ultrasound transducer. We investigated a versatile, all-optical PAM (AOPAM) system for characterizing in vivo as well as ex vivo biological specimens. The system employs non-contact interferometric detection of PA signals that overcomes limitations of conventional PAM. A 532-nm pump laser with a pulse duration of 5 ns excites the PA effect in tissue. Resulting acoustic waves produce surface displacements that are sensed using a 532-nm continuous-wave (CW) probe laser in a Michelson interferometer with a 1- GHz bandwidth. The pump and probe beams are coaxially focused using a 50X objective giving a diffraction-limited spot size of 0.48 μm. The phase-encoded probe beam is demodulated using homodyne methods. The detected timedomain signal is time reversed using k-space wave-propagation methods to produce a spatial distribution of PA sources in the target tissue. A minimum surface-displacement sensitivity of 0.19 pm was measured. PA-induced surface displacements are very small; therefore, they impose stringent detection requirements and determine the feasibility of implementing an all-optical PAM in biomedical applications. 3D PA images of ex vivo porcine retina specimens were generated successfully. We believe the AOPAM system potentially is well suited for assessing retinal diseases and other near-surface biomedical applications such as sectionless histology and evaluation of skin burns and pressure or friction ulcers.

Measurement of Mechanical Properties of Soft Tissue with Ultrasound Vibrometry

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Nenadich, I.; Bernal, M.; Greenleaf, J. F.

The cardiovascular diseases atherosclerosis, coronary artery disease, hypertension and heart failure have been related to stiffening of vessels and myocardium. Noninvasive measurements of mechanical properties of cardiovascular tissue would facilitate detection and treatment of disease in early stages, thus reducing mortality and possibly reducing cost of treatment. While techniques capable of measuring tissue elasticity have been reported, the knowledge of both elasticity and viscosity is necessary to fully characterize mechanical properties of soft tissues. In this article, we summarize the Shearwave Dispersion Ultrasound Vibrometry (SDUV) method developed by our group and report on advances made in characterizing stiffness of large vessels and myocardium. The method uses radiation forceFadiation force to excite shear waves in soft tissue and pulse echo ultrasound to measure the motion. The speed of propagation of shear waves at different frequencies is used to generate dispersions curves for excised porcine left-ventricular free-wall myocardium and carotid arteries. An antisymmetric Lamb wave model was fitted to the LV myocardium dispersion curves to obtain elasticity and viscosity moduli. The results suggest that the speed of shear wave propagation in four orthogonal directions on the surface of the excised myocardium is similar. These studies show that the SDUV method has potential for clinical application in noninvasive quantification of elasticity and viscosity of vessels and myocardium.

Simulation of ultrasonic pulse propagation, distortion, and attenuation in the human chest wall.

PubMed

Mast, T D; Hinkelman, L M; Metlay, L A; Orr, M J; Waag, R C

1999-12-01

A finite-difference time-domain model for ultrasonic pulse propagation through soft tissue has been extended to incorporate absorption effects as well as longitudinal-wave propagation in cartilage and bone. This extended model has been used to simulate ultrasonic propagation through anatomically detailed representations of chest wall structure. The inhomogeneous chest wall tissue is represented by two-dimensional maps determined by staining chest wall cross sections to distinguish between tissue types, digitally scanning the stained cross sections, and mapping each pixel of the scanned images to fat, muscle, connective tissue, cartilage, or bone. Each pixel of the tissue map is then assigned a sound speed, density, and absorption value determined from published measurements and assumed to be representative of the local tissue type. Computational results for energy level fluctuations and arrival time fluctuations show qualitative agreement with measurements performed on the same specimens, but show significantly less waveform distortion than measurements. Visualization of simulated tissue-ultrasound interactions in the chest wall shows possible mechanisms for image aberration in echocardiography, including effects associated with reflection and diffraction caused by rib structures. A comparison of distortion effects for varying pulse center frequencies shows that, for soft tissue paths through the chest wall, energy level and waveform distortion increase markedly with rising ultrasonic frequency and that arrival-time fluctuations increase to a lesser degree.

Pulsed and Tissue Doppler Echocardiographic Changes in Hypertensive Crisis with and without End Organ Damage

PubMed Central

Garadah, Taysir; Kassab, Salah; Gabani, Saleh; Abu-Taleb, Ahmed; Abdelatif, Ahmed; Asef, Aysha; Shoroqi, Issa; Jamsheer, Anwer

2011-01-01

Background Hypertensive crisis (HC) is a common medical emergency associated with acute rise in arterial blood pressure that leads to end-organ damage (EOD). Therefore, it is imperative to find markers that may help in the prediction of EOD in acute hypertensive crisis. Aim To assess the clinical presentations on admission; echocardiographic changes of pulsed and tissue Doppler changes in EOD patients compared with no EOD; and the risk of developing end organ damage for clinical and biochemical variables in hypertension crisis. Material and Methods The data of 241 patients with hypertensive crisis with systolic blood pressure (SBP) of >180 mmHg or diastolic blood pressure (DBP) >120 mmHg were extracted from patients files. Patients divided into hypertensive emergency (HE) with EOD, n = 62 and hypertensive urgency (HU) without EOD, n = 179. LV hypertrophy on ECG, echo parameters for wall thickness, left Ventricular mass index (LVMI), Body mass index (BMI), pulse Doppler ratio of early filling velocity E wave to late A wave (E/A) and ratio of E wave velocity to tissue Doppler Em to E wave (E/Em) were evaluated. Serum creatinine, hemoglobin, age, gender, body mass Index (BMI), history of diabetes mellitus, smoking, hypertension, stroke and hyperlipidemia were recorded. Multiple logistic regression analysis was applied for risk prediction of end organ damage of clinical variables. Results Patients with HE compared with HU were significantly older, with a significantly higher SBP on admission, high BMI and LVMI. Further there were significantly higher E/A ratio on Doppler echo and higher E/Em ratio on tissue Doppler echocardiogram. Multiple regression analysis with adjustment for age and sex shows positive predictive value with odds ratio of SBP on admission >220 mmHg of 1.98, serum creatinine > 120 µg/L of 1.43, older age > 60 year of 1.304, obesity (BMI ≥ 30) of 1.9, male gender of 2.26 and left ventricle hypertrophy on ECG of 1.92. The hemoglobin level, history of smoking, hyperlipidemia and DM were with no significant predictive value. The pulsed Doppler E/A ratio was ≥1.6, E/Em > 15, LVMI > 125 gm/m2 in patients with EOD compared with those without. Conclusion In patients presented with hypertensive crisis, the echo indices of E/A ratio and E/Em ratio of tissue Doppler are significantly higher in patients with hypertensive emergency compared to hypertensive urgency. The left ventricle hypertrophy on ECG, high LV mass index of >125 gm/m2, BMI > 30, old age > 60 year, male gender and history of hypertension and stroke were positive predictors of poor outcome and end organ damage. PMID:26949338

Pulsed and Tissue Doppler Echocardiographic Changes in Hypertensive Crisis with and without End Organ Damage.

PubMed

Garadah, Taysir; Kassab, Salah; Gabani, Saleh; Abu-Taleb, Ahmed; Abdelatif, Ahmed; Asef, Aysha; Shoroqi, Issa; Jamsheer, Anwer

2011-01-01

Hypertensive crisis (HC) is a common medical emergency associated with acute rise in arterial blood pressure that leads to end-organ damage (EOD). Therefore, it is imperative to find markers that may help in the prediction of EOD in acute hypertensive crisis. To assess the clinical presentations on admission; echocardiographic changes of pulsed and tissue Doppler changes in EOD patients compared with no EOD; and the risk of developing end organ damage for clinical and biochemical variables in hypertension crisis. The data of 241 patients with hypertensive crisis with systolic blood pressure (SBP) of >180 mmHg or diastolic blood pressure (DBP) >120 mmHg were extracted from patients files. Patients divided into hypertensive emergency (HE) with EOD, n = 62 and hypertensive urgency (HU) without EOD, n = 179. LV hypertrophy on ECG, echo parameters for wall thickness, left Ventricular mass index (LVMI), Body mass index (BMI), pulse Doppler ratio of early filling velocity E wave to late A wave (E/A) and ratio of E wave velocity to tissue Doppler Em to E wave (E/Em) were evaluated. Serum creatinine, hemoglobin, age, gender, body mass Index (BMI), history of diabetes mellitus, smoking, hypertension, stroke and hyperlipidemia were recorded. Multiple logistic regression analysis was applied for risk prediction of end organ damage of clinical variables. Patients with HE compared with HU were significantly older, with a significantly higher SBP on admission, high BMI and LVMI. Further there were significantly higher E/A ratio on Doppler echo and higher E/Em ratio on tissue Doppler echocardiogram. Multiple regression analysis with adjustment for age and sex shows positive predictive value with odds ratio of SBP on admission >220 mmHg of 1.98, serum creatinine > 120 µg/L of 1.43, older age > 60 year of 1.304, obesity (BMI ≥ 30) of 1.9, male gender of 2.26 and left ventricle hypertrophy on ECG of 1.92. The hemoglobin level, history of smoking, hyperlipidemia and DM were with no significant predictive value. The pulsed Doppler E/A ratio was ≥1.6, E/Em > 15, LVMI > 125 gm/m(2) in patients with EOD compared with those without. In patients presented with hypertensive crisis, the echo indices of E/A ratio and E/Em ratio of tissue Doppler are significantly higher in patients with hypertensive emergency compared to hypertensive urgency. The left ventricle hypertrophy on ECG, high LV mass index of >125 gm/m(2), BMI > 30, old age > 60 year, male gender and history of hypertension and stroke were positive predictors of poor outcome and end organ damage.

Stimulated Raman photoacoustic imaging

PubMed Central

Yakovlev, Vladislav V.; Zhang, Hao F.; Noojin, Gary D.; Denton, Michael L.; Thomas, Robert J.; Scully, Marlan O.

2010-01-01

Achieving label-free, molecular-specific imaging with high spatial resolution in deep tissue is often considered the grand challenge of optical imaging. To accomplish this goal, significant optical scattering in tissues has to be overcome while achieving molecular specificity without resorting to extrinsic labeling. We demonstrate the feasibility of developing such an optical imaging modality by combining the molecularly specific stimulated Raman excitation with the photoacoustic detection. By employing two ultrashort excitation laser pulses, separated in frequency by the vibrational frequency of a targeted molecule, only the specific vibrational level of the target molecules in the illuminated tissue volume is excited. This targeted optical absorption generates ultrasonic waves (referred to as stimulated Raman photoacoustic waves) which are detected using a traditional ultrasonic transducer to form an image following the design of the established photoacoustic microscopy. PMID:21059930

Velocity and attenuation of shear waves in the phantom of a muscle-soft tissue matrix with embedded stretched fibers

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Rudenko, O. V.; Tsyuryupa, S. N.; Sarvazyan, A. P.

2016-09-01

We develop a theory of the elasticity moduli and dissipative properties of a composite material: a phantom simulating muscle tissue anisotropy. The model used in the experiments was made of a waterlike polymer with embedded elastic filaments imitating muscle fiber. In contrast to the earlier developed phenomenological theory of the anisotropic properties of muscle tissue, here we obtain the relationship of the moduli with characteristic sizes and moduli making up the composite. We introduce the effective elasticity moduli and viscosity tensor components, which depend on stretching of the fibers. We measure the propagation velocity of shear waves and the shear viscosity of the model for regulated tension. Waves were excited by pulsed radiation pressure generated by modulated focused ultrasound. We show that with increased stretching of fibers imitating muscle contraction, an increase in both elasticity and viscosity takes place, and this effect depends on the wave propagation direction. The results of theoretical and experimental studies support our hypothesis on the protective function of stretched skeletal muscle, which protects bones and joints from trauma.

Thermal distribution in biological tissue at laser induced fluorescence and photodynamic therapy

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Krasnikov, I. V.; Seteikin, A. Yu.; Drakaki, E.; Makropoulou, M.

2012-03-01

Laser induced fluorescence spectroscopy and photodynamic therapy (PDT) are techniques currently introduced in clinical applications for visualization and local destruction of malignant tumours as well as premalignant lesions. During the laser irradiation of tissues for the diagnostic and therapeutic purposes, the absorbed optical energy generates heat, although the power density of the treatment light for surface illumination is normally low enough not to cause any significantly increased tissue temperature. In this work we tried to evaluate the utility of Monte Carlo modeling for simulating the temperature fields and the dynamics of heat conduction into the skin tissue under several laser irradiation conditions with both a pulsed UV laser and a continuous wave visible laser beam. The analysis of the results showed that heat is not localized on the surface, but it is collected inside the tissue. By varying the boundary conditions on the surface and the type of the laser radiation (continuous or pulsed) we can reach higher than normal temperature inside the tissue without simultaneous formation of thermally damaged tissue (e.g. coagulation or necrosis zone).

The Predictive Value of Pulse Oximeters for Pulse Improvement after Angiography in Infants and Children

PubMed Central

Alipour, Mohammad-Reza; Rastegar, Mazyar; Ghaderian, Mehdi; Namayandeh, Seyedeh-Mahdieh; Faraji, Reza; Pezeshkpour, Zohreh

2016-01-01

Background Information from pulse oximeter waves confirms the presence of a pulse and helps obtain waves from tissue when the supplying artery is not readily accessible. Objectives This study determined the predictive value of pulse oximeters for detecting improved arterial pulses after angiography. Patients and Methods This cross-sectional, multi-center study included 467 4-day-old to 12-year-old patients and was conducted from January 2012 to January 2016. Angiographies were performed on 12-year-old or younger children for various medical reasons using venous, arterial, or both types of paths. The posterior malleolar or dorsalis pedis were palpated in punctured lower extremities. In the absence of a pulse, pulse oximetry was performed to identify pulse curves at 1 hour, 6 hours, and 12 hours after each angiography. Results Pulse oximetry displayed the pulses of 319 patients immediately following each angiography. Of these, 262 patients had palpable pulses at 6 hours after angiography (P < 0.0001), while 57 patients had no palpable pulse. Of these 57 patients, 15 had no palpable pulse at 12 hours after angiography (P < 0.0001). The odds of pulse improvement in children 6 hours after catheter angiography were 76% for the arterial path, 90% for the venous path, and 83.2% for both paths. At 12 hours after catheter angiography, these values increased to 91.6% for the arterial path, 100% for the venous path, and 95.9% for both paths. Conclusions The pulse oximeter can display the pulse curve immediately (1 hour) after angiography and indicate pulse improvement at 12 hours maximally following an angiography. In this case, heparin alone may be used instead of thrombolytic agents. PMID:28203338

Ultrafast Harmonic Coherent Compound (UHCC) imaging for high frame rate echocardiography and Shear Wave Elastography

PubMed Central

Correia, Mafalda; Provost, Jean; Chatelin, Simon; Villemain, Olivier; Tanter, Mickael; Pernot, Mathieu

2016-01-01

Transthoracic shear wave elastography of the myocardium remains very challenging due to the poor quality of transthoracic ultrafast imaging and the presence of clutter noise, jitter, phase aberration, and ultrasound reverberation. Several approaches, such as, e.g., diverging-wave coherent compounding or focused harmonic imaging have been proposed to improve the imaging quality. In this study, we introduce ultrafast harmonic coherent compounding (UHCC), in which pulse-inverted diverging-waves are emitted and coherently compounded, and show that such an approach can be used to enhance both Shear Wave Elastography (SWE) and high frame rate B-mode Imaging. UHCC SWE was first tested in phantoms containing an aberrating layer and was compared against pulse-inversion harmonic imaging and against ultrafast coherent compounding (UCC) imaging at the fundamental frequency. In-vivo feasibility of the technique was then evaluated in six healthy volunteers by measuring myocardial stiffness during diastole in transthoracic imaging. We also demonstrated that improvements in imaging quality could be achieved using UHCC B-mode imaging in healthy volunteers. The quality of transthoracic images of the heart was found to be improved with the number of pulse-inverted diverging waves with reduction of the imaging mean clutter level up to 13.8-dB when compared against UCC at the fundamental frequency. These results demonstrated that UHCC B-mode imaging is promising for imaging deep tissues exposed to aberration sources with a high frame-rate. PMID:26890730

Numerical simulations of short-mixing-time double-wave-vector diffusion-weighting experiments with multiple concatenations on whole-body MR systems

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Finsterbusch, Jürgen

2010-12-01

Double- or two-wave-vector diffusion-weighting experiments with short mixing times in which two diffusion-weighting periods are applied in direct succession, are a promising tool to estimate cell sizes in the living tissue. However, the underlying effect, a signal difference between parallel and antiparallel wave vector orientations, is considerably reduced for the long gradient pulses required on whole-body MR systems. Recently, it has been shown that multiple concatenations of the two wave vectors in a single acquisition can double the modulation amplitude if short gradient pulses are used. In this study, numerical simulations of such experiments were performed with parameters achievable with whole-body MR systems. It is shown that the theoretical model yields a good approximation of the signal behavior if an additional term describing free diffusion is included. More importantly, it is demonstrated that the shorter gradient pulses sufficient to achieve the desired diffusion weighting for multiple concatenations, increase the signal modulation considerably, e.g. by a factor of about five for five concatenations. Even at identical echo times, achieved by a shortened diffusion time, a moderate number of concatenations significantly improves the signal modulation. Thus, experiments on whole-body MR systems may benefit from multiple concatenations.

Method and apparatus to assess compartment syndrome

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Hargens, Alan R. (Inventor); Yost, William T. (Inventor); Ueno, Toshiaki (Inventor)

2008-01-01

A method and apparatus for measuring pressure buildup in a body compartment that encases muscular tissue. The method includes assessing the body compartment configuration and identifying the effect of pulsatile components on at least one compartment dimension. This process is used in preventing tissue necrosis, and in decisions of whether to perform surgery on the body compartment for prevention of Compartment Syndrome. An apparatus is used for measuring excess pressure in the body compartment having components for imparting ultrasonic waves such as a transducer, placing the transducer to impart the ultrasonic waves, capturing the reflected imparted ultrasonic waves, and converting them to electrical signals, a pulsed phase-locked loop device for assessing a body compartment configuration and producing an output signal, and means for mathematically manipulating the output signal to thereby categorize pressure build-up in the body compartment from the mathematical manipulations.

FPGA-based design and implementation of arterial pulse wave generator using piecewise Gaussian-cosine fitting.

PubMed

Wang, Lu; Xu, Lisheng; Zhao, Dazhe; Yao, Yang; Song, Dan

2015-04-01

Because arterial pulse waves contain vital information related to the condition of the cardiovascular system, considerable attention has been devoted to the study of pulse waves in recent years. Accurate acquisition is essential to investigate arterial pulse waves. However, at the stage of developing equipment for acquiring and analyzing arterial pulse waves, specific pulse signals may be unavailable for debugging and evaluating the system under development. To produce test signals that reflect specific physiological conditions, in this paper, an arterial pulse wave generator has been designed and implemented using a field programmable gate array (FPGA), which can produce the desired pulse waves according to the feature points set by users. To reconstruct a periodic pulse wave from the given feature points, a method known as piecewise Gaussian-cosine fitting is also proposed in this paper. Using a test database that contains four types of typical pulse waves with each type containing 25 pulse wave signals, the maximum residual error of each sampling point of the fitted pulse wave in comparison with the real pulse wave is within 8%. In addition, the function for adding baseline drift and three types of noises is integrated into the developed system because the baseline occasionally wanders, and noise needs to be added for testing the performance of the designed circuits and the analysis algorithms. The proposed arterial pulse wave generator can be considered as a special signal generator with a simple structure, low cost and compact size, which can also provide flexible solutions for many other related research purposes. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Combined effect of pulsed electromagnetic field and sound wave on In vitro and In vivo neural differentiation of human mesenchymal stem cells.

PubMed

Choi, Yun-Kyong; Urnukhsaikhan, Enerelt; Yoon, Hee-Hoon; Seo, Young-Kwon; Cho, Hyunjin; Jeong, Jong-Seob; Kim, Soo-Chan; Park, Jung-Keug

2017-01-01

Biophysical wave stimulus has been used as an effective tool to promote cellular maturation and differentiation in the construction of engineered tissue. Pulsed electromagnetic fields (PEMFs) and sound waves have been selected as effective stimuli that can promote neural differentiation. The aim of this study was to investigate the synergistic effect of PEMFs and sound waves on the neural differentiation potential in vitro and in vivo using human bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells (hBM-MSCs). In vitro, neural-related genes in hBM-MSCs were accelerated by the combined exposure to both waves more than by individual exposure to PEMFs or sound waves. The combined wave also up-regulated the expression of neural and synaptic-related proteins in a three-dimensional (3-D) culture system through the phosphorylation of extracellular signal-related kinase. In a mouse model of photochemically induced ischemia, exposure to the combined wave reduced the infarction volume and improved post-injury behavioral activity. These results indicate that a combined stimulus of biophysical waves, PEMFs and sound can enhance and possibly affect the differentiation of MSCs into neural cells. Our study is meaningful for highlighting the potential of combined wave for neurogenic effects and providing new therapeutic approaches for neural cell therapy. © 2016 American Institute of Chemical Engineers Biotechnol. Prog., 33:201-211, 2017. © 2016 American Institute of Chemical Engineers.

Experimental Evaluation of the High-Speed Motion Vector Measurement by Combining Synthetic Aperture Array Processing with Constrained Least Square Method

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yokoyama, Ryouta; Yagi, Shin-ichi; Tamura, Kiyoshi; Sato, Masakazu

2009-07-01

Ultrahigh speed dynamic elastography has promising potential capabilities in applying clinical diagnosis and therapy of living soft tissues. In order to realize the ultrahigh speed motion tracking at speeds of over thousand frames per second, synthetic aperture (SA) array signal processing technology must be introduced. Furthermore, the overall system performance should overcome the fine quantitative evaluation in accuracy and variance of echo phase changes distributed across a tissue medium. On spatial evaluation of local phase changes caused by pulsed excitation on a tissue phantom, investigation was made with the proposed SA signal system utilizing different virtual point sources that were generated by an array transducer to probe each component of local tissue displacement vectors. The final results derived from the cross-correlation method (CCM) brought about almost the same performance as obtained by the constrained least square method (LSM) extended to successive echo frames. These frames were reconstructed by SA processing after the real-time acquisition triggered by the pulsed irradiation from a point source. The continuous behavior of spatial motion vectors demonstrated the dynamic generation and traveling of the pulsed shear wave at a speed of one thousand frames per second.

An ultrasound transient elastography system with coded excitation.

PubMed

Diao, Xianfen; Zhu, Jing; He, Xiaonian; Chen, Xin; Zhang, Xinyu; Chen, Siping; Liu, Weixiang

2017-06-28

Ultrasound transient elastography technology has found its place in elastography because it is safe and easy to operate. However, it's application in deep tissue is limited. The aim of this study is to design an ultrasound transient elastography system with coded excitation to obtain greater detection depth. The ultrasound transient elastography system requires tissue vibration to be strictly synchronous with ultrasound detection. Therefore, an ultrasound transient elastography system with coded excitation was designed. A central component of this transient elastography system was an arbitrary waveform generator with multi-channel signals output function. This arbitrary waveform generator was used to produce the tissue vibration signal, the ultrasound detection signal and the synchronous triggering signal of the radio frequency data acquisition system. The arbitrary waveform generator can produce different forms of vibration waveform to induce different shear wave propagation in the tissue. Moreover, it can achieve either traditional pulse-echo detection or a phase-modulated or a frequency-modulated coded excitation. A 7-chip Barker code and traditional pulse-echo detection were programmed on the designed ultrasound transient elastography system to detect the shear wave in the phantom excited by the mechanical vibrator. Then an elasticity QA phantom and sixteen in vitro rat livers were used for performance evaluation of the two detection pulses. The elasticity QA phantom's results show that our system is effective, and the rat liver results show the detection depth can be increased more than 1 cm. In addition, the SNR (signal-to-noise ratio) is increased by 15 dB using the 7-chip Barker coded excitation. Applying 7-chip Barker coded excitation technique to the ultrasound transient elastography can increase the detection depth and SNR. Using coded excitation technology to assess the human liver, especially in obese patients, may be a good choice.

Theranostic probe for simultaneous in vivo photoacoustic imaging and confined photothermolysis by pulsed laser at 1064 nm in 4T1 breast cancer model

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhou, Min; Ku, Geng; Pageon, Laura; Li, Chun

2014-11-01

Here, we report that polyethylene glycol (PEG)-coated copper(ii) sulfide nanoparticles (PEG-CuS NPs) with their peak absorption tuned to 1064 nm could be used both as a contrast agent for photoacoustic tomographic imaging of mouse tumor vasculature and as a mediator for confined photothermolysis of tumor cells in an orthotopic syngeneic 4T1 breast tumor model. PEG-CuS NPs showed stronger photoacoustic signal than hollow gold nanospheres and single-wall carbon nanotubes at 1064 nm. MicroPET imaging of 4T1 tumor-bearing mice showed a gradual accumulation of the NPs in the tumor over time. About 6.5% of injected dose were taken up in each gram of tumor tissue at 24 h after intravenous injection of 64Cu-labeled PEG-CuS NPs. For both photoacoustic imaging and therapeutic studies, nanosecond (ns)-pulsed laser was delivered with Q-switched Nd:YAG at a wavelength of 1064 nm. Unlike conventional photothermal ablation therapy mediated by continuous wave laser with which heat could spread to the surrounding normal tissue, interaction of CuS NPs with short pulsed laser deliver heat rapidly to the treatment volume keeping the thermal damage confined to the target tissues. Our data demonstrated that it is possible to use a single-compartment nanoplatform to achieve both photoacoustic tomography and highly selective tumor destruction at 1064 nm in small animals.Here, we report that polyethylene glycol (PEG)-coated copper(ii) sulfide nanoparticles (PEG-CuS NPs) with their peak absorption tuned to 1064 nm could be used both as a contrast agent for photoacoustic tomographic imaging of mouse tumor vasculature and as a mediator for confined photothermolysis of tumor cells in an orthotopic syngeneic 4T1 breast tumor model. PEG-CuS NPs showed stronger photoacoustic signal than hollow gold nanospheres and single-wall carbon nanotubes at 1064 nm. MicroPET imaging of 4T1 tumor-bearing mice showed a gradual accumulation of the NPs in the tumor over time. About 6.5% of injected dose were taken up in each gram of tumor tissue at 24 h after intravenous injection of 64Cu-labeled PEG-CuS NPs. For both photoacoustic imaging and therapeutic studies, nanosecond (ns)-pulsed laser was delivered with Q-switched Nd:YAG at a wavelength of 1064 nm. Unlike conventional photothermal ablation therapy mediated by continuous wave laser with which heat could spread to the surrounding normal tissue, interaction of CuS NPs with short pulsed laser deliver heat rapidly to the treatment volume keeping the thermal damage confined to the target tissues. Our data demonstrated that it is possible to use a single-compartment nanoplatform to achieve both photoacoustic tomography and highly selective tumor destruction at 1064 nm in small animals. Electronic supplementary information (ESI) available: Details on methods used for copper staining, synthesis of 64Cu-labeled PEG-CuS NPs, and PAT imaging equipment, and data summary on stability of PEG-CuS NPs, photographs of copper staining in tumor samples, temperature elevation comparing continues wave and pulsed laser beams, and quantitative analysis of treatment-induced necrosis of tumor tissues. See DOI: 10.1039/c4nr05386a

Left ventricular myocardial velocities and deformation indexes in top-level athletes.

PubMed

D'Andrea, Antonello; Cocchia, Rosangela; Riegler, Lucia; Scarafile, Raffaella; Salerno, Gemma; Gravino, Rita; Golia, Enrica; Pezzullo, Enrica; Citro, Rodolfo; Limongelli, Giuseppe; Pacileo, Giuseppe; Cuomo, Sergio; Caso, Pio; Russo, Maria Giovanna; Bossone, Eduardo; Calabrò, Raffaele

2010-12-01

The aim of this study was to define the range of left ventricular (LV) velocities and deformation indexes in highly trained athletes, analyzing potential differences induced by different long-term training protocols. Standard echocardiography, pulsed-wave tissue Doppler echocardiography, and two-dimensional strain echocardiography of the interventricular septum and lateral wall were performed in 370 endurance athletes and 280 power athletes. Using pulsed-wave tissue Doppler, the following parameters of myocardial function were assessed: systolic peak velocities (S(m)), early (E(m)) and late (A(m)) diastolic velocities, and the E(m)/A(m) ratio. By two-dimensional strain echocardiography, peaks of regional systolic strain and LV global longitudinal strain were calculated. LV mass index and ejection fraction did not significantly differ between the two groups. However, power athletes showed an increased sum of wall thicknesses (P < .01) and relative wall thickness, while LV stroke volume and LV end-diastolic diameter (P < .001) were greater in endurance athletes. By pulsed-wave tissue Doppler analysis, E(m) and E(m)/A(m) at both the septal and lateral wall levels were higher in endurance athletes. By two-dimensional strain echocardiography, myocardial deformation indexes were comparable between the two groups. E(m)/A(m) ratios ≥ 1 were found in the overall population, while 90 % of athletes had an E(m) ≥ 16 cm/sec, S(m) ≥ 10 cm/sec, and global longitudinal strain ≤ -16%. Multivariate analyses evidenced independent positive association between Em peak velocity and LV end-diastolic volume (P < .001) and an independent correlation of global longitudinal strain with the sum of LV wall thicknesses (P < .005). This study describes the full spectrum of systolic and diastolic myocardial velocities and deformation indexes in a large population of competitive athletes. Copyright © 2010 American Society of Echocardiography. Published by Mosby, Inc. All rights reserved.

Post Hoc Analysis of Passive Cavitation Imaging for Classification of Histotripsy-Induced Liquefaction in Vitro.

PubMed

Bader, Kenneth B; Haworth, Kevin J; Maxwell, Adam D; Holland, Christy K

2018-01-01

Histotripsy utilizes focused ultrasound to generate bubble clouds for transcutaneous tissue liquefaction. Bubble activity maps are under development to provide image guidance and monitor treatment progress. The aim of this paper was to investigate the feasibility of using plane wave B-mode and passive cavitation images to be used as binary classifiers of histotripsy-induced liquefaction. Prostate tissue phantoms were exposed to histotripsy pulses over a range of pulse durations (5- ) and peak negative pressures (12-23 MPa). Acoustic emissions were recorded during the insonation and beamformed to form passive cavitation images. Plane wave B-mode images were acquired following the insonation to detect the hyperechoic bubble cloud. Phantom samples were sectioned and stained to delineate the liquefaction zone. Correlation between passive cavitation and plane wave B-mode images and the liquefaction zone was assessed using receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analysis. Liquefaction of the phantom was observed for all the insonation conditions. The area under the ROC (0.94 versus 0.82), accuracy (0.90 versus 0.83), and sensitivity (0.81 versus 0.49) was greater for passive cavitation images relative to B-mode images ( ) along the azimuth of the liquefaction zone. The specificity was greater than 0.9 for both imaging modalities. These results demonstrate a stronger correlation between histotripsy-induced liquefaction and passive cavitation imaging compared with the plane wave B-mode imaging, albeit with limited passive cavitation image range resolution.

Experimental study of microwave-induced thermoacoustic imaging

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Jacobs, Ryan T.

Microwave-Induced Thermoacoustic Imaging (TAI) is a noninvasive hybrid modality which improves contrast by using thermoelastic wave generation induced by microwave absorption. Ultrasonography is widely used in medical practice as a low-cost alternative and supplement to magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). Although ultrasonography has relatively high image resolution (depending on the ultrasonic wavelength at diagnostic frequencies), it suffers from low image contrast of soft tissues. In this work samples are irradiated with sub-microsecond electromagnetic pulses inducing acoustic waves in the sample that are then detected with an unfocused transducer. The advantage of this hybrid modality is the ability to take advantage of the microwave absorption coefficients which provide high contrast in tissue samples. This in combination with the superior spatial resolution of ultrasound waves is important to providing a low-cost alternative to MRI and early breast cancer detection methods. This work describes the implementation of a thermoacoustic experiment using a 5 kW peak power microwave source.

A diagnostic system for articular cartilage using non-destructive pulsed laser irradiation.

PubMed

Sato, Masato; Ishihara, Miya; Kikuchi, Makoto; Mochida, Joji

2011-07-01

Osteoarthritis involves dysfunction caused by cartilage degeneration, but objective evaluation methodologies based on the original function of the articular cartilage remain unavailable. Evaluations for osteoarthritis are mostly based simply on patient symptoms or the degree of joint space narrowing on X-ray images. Accurate measurement and quantitative evaluation of the mechanical characteristics of the cartilage is important, and the tissue properties of the original articular cartilage must be clarified to understand the pathological condition in detail and to correctly judge the efficacy of treatment. We have developed new methods to measure some essential properties of cartilage: a photoacoustic measurement method; and time-resolved fluorescence spectroscopy. A nanosecond-pulsed laser, which is completely non-destructive, is focused onto the target cartilage and induces a photoacoustic wave that will propagate with attenuation and is affected by the viscoelasticity of the surrounding cartilage. We also investigated whether pulsed laser irradiation and the measurement of excited autofluorescence allow real-time, non-invasive evaluation of tissue characteristics. The decay time, during which the amplitude of the photoacoustic wave is reduced by a factor of 1/e, represents the key numerical value used to characterize and evaluate the viscoelasticity and rheological behavior of the cartilage. Our findings show that time-resolved laser-induced autofluorescence spectroscopy (TR-LIFS) is useful for evaluating tissue-engineered cartilage. Photoacoustic measurement and TR-LIFS, predicated on the interactions between optics and living organs, is a suitable methodology for diagnosis during arthroscopy, allowing quantitative and multidirectional evaluation of the original function of the cartilage based on a variety of parameters. Copyright © 2011 Wiley-Liss, Inc.

Interaction between shock wave and single inertial bubbles near an elastic boundary.

PubMed

Sankin, G N; Zhong, P

2006-10-01

The interaction of laser-generated single inertial bubbles (collapse time = 121 mus) near a silicon rubber membrane with a shock wave (55 MPa in peak pressure and 1.7 mus in compressive pulse duration) is investigated. The interaction leads to directional, forced asymmetric collapse of the bubble with microjet formation toward the surface. Maximum jet penetration into the membrane is produced during the bubble collapse phase with optimal shock wave arrival time and stand-off distance. Such interaction may provide a unique acoustic means for in vivo microinjection, applicable to targeted delivery of macromolecules and gene vectors to biological tissues.

Development of lithotripter technology

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Eisenmenger, Wolfgang F. W.

2003-10-01

``Squeezing'' of the stone or cirumferential pressure of the wave propagating at the outside of the stone in the liquid or tissue results in fragmentation in planes perpendicular or parallel to the wave propagation direction. The corresponding pressure zone propagating with the sound velocity in the liquid which is below the sound velocity in the stone, causes an evanescent pressure zone in the stone resulting in tensile stress in planes parallel and perpendicular to the wave plane. A quantitative model predicting the ratio of pulses needed to fragment the stone to 2 mm particle size in relation to the number of pressure pulses needed for the first fragmentation is well in accord with experiments, supporting the ``squeezing mechanism with binary fragmentation.'' On the basis of these results it now appears possible to optimize the pressure pulse parameters measured using the Fiber Optic Probe Hydrophone (FOPH). With correspondingly optimized self-focusing electromagnetic shock wave generator systems a clinical study of the concept ``wide focus and low pressure'' ESWL was performed in a scientific cooperation between the 1. Physical Institute of the University of Stuttgart and the Xixin Medical Instruments Co., Ltd. in Suzhou, China. Literature: W. Eisenmenger, ``The mechanisms of stone fragmentation in ESWL,'' Ultrasound Med. Biol. 27, 683-693 (2001); W. Eisenmenger et al., ``The first clinical results of `wide focus and low pressure' ESWL,'' Ultrasound Med. Biol. 28, 769-774 (2002).

Longitudinal Waves Drive the Solar Cycle

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wagner, Orvin

2000-05-01

In Physics Essays 12: 3-10 I explain the placement of the planets in terms of low velocity waves emitted by the sun. Evidence for the wave pulse generated near the center of the sun is indicated by the initial high latitude sunspots observed on the butterfly diagram. The wave pulse carries charge with it as observed for similar waves in plants (W-waves). For the first half cycle negative charge is carried to the surface of the sun where much of the wave pulse radiates a wave crest into space while the charge slowly redistributes itself. Meanwhile the next wave pulse carrying excess positive charge moves outward. Rotating charge determines the polarity of the sun's magnetic poles so they reverse as the pulse moves outward. The wave pulse, which interacts strongly with force fields, is guided by centripetal force and gravity so that the pulse comes out near the sun's equator. W-waves produce an automatic return wave in the vacuum so that standing waves are produced in the space around the sun providing a template for the formation and stabilization planets. W-waves are hypothesized to provide self organization for both the universe and life. See the

Holmium:YAG (lambda=2120nm) vs. Thulium fiber (lambda=1908nm) laser for high-power vaporization of canine prostate tissue

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Casperson, Andrew L.; Barton, Robert A.; Scott, Nicholas J.; Fried, Nathaniel M.

2008-02-01

Direct studies comparing different lasers for treatment of BPH are lacking. This preliminary study compares continuous-wave (CW) vs. pulsed prostate tissue vaporization for the Thulium fiber laser and Holmium:YAG laser, both operating near the 1940 nm water absorption peak in tissue. A 50-W Thulium fiber laser (λ= 1908 nm) delivered CW laser radiation through a 600-μm silica fiber in non-contact mode with a 5-mm-diameter spot at the tissue surface. A Holmium:YAG laser (λ= 2120 nm) operated with an energy of 2 J, pulse rate of 25 Hz, and average power of 50 W, and delivered pulsed laser radiation through a 600-μm silica fiber with a 5-mm-diameter laser spot to achieve similar irradiances at the tissue surface. Tissue vaporization was performed in air with the prostate kept hydrated in saline. Tissue vaporization efficiency of both lasers was compared (n = 10 canine prostates for each laser group). Mean vaporization efficiency measured 5.30 +/- 0.48 kJ/g vs. 4.13 +/- 0.46 kJ/g for Thulium fiber and Holmium lasers (P < 0.05). Tissue vaporization rates measured 0.57 +/- 0.05 g/min vs. 0.73 +/- 0.07 g/min (P < 0.05). The Holmium:YAG laser vaporizes prostate tissue at a higher rate than the Thulium fiber laser, for the same average power delivered to the tissue. Both the Thulium fiber laser and Holmium:YAG lasers are capable of vaporizing prostate tissue at a rate > 1 g/min if operated at the high powers (100-W) typically used in the clinic.

Usefulness and limitation of measurement methods for evaluation of tissue-engineered cartilage function and characterization using nanosecond pulsed laser

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ishihara, Miya; Sato, Masato; Kaneshiro, Nagatoshi; Mitani, Genya; Nagai, Toshihiro; Kutsuna, Toshiharu; Ishihara, Masayuki; Mochida, Joji; Kikuchi, Makoto

2007-02-01

There is a demand in the field of regenerative medicine for measurement technology that enables determination of functions and characterizations of engineered tissue. Regenerative medicine involving the articular cartilage in particular requires measurement of viscoelastic properties and characterization of the extracellular matrix, which plays a major role in articular cartilage. To meet this demand, we previously proposed a noninvasive method for determination of the viscoelasticity using laser-induced thermoelastic wave (1,2). We also proposed a method for characterization of the extracellular matrix using time-resolved autofluorescence spectroscopy, which could be performed simultaneously with laser-induced thermoelastic wave measurement(3). The purpose of this study was to verify the usefulness and limitation of these methods for evaluation of actual engineered cartilage. 3rd Q-SW Nd:YAG laser pulses, which are delivered through optical fiber, were used for the light source. Laser-induced thermoelastic waves were detected by a sensor consisting of a piezoelectric transducer, which was designed for use in arthroscopy(4). The time-resolved fluorescence spectroscopy was measured by a photonic multichannel analyzer with 4ch digital signal generator. Various tissue-engineered cartilages were developed as samples. Only a limited range of sample thickness could be measured, however, the measured viscoelastic parameters had a positive correlation with culture time, that is, the degree of formation of extracellular matrix(5,6). There were significant differences in the fluorescent parameters among the phenotypic expressions of cartilage because chondrocyte produces specific extracellular matrix as in collagen types depending on its phenotype.

Longitudinal nonlinear wave propagation through soft tissue.

PubMed

Valdez, M; Balachandran, B

2013-04-01

In this paper, wave propagation through soft tissue is investigated. A primary aim of this investigation is to gain a fundamental understanding of the influence of soft tissue nonlinear material properties on the propagation characteristics of stress waves generated by transient loadings. Here, for computational modeling purposes, the soft tissue is modeled as a nonlinear visco-hyperelastic material, the geometry is assumed to be one-dimensional rod geometry, and uniaxial propagation of longitudinal waves is considered. By using the linearized model, a basic understanding of the characteristics of wave propagation is developed through the dispersion relation and in terms of the propagation speed and attenuation. In addition, it is illustrated as to how the linear system can be used to predict brain tissue material parameters through the use of available experimental ultrasonic attenuation curves. Furthermore, frequency thresholds for wave propagation along internal structures, such as axons in the white matter of the brain, are obtained through the linear analysis. With the nonlinear material model, the authors analyze cases in which one of the ends of the rods is fixed and the other end is subjected to a loading. Two variants of the nonlinear model are analyzed and the associated predictions are compared with the predictions of the corresponding linear model. The numerical results illustrate that one of the imprints of the nonlinearity on the wave propagation phenomenon is the steepening of the wave front, leading to jump-like variations in the stress wave profiles. This phenomenon is a consequence of the dependence of the local wave speed on the local deformation of the material. As per the predictions of the nonlinear material model, compressive waves in the structure travel faster than tensile waves. Furthermore, it is found that wave pulses with large amplitudes and small elapsed times are attenuated over shorter spans. This feature is due to the elevated strain-rates introduced at the end of the structure where the load is applied. In addition, it is shown that when steep wave fronts are generated in the nonlinear viscoelastic material, energy dissipation is focused in those wave fronts implying deposition of energy in a highly localized region of the material. Novel mechanisms for brain tissue damage are proposed based on the results obtained. The first mechanism is related to the dissipation of energy at steep wave fronts, while the second one is related to the interaction of steep wave fronts with axons encountered on its way through the structure. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Acute effects of ultrafiltration on aortic mechanical properties determined by measurement of pulse wave velocity and pulse propagation time in hemodialysis patients

PubMed Central

Yıldız, Banu Şahin; Şahin, Alparslan; Aladağ, Nazire Başkurt; Arslan, Gülgün; Kaptanoğulları, Hakan; Akın, İbrahim; Yıldız, Mustafa

2015-01-01

Objective: The effects of acute hemodialysis session on pulse wave velocity are conflicting. The aim of the current study was to assess the acute effects of ultrafiltration on the aortic mechanical properties using carotid-femoral (aortic) pulse wave velocity and pulse propagation time. Methods: A total of 26 (12 women, 14 men) consecutive patients on maintenance hemodialysis (mean dialysis duration: 40.7±25.6 (4-70) months) and 29 healthy subjects (13 women, 16 men) were included in this study. Baseline blood pressure, carotid-femoral (aortic) pulse wave velocity, and pulse propagation time were measured using a Complior Colson device (Createch Industrie, France) before and immediately after the end of the dialysis session. Results: While systolic blood pressure, diastolic blood pressure, mean blood pressure, pulse pressure, and pulse wave velocity were significantly higher in patients on hemodialysis than in healthy subjects, pulse propagation time was significantly higher in healthy subjects. Although body weight, systolic blood pressure, diastolic blood pressure, mean blood pressure, pulse pressure, and pulse wave velocity were significantly decreased, heart rate and pulse propagation time were significantly increased after ultrafiltration. There was a significant positive correlation between pulse wave velocity and age, body height, waist circumference, systolic blood pressure, diastolic blood pressure, mean blood pressure, pulse pressure, and heart rate. Conclusion: Although hemodialysis treatment may chronically worsen aortic mechanical properties, ultrafiltration during hemodialysis may significantly improve aortic pulse wave velocity, which is inversely related to aortic distensibility and pulse propagation time. PMID:25413228

Modeling digital pulse waveforms by solving one-dimensional Navier-stokes equations.

PubMed

Fedotov, Aleksandr A; Akulova, Anna S; Akulov, Sergey A

2016-08-01

Mathematical modeling for composition distal arterial pulse wave in the blood vessels of the upper limbs was considered. Formation of distal arterial pulse wave is represented as a composition of forward and reflected pulse waves propagating along the arterial vessels. The formal analogy between pulse waves propagation along the human arterial system and the propagation of electrical oscillations in electrical transmission lines with distributed parameters was proposed. Dependencies of pulse wave propagation along the human arterial system were obtained by solving the one-dimensional Navier-Stokes equations for a few special cases.

Photoplethysmography beyond perfusion and oxygenation monitoring: Pulse wave analysis for hepatic graft monitoring

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Akl, Tony; Wilson, Mark A.; Ericson, Milton Nance

2014-01-01

Photoplethysmography is a widely used technique in monitoring perfusion and blood oxygen saturation by using the amplitude of the pulsatile signal on one or multiple wavelengths. However, the pulsatile signal carries in its waveform a substantial amount of information about the mechanical properties of the tissue and vasculature under investigation that is still yet to be utilized to its full potential. In this work, we present the feasibility of pulse wave analysis for the application of monitoring hepatic implants and diagnosing graft complications. In particular, we show the possibility of computing the slope of the pulse during the diastole phasemore » to assess the location of vascular complications when they take place. This hypothesis was tested in a series of in vitro experiments using a PDMS based phantom mimicking the optical and mechanical properties of the portal vein. The emptying time of the vessel increased from 305 ms to 515 ms when an occlusion was induced downstream from the phantom. However, in the case of upstream occlusions, the emptying time remained constant. In both cases, a decrease in the amplitude of the pulse was recorded indicating the drop in flow levels. In addition, we show that quantifying the emptying time of the vasculature under investigation can be used to assess its compliance. The emptying time decreased from 305 ms for phantoms with compliance of 15 KPa to 195 ms for phantoms with compliance of 100 KPa. These compliance levels mimic those seen for normal and fibrotic hepatic tissue respectively.« less

A Prototype Therapy System for Transcutaneous Application of Boiling Histotripsy.

PubMed

Maxwell, Adam D; Yuldashev, Petr V; Kreider, Wayne; Khokhlova, Tatiana D; Schade, George R; Hall, Timothy L; Sapozhnikov, Oleg A; Bailey, Michael R; Khokhlova, Vera A

2017-10-01

Boiling histotripsy (BH) is a method of focused ultrasound surgery that noninvasively applies millisecond-length pulses with high-amplitude shock fronts to generate liquefied lesions in tissue. Such a technique requires unique outputs compared to a focused ultrasound thermal therapy apparatus, particularly to achieve high in situ pressure levels through intervening tissue. This paper describes the design and characterization of a system capable of producing the necessary pressure to transcutaneously administer BH therapy through clinically relevant overlying tissue paths using pulses with duration up to 10 ms. A high-voltage electronic pulser was constructed to drive a 1-MHz focused ultrasound transducer to produce shock waves with amplitude capable of generating boiling within the pulse duration in tissue. The system output was characterized by numerical modeling with the 3-D Westervelt equation using boundary conditions established by acoustic holography measurements of the source field. Such simulations were found to be in agreement with directly measured focal waveforms. An existing derating method for nonlinear therapeutic fields was used to estimate in situ pressure levels at different tissue depths. The system was tested in ex vivo bovine liver samples to create BH lesions at depths up to 7 cm. Lesions were also created through excised porcine body wall (skin, adipose, and muscle) with 3-5 cm thickness. These results indicate that the system is capable of producing the necessary output for transcutaneous ablation with BH.

Full Spectrum Conversion Using Traveling Pulse Wave Quantization

DTIC Science & Technology

2017-03-01

Full Spectrum Conversion Using Traveling Pulse Wave Quantization Michael S. Kappes Mikko E. Waltari IQ-Analog Corporation San Diego, California...temporal-domain quantization technique called Traveling Pulse Wave Quantization (TPWQ). Full spectrum conversion is defined as the complete...pulse width measurements that are continuously generated hence the name “traveling” pulse wave quantization. Our TPWQ-based ADC is composed of a

Generation and evolution of mode-locked noise-like square-wave pulses in a large-anomalous-dispersion Er-doped ring fiber laser.

PubMed

Liu, Jun; Chen, Yu; Tang, Pinghua; Xu, Changwen; Zhao, Chujun; Zhang, Han; Wen, Shuangchun

2015-03-09

In a passively mode-locked Erbium-doped fiber laser with large anomalous-dispersion, we experimentally demonstrate the formation of noise-like square-wave pulse, which shows quite different features from conventional dissipative soliton resonance (DSR). The corresponding temporal and spectral characteristics of a variety of operation states, including Q-switched mode-locking, continuous-wave mode-locking and Raman-induced noise-like pulse near the lasing threshold, are also investigated. Stable noise-like square-wave mode-locked pulses can be obtained at a fundamental repetition frequency of 195 kHz, with pulse packet duration tunable from 15 ns to 306 ns and per-pulse energy up to 200 nJ. By reducing the linear cavity loss, stable higher-order harmonic mode-locking had also been observed, with pulse duration ranging from 37 ns at the 21st order harmonic wave to 320 ns at the fundamental order. After propagating along a piece of long telecom fiber, the generated square-wave pulses do not show any obvious change, indicating that the generated noise-like square-wave pulse can be considered as high-energy pulse packet for some promising applications. These experimental results should shed some light on the further understanding of the mechanism and characteristics of noise-like square-wave pulses.

Adolescents with Classical Polycystic Ovary Syndrome Have Alterations in the Surrogate Markers of Cardiovascular Disease but Not in the Endothelial Function. The Possible Benefits of Metformin.

PubMed

Fruzzetti, Franca; Ghiadoni, Lorenzo; Virdis, Agostino; De Negri, Ferdinando; Perini, Daria; Bucci, Fiorella; Giannarelli, Chiara; Gadducci, Angiolo; Taddei, Stefano

2016-10-01

To study whether adolescents with the classical form of polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) have alterations in metabolic and vascular structure and function. The effect of metformin was evaluated. Controlled study. University outpatient clinic. Eighteen nonobese adolescents with PCOS were enrolled. Seventeen healthy age-matched adolescents were recruited as control subjects. The metabolic profile and the endothelial structure and function were evaluated. Hormonal and lipid profile, blood pressure (BP) measurement, fasting glucose and insulin levels, C-reactive protein (CRP), homocysteine, tissue-type plasminogen activator, plasminogen activator inhibitor-1 (PAI-1), and plasmin-antiplasmin complexes (PAP) were measured. Flow mediated dilation (FMD), central pulse wave velocity (PWV), radial artery pulse wave, and common carotid intima-media thickness (IMT) were also assessed. Girls with PCOS were also studied 6 months after treatment with metformin (850 mg twice per day). Adolescents with PCOS were insulin resistant and/or hyperinsulinemic and they had higher BP values and levels of CRP and PAI-1 than the control subjects. The levels of tissue-type plasminogen activator and PAP were similar in both groups. FMD, PWV, and IMT were also similar. Metformin significantly (P < .05) reduced insulin, BP, CRP, and PAI-1 levels. The PAP levels significantly (P < .05) increased. Radial artery pulse wave was significantly reduced after metformin treatment. No modifications in FMD, PWV, and IMT were observed. Adolescents with classical PCOS have alterations in some surrogate markers of cardiovascular risk and they are ameliorated by metformin. No deterioration of vascular structure and function has been detected, probably because of the short duration of exposure to the disease. Copyright © 2016 North American Society for Pediatric and Adolescent Gynecology. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Acousto-optical imaging using a powerful long pulse laser

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Rousseau, Guy; Blouin, Alain; Monchalin, Jean-Pierre

2008-06-01

Acousto-optical imaging is an emerging biodiagnostic technique which provides an optical spectroscopic signature and a spatial localization of an optically absorbing target embedded in a strongly scattering medium. The transverse resolution of the technique is determined by the lateral extent of ultrasound beam focal zone while the axial resolution is obtained by using short ultrasound pulses. Although very promising for medical diagnostic, the practical application of this technique is presently limited by its poor sensitivity. Moreover, any method to enhance the signal-to-noise ratio must obviously satisfy the in vivo safety limits regarding the acceptable power level of both the ultrasonic pressure wave and the laser beam. In this paper, we propose to improve the sensitivity by using a pulsed single-frequency laser source to raise the optical peak power applied to the scattering medium and to collect more ultrasonically tagged photons. Such a laser source also allows illuminating the tissues mainly during the transit time of the ultrasonic wave to maintain the average optical power below the maximum permissible exposure. In our experiment, a single-frequency Nd:YAG laser emitting 500-μs pulses with a peak power superior to 100 W was used. Photons were tagged in few-cm thick optical phantoms with tone bursts generated by an ultrasonic transducer. Tagged photons were detected with a GaAs photorefractive interferometer characterized by a large optical etendue to process simultaneously a large number of speckle grains. When pumped by high intensity laser pulses, such an interferometer also provides the fast response time essential to obtain an apparatus insensitive to the speckle decorrelation due to mechanical vibrations or tissues movements. The use of a powerful long pulse laser appears promising to enhance the signal level in ultrasound modulated optical imaging. When combined with a photorefractive interferometer of large optical etendue, such a source could allow obtaining both the sensitivity and the fast response time necessary for biodiagnostic applications.

Ultrasonic Characterization of the Linear Elastic Properties of Myocardium and Other Anisotropic Soft Tissues

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hoffmeister, Brentley Keith

1995-01-01

This thesis seeks to contribute to a better understanding of the physics of interaction of ultrasonic waves with inhomogeneous and anisotropic media, one example of which is the human heart. The clinical success of echocardiography has generated a considerable interest in the development of ultrasonic techniques to measure the elastic properties of heart tissue. It is hypothesized that the elastic properties of myocardium are influenced by the interstitial content and organization of collagen. Collagen, which is the main component of tendon, interconnects the muscle cells of the heart to form locally unidirectional myofibers. This thesis therefore employs ultrasonic techniques to characterize the linear elastic properties of both heart and tendon. The linear elastic properties of tissues possessing a unidirectional arrangement of fibers may be described in terms of five independent elastic stiffness coefficients. Three of these coefficients were determined for formalin fixed specimens of bovine Achilles tendon and human myocardium by measuring the velocity of longitudinal mode ultrasonic pulses as a function of angle of propagation relative to the fiber axis of the tissue. The remaining two coefficients were determined by measuring the velocity of transverse mode ultrasonic waves through these tissues. To overcome technical difficulties associated with the extremely high attenuation of transverse mode waves at low megahertz frequencies, a novel measurement system was developed based on the sampled continuous wave technique. Results of these measurements were used to assess the influence of interstitial collagen, and to model the mechanical properties of heart wall.

Hypericin and pulsed laser therapy of squamous cell cancer in vitro.

PubMed

Bublik, Michael; Head, Christian; Benharash, Peyman; Paiva, Marcos; Eshraghi, Adrian; Kim, Taiho; Saxton, Romaine

2006-06-01

This in vitro study compares continuous wave and pulsed laser light at longer wavelengths for activation of the phototoxic drug hypericin in human cancer cells. Two-photon pulsed laser light now allows high-resolution fluorescent imaging of cancer cells and should provide deeper tissue penetration with near infrared light for improved detection as well as phototoxicity in human tumors. Cultured Seoul National University (SNU)-1 tumor cells from a squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) were incubated with hypericin before photoirradiation at four laser wavelengths. Phototoxicity of hypericin sensitized SCC cells was measured by dimethyl thiazoldiphenyl (MTT) tetrazolium bromide cell viability assays and by confocal fluorescence microscopy via 532-nm and infrared two-photon pulsed laser light. Phototoxic response increased linearly with hypericin dose of 0.1-2 microM, light exposure time of 5-120 sec, and pulsed dye laser wavelengths of 514-593 nm. Light energy delivery for 50% cell phototoxicity (LD50) response was 9 joules at 514 nm, 3 joules at 550 nm, and less than 1 joule at the 593 nm hypericin light absorption maxima. Fluorescence confocal microscopy revealed membrane and perinuclear localization of hypericin in the SNU cells with membrane damage seen after excitation with visible 532 nm continuous wave light or two-photon 700-950 nm picosecond pulsed laser irradiation. Hypericin may be a powerful tumor targetting drug when combined with pulsed laser light in patients with recurrent head and neck SCC.

Determination of temperature and residual laser energy on film fiber-optic thermal converter for diode laser surgery.

PubMed

Liu, Weichao; Kong, Yaqun; Shi, Xiafei; Dong, Xiaoxi; Wang, Hong; Zhao, Jizhi; Li, Yingxin

2017-12-01

The diode laser was utilized in soft tissue incision of oral surgery based on the photothermic effect. The contradiction between the ablation efficiency and the thermal damage has always been in diode laser surgery, due to low absorption of its radiation in the near infrared region by biological tissues. Fiber-optic thermal converters (FOTCs) were used to improve efficiency for diode laser surgery. The purpose of this study was to determine the photothermic effect by the temperature and residual laser energy on film FOTCs. The film FOTC was made by a distal end of optical fiber impacting on paper. The external surface of the converter is covered by a film contained amorphous carbon. The diode laser with 810 nm worked at the different rated power of 1.0 W, 1.5 W, 2.0 W, 3.0 W, 4.0 W, 5.0 W, 6.0 W, 7.0 W, 8.0 W in continuous wave (CW)and pulse mode. The temperature of the distal end of optical fiber was recorded and the power of the residual laser energy from the film FOTC was measured synchronously. The temperature, residual power and the output power were analyzed by linear or exponential regression model and Pearson correlations analysis. The residual power has good linearity versus output power in CW and pulse modes (R 2  = 0.963, P < 0.01 for both). The temperature on film FOTCs increases exponentially with adjusted R 2  = 0.959 in continuous wave mode, while in pulsed mode with adjusted R 2  = 0.934. The temperature was elevated up to about 210 °C and eventually to be a stable state. Film FOTCs centralized approximately 50% of laser energy on the fiber tip both in CW and pulsed mode while limiting the ability of the laser light to interact directly with target tissue. Film FOTCs can concentrate part of laser energy transferred to heat on distal end of optical fiber, which have the feasibility of improving efficiency and reducing thermal damage of deep tissue.

Measurement of the temperature dependence of Young's modulus of cartilage by phase-sensitive optical coherence elastography

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Liu, C H; Li, J; Singh, M

2014-08-31

The development of an effective system to monitor the changes in the elastic properties of cartilage tissue with increasing temperature in laser reconstruction is an urgent practical task. In this paper, the use of phase-sensitive optical coherence elastography for detection of elastic waves in the sample has allowed Young's modulus of cartilage tissue to be measured directly during heating. Young's modulus was calculated from the group velocity of propagation of elastic waves excited by means of a system supplying focused air pulses. The measurement results are in agreement with the results of measurements of the modulus of elasticity under mechanicalmore » compression. The technique developed allows for noninvasive measurements; its development is promising for the use in vivo. (laser biophotonics)« less

Left ventricular ejection time, not heart rate, is an independent correlate of aortic pulse wave velocity.

PubMed

Salvi, Paolo; Palombo, Carlo; Salvi, Giovanni Matteo; Labat, Carlos; Parati, Gianfranco; Benetos, Athanase

2013-12-01

Several studies showed a positive association between heart rate and pulse wave velocity, a sensitive marker of arterial stiffness. However, no study involving a large population has specifically addressed the dependence of pulse wave velocity on different components of the cardiac cycle. The aim of this study was to explore in subjects of different age the link between pulse wave velocity with heart period (the reciprocal of heart rate) and the temporal components of the cardiac cycle such as left ventricular ejection time and diastolic time. Carotid-femoral pulse wave velocity was assessed in 3,020 untreated subjects (1,107 men). Heart period, left ventricular ejection time, diastolic time, and early-systolic dP/dt were determined by carotid pulse wave analysis with high-fidelity applanation tonometry. An inverse association was found between pulse wave velocity and left ventricular ejection time at all ages (<25 years, r(2) = 0.043; 25-44 years, r(2) = 0.103; 45-64 years, r(2) = 0.079; 65-84 years, r(2) = 0.044; ≥ 85 years, r(2) = 0.022; P < 0.0001 for all). A significant (P < 0.0001) negative but always weaker correlation between pulse wave velocity and heart period was also found, with the exception of the youngest subjects (P = 0.20). A significant positive correlation was also found between pulse wave velocity and dP/dt (P < 0.0001). With multiple stepwise regression analysis, left ventricular ejection time and dP/dt remained the only determinant of pulse wave velocity at all ages, whereas the contribution of heart period no longer became significant. Our data demonstrate that pulse wave velocity is more closely related to left ventricular systolic function than to heart period. This may have methodological and pathophysiological implications.

Arterial stiffness and wave reflection: sex differences and relationship with left ventricular diastolic function.

PubMed

Russo, Cesare; Jin, Zhezhen; Palmieri, Vittorio; Homma, Shunichi; Rundek, Tatjana; Elkind, Mitchell S V; Sacco, Ralph L; Di Tullio, Marco R

2012-08-01

Increased arterial stiffness and wave reflection have been reported in heart failure with normal ejection fraction (HFNEF) and in asymptomatic left ventricular (LV) diastolic dysfunction, a precursor of HFNEF. It is unclear whether women, who have higher frequency of HFNEF, are more vulnerable than men to the deleterious effects of arterial stiffness on LV diastolic function. We investigated, in a large community-based cohort, whether sex differences exist in the relationship among arterial stiffness, wave reflection, and LV diastolic function. Arterial stiffness and wave reflection were assessed in 983 participants from the Cardiovascular Abnormalities and Brain Lesions study using applanation tonometry. The central pulse pressure/stroke volume index, total arterial compliance, pulse pressure amplification, and augmentation index were used as parameters of arterial stiffness and wave reflection. LV diastolic function was evaluated by 2-dimensional echocardiography and tissue-Doppler imaging. Arterial stiffness and wave reflection were greater in women compared with men, independent of body size and heart rate (all P<0.01), and showed inverse relationships with parameters of diastolic function in both sexes. Further adjustment for cardiovascular risk factors attenuated these relationships; however, a higher central pulse pressure/stroke volume index predicted LV diastolic dysfunction in women (odds ratio, 1.54; 95% confidence intervals, 1.03 to 2.30) and men (odds ratio, 2.09; 95% confidence interval, 1.30 to 3.39), independent of other risk factors. In conclusion, in our community-based cohort study, higher arterial stiffness was associated with worse LV diastolic function in men and women. Women's higher arterial stiffness, independent of body size, may contribute to their greater susceptibility to develop HFNEF.

Optimization of contrast resolution by genetic algorithm in ultrasound tissue harmonic imaging.

PubMed

Ménigot, Sébastien; Girault, Jean-Marc

2016-09-01

The development of ultrasound imaging techniques such as pulse inversion has improved tissue harmonic imaging. Nevertheless, no recommendation has been made to date for the design of the waveform transmitted through the medium being explored. Our aim was therefore to find automatically the optimal "imaging" wave which maximized the contrast resolution without a priori information. To overcome assumption regarding the waveform, a genetic algorithm investigated the medium thanks to the transmission of stochastic "explorer" waves. Moreover, these stochastic signals could be constrained by the type of generator available (bipolar or arbitrary). To implement it, we changed the current pulse inversion imaging system by including feedback. Thus the method optimized the contrast resolution by adaptively selecting the samples of the excitation. In simulation, we benchmarked the contrast effectiveness of the best found transmitted stochastic commands and the usual fixed-frequency command. The optimization method converged quickly after around 300 iterations in the same optimal area. These results were confirmed experimentally. In the experimental case, the contrast resolution measured on a radiofrequency line could be improved by 6% with a bipolar generator and it could still increase by 15% with an arbitrary waveform generator. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Reflection-artifact-free photoacoustic imaging using PAFUSion (photoacoustic-guided focused ultrasound)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kuniyil Ajith Singh, Mithun; Jaeger, Michael; Frenz, Martin; Steenbergen, Wiendelt

2016-03-01

Reflection artifacts caused by acoustic inhomogeneities are a main challenge to deep-tissue photoacoustic imaging. Photoacoustic transients generated by the skin surface and superficial vasculature will propagate into the tissue and reflect back from echogenic structures to generate reflection artifacts. These artifacts can cause problems in image interpretation and limit imaging depth. In its basic version, PAFUSion mimics the inward travelling wave-field from blood vessel-like PA sources by applying focused ultrasound pulses, and thus provides a way to identify reflection artifacts. In this work, we demonstrate reflection artifact correction in addition to identification, towards obtaining an artifact-free photoacoustic image. In view of clinical applications, we implemented an improved version of PAFUSion in which photoacoustic data is backpropagated to imitate the inward travelling wave-field and thus the reflection artifacts of a more arbitrary distribution of PA sources that also includes the skin melanin layer. The backpropagation is performed in a synthetic way based on the pulse-echo acquisitions after transmission on each single element of the transducer array. We present a phantom experiment and initial in vivo measurements on human volunteers where we demonstrate significant reflection artifact reduction using our technique. The results provide a direct confirmation that reflection artifacts are prominent in clinical epi-photoacoustic imaging, and that PAFUSion can reduce these artifacts significantly to improve the deep-tissue photoacoustic imaging.

Theranostic system for drug delivery and pharmacokinetic imaging based on nanosecond pulsed light-induced photomechanical and photoacoustic effects

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Tsunoi, Yasuyuki; Sato, Shunichi; Kawauchi, Satoko; Akutsu, Yusuke; Miyagawa, Yoshihiro; Araki, Koji; Shiotani, Akihiro; Terakawa, Mitsuhiro

2015-11-01

For efficient and side effects-free pharmacological treatment, we here propose a theranostic system that enables transvascular drug delivery by photomechanical waves (PMWs) and photoacoustic (PA) imaging of the drug distribution; both functions are based on nanosecond laser pulses and can therefore be integrated in one system. Through optical fibers arranged around an ultrasound sensor, low-energy and high-energy nanosecond light pulses were transmitted respectively for PA imaging and PMW-based drug delivery by temporal switching. With the system, we delivered a test drug (Evans blue) to tumors in mice and visualized distributions of both the blood vessels and drug in the tissue in vivo, showing the validity of the system.

Note: A novel method for generating multichannel quasi-square-wave pulses.

PubMed

Mao, C; Zou, X; Wang, X

2015-08-01

A 21-channel quasi-square-wave nanosecond pulse generator was constructed. The generator consists of a high-voltage square-wave pulser and a channel divider. Using an electromagnetic relay as a switch and a 50-Ω polyethylene cable as a pulse forming line, the high-voltage pulser produces a 10-ns square-wave pulse of 1070 V. With a specially designed resistor-cable network, the channel divider divides the high-voltage square-wave pulse into 21 identical 10-ns quasi-square-wave pulses of 51 V, exactly equal to 1070 V/21. The generator can operate not only in a simultaneous mode but also in a delay mode if the cables in the channel divider are different in length.

[Pulse wave velocity as an early marker of diastolic heart failure in patients with hypertension].

PubMed

Moczulska, Beata; Kubiak, Monika; Bryczkowska, Anna; Malinowska, Ewa

2017-04-21

According to the WHO, hypertension is one of the major causes of death worldwide. It leads to a number of severe complications. Diastolic heart failure, that is heart failure with preserved ejection fraction (HFPEF), is especially common. New, but simple, indices for the early detection of patients who have not yet developed complications or are in their early developmental stages are still searched for. The aim of this study is to examine the correlation between pulse wave velocity (PWV) and markers of diastolic heart failure (DHF) assessed in echocardiography in patients with hypertension and no symptoms of heart failure. The study was comprised of 65 patients with treated hypertension. Patients with symptoms of heart failure, those with diabetes and smokers were excluded. Arterial stiffness was measured with the Mobil-O-Graph NG PWA. Pulse wave velocity (PWV) was estimated. The following markers of diastolic heart failure were assessed in the echocardiographic examination: E/A ratio - the ratio of the early (E) to late (A) ventricular filling velocities, DT - decceleration time, E/E' - the ratio of mitral peak velocity of early filling (E) to early diastolic mitral annular velocity E' in tissue Doppler echocardiography. PWV was statistically significantly higher in the DHF group. In the group of patients with heart failure, the average E/A ratio was significantly lower as compared to the group with no heart failure. Oscillometric measurement of pulse wave velocity is non-invasive, lasts a few minutes and does not require the presence of a specialist. It allows for an early detection of patients at risk of diastolic heart failure even within the conditions of primary health care.

Varieties of reentrant dynamics

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Campanari, Lucas; You, Min Ju; Langfield, Peter; Glass, Leon; Shrier, Alvin

2017-04-01

Experiments were carried out in monolayer tissue cultures of embryonic chick heart cells imaged using a calcium sensitive fluorescent dye. The cells were grown in annular geometries and in annular geometries with an isthmus connecting antipodal region of the annulus. We observed a large number of spatially different patterns of propagation consisting of one or more circulating waves. As well, we also observed rhythms in which rotors embedded in the annuli generated propagating pulses. These results demonstrate that many different patterns of excitation can be present in cardiac tissue with simple geometries.

Experimental study on the pressure wave propagation in the artificial arterial tree in brain

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Shimada, Shinya; Tsurusaki, Ryo; Iwase, Fumiaki; Matsukawa, Mami; Lagrée, Pierre-Yves

2018-07-01

A pulse wave measurement is effective for the early detection of arteriosclerosis. The pulse wave consists of incident and reflected waves. The reflected wave of the pulse wave measured at the left common carotid artery seems to originate from the vascular beds in the brain. The aim of this study is to know if the reflected waves from the occlusions in cerebral arteries can affect the pulse waveform. The artificial arterial tree in the brain was therefore fabricated using polyurethane tubes. After investigating the effects of the bifurcation angle on the pulse waveform, we attempted to confirm whether the reflected waves from occlusions in the artificial arterial tree in the brain can be experimentally measured at the left common carotid artery. Results indicate that the bifurcation angle did not affect the pulse waveform, and that the reflected wave from an occlusion with a diameter of more than 1 mm in the brain could be observed.

Localized wave pulses in the keyport experiment

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Chambers, D.H.; Lewis, D.K.

1998-02-17

Localized wave (LW) pulses were produced using a standard Navy array in the anechoic tank at Navy Underwater Weapons Center (NUWC) Keyport. The LW pulses used were the MPS pulse first derived by Ziolkowski, and a new type of pulse based on a superposition of Gaussian beam modes. This new type is motivated by a desire to make a comparison of the MPS pulse with another broad band pulse built from solutions to the wave equation. The superposed Gaussian pulse can be described by parameters which are analogous to those describing the MPS pulse. We compare the directivity patternsand themore » axial energy decay between the pulses. We find the behavior of the pulses to be similar so that the superposed Gaussian could be another candidate in the class of low diffractive pulses known as localized waves.« less

SU-E-T-558: An Exploratory RF Pulse Sequence Technique Used to Induce Differential Heating in Tissues Containing Iron Oxide Nanoparticles for a Possible Hyperthermic Adjuvant Effect to Radiotherapy

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Yee, S; Ionascu, D; Wilson, G

2014-06-01

Purpose: In pre-clinical trials of cancer thermotherapy, hyperthermia can be induced by exposing localized super-paramagnetic iron oxide nanoparticles (SPION) to external alternating magnetic fields generated by a solenoid electrical circuit (Zhao et al., Theranostics 2012). Alternatively, an RF pulse technique implemented in a regular MRI system is explored as a possible hyperthermia induction technique . Methods: A new thermal RF pulse sequence was developed using the Philips pulse programming tool for the 3T Ingenia MRI system to provide a sinusoidal magnetic field alternating at the frequency of 1.43 kHz (multiples of sine waves of 0.7 ms period) before each excitationmore » RF pulse for imaging. The duration of each thermal RF pulse routine was approximately 3 min, and the thermal pulse was applied multiple times to a phantom that contains different concentrations (high, medium and low) of SPION samples. After applying the thermal pulse each time, the temperature change was estimated by measuring the phase changes in the T1-weighted inversion-prepared multi-shot turbo field echo (TFE) sequence (TR=5.5 ms, TE=2.7 ms, inversion time=200 ms). Results: The phase values and relative differences among them changed as the number of applied thermal RF pulses increased. After the 5th application of the thermal RF pulse, the relative phase differences increased significantly, suggesting the thermal activation of the SPION. The increase of the phase difference was approximately linear with the SPION concentration. Conclusion: A sinusoidal RF pulse from the MRI system may be utilized to selectively thermally activate tissues containing super-paramagnetic iron oxide nanoparticles.« less

Regression analysis and transfer function in estimating the parameters of central pulse waves from brachial pulse wave.

PubMed

Chai Rui; Li Si-Man; Xu Li-Sheng; Yao Yang; Hao Li-Ling

2017-07-01

This study mainly analyzed the parameters such as ascending branch slope (A_slope), dicrotic notch height (Hn), diastolic area (Ad) and systolic area (As) diastolic blood pressure (DBP), systolic blood pressure (SBP), pulse pressure (PP), subendocardial viability ratio (SEVR), waveform parameter (k), stroke volume (SV), cardiac output (CO) and peripheral resistance (RS) of central pulse wave invasively and non-invasively measured. These parameters extracted from the central pulse wave invasively measured were compared with the parameters measured from the brachial pulse waves by a regression model and a transfer function model. The accuracy of the parameters which were estimated by the regression model and the transfer function model was compared too. Our findings showed that in addition to the k value, the above parameters of the central pulse wave and the brachial pulse wave invasively measured had positive correlation. Both the regression model parameters including A_slope, DBP, SEVR and the transfer function model parameters had good consistency with the parameters invasively measured, and they had the same effect of consistency. The regression equations of the three parameters were expressed by Y'=a+bx. The SBP, PP, SV, CO of central pulse wave could be calculated through the regression model, but their accuracies were worse than that of transfer function model.

Response of a hypersonic boundary layer to freestream pulse acoustic disturbance.

PubMed

Wang, Zhenqing; Tang, Xiaojun; Lv, Hongqing

2014-01-01

The response of hypersonic boundary layer over a blunt wedge to freestream pulse acoustic disturbance was investigated. The stability characteristics of boundary layer for freestream pulse wave and continuous wave were analyzed comparatively. Results show that freestream pulse disturbance changes the thermal conductivity characteristics of boundary layer. For pulse wave, the number of main disturbance clusters decreases and the frequency band narrows along streamwise. There are competition and disturbance energy transfer among different modes in boundary layer. The dominant mode of boundary layer has an inhibitory action on other modes. Under continuous wave, the disturbance modes are mainly distributed near fundamental and harmonic frequencies, while under pulse wave, the disturbance modes are widely distributed in different modes. For both pulse and continuous waves, most of disturbance modes slide into a lower-growth or decay state in downstream, which is tending towards stability. The amplitude of disturbance modes in boundary layer under continuous wave is considerably larger than pulse wave. The growth rate for the former is also considerably larger than the later the disturbance modes with higher growth are mainly distributed near fundamental and harmonic frequencies for the former, while the disturbance modes are widely distributed in different frequencies for the latter.

Response of a Hypersonic Boundary Layer to Freestream Pulse Acoustic Disturbance

PubMed Central

Wang, Zhenqing; Tang, Xiaojun; Lv, Hongqing

2014-01-01

The response of hypersonic boundary layer over a blunt wedge to freestream pulse acoustic disturbance was investigated. The stability characteristics of boundary layer for freestream pulse wave and continuous wave were analyzed comparatively. Results show that freestream pulse disturbance changes the thermal conductivity characteristics of boundary layer. For pulse wave, the number of main disturbance clusters decreases and the frequency band narrows along streamwise. There are competition and disturbance energy transfer among different modes in boundary layer. The dominant mode of boundary layer has an inhibitory action on other modes. Under continuous wave, the disturbance modes are mainly distributed near fundamental and harmonic frequencies, while under pulse wave, the disturbance modes are widely distributed in different modes. For both pulse and continuous waves, most of disturbance modes slide into a lower-growth or decay state in downstream, which is tending towards stability. The amplitude of disturbance modes in boundary layer under continuous wave is considerably larger than pulse wave. The growth rate for the former is also considerably larger than the later the disturbance modes with higher growth are mainly distributed near fundamental and harmonic frequencies for the former, while the disturbance modes are widely distributed in different frequencies for the latter. PMID:24737993

Association of Brachial-Ankle Pulse Wave Velocity with Asymptomatic Intracranial Arterial Stenosis in Hypertension Patients.

PubMed

Wang, Yan; Zhang, Jin; Qain, Yuesheng; Tang, Xiaofeng; Ling, Huawei; Chen, Kemin; Li, Yan; Gao, Pingjin; Zhu, Dingliang

2016-08-01

Intracranial arterial stenosis is a common cause of ischemic stroke in Asians. We therefore sought to explore the relationship of brachial-ankle pulse wave velocity and intracranial arterial stenosis in 834 stroke-free hypertensive patients. Intracranial arterial stenosis was evaluated through computerized tomographic angiography. Brachial-ankle pulse wave velocity was measured by an automated cuff device. The top decile of brachial-ankle pulse wave velocity was significantly associated with intracranial arterial stenosis (P = .027, odds ratio = 1.82; 95% confidence interval: 1.07-3.10). The patients with the top decile of brachial-ankle pulse wave velocity showed 56% higher risk for the presence of intracranial arterial stenosis to the whole population, which was more significant in patients younger than 65 years old. We also found that brachial-ankle pulse wave velocity related to both intracranial arterial stenosis and homocysteine. Our study showed the association of brachial-ankle pulse wave velocity with asymptomatic intracranial arterial stenosis in hypertension patients, especially in relative younger subjects. Brachial-ankle pulse wave velocity might be a relatively simple and repeatable measurement to detect hypertension patients in high risk of intracranial arterial stenosis. Copyright © 2016. Published by Elsevier Inc.

Apparatus for and method of operating a cylindrical pulsed induction mass launcher

DOEpatents

Cowan, M. Jr.; Duggin, B.W.; Widner, M.M.

1992-06-30

An electromagnetic cylindrical projectile mass launcher and a method of operation is provided which includes a cylindrical projectile having a conducting armature, a cylindrical barrel in which the armature is received, a plurality of electromagnetic drive coil stages, a plurality of pulse energy sources, and a pulsed power arrangement for generating magnetic pulses forming a pulsed magnetic wave along the length of the launcher barrel. The pulsed magnetic wave provides a propelling force on the projectile along the drive coil. The pulsed magnetic wave of the drive coil stages is advanced along the armature faster than the projectile to thereby generate an induced current wave in the armature. The pulsed generation of the magnetic wave minimizes electromagnetic heating of the projectile and provides for smooth acceleration of the projectile through the barrel of the launcher. 2 figs.

Apparatus for and method of operating a cylindrical pulsed induction mass launcher

DOEpatents

Cowan, Jr., Maynard; Duggin, Billy W.; Widner, Melvin M.

1992-01-01

An electromagnetic cylindrical projectile mass launcher and a method of operation is provided which includes a cylindrical projectile having a conducting armature, a cylindrical barrel in which the armature is received, a plurality of electromagnetic drive coil stages, a plurality of pulse energy sources, and a pulsed power arrangement for generating magnetic pulses forming a pulsed magnetic wave along the length of the launcher barrel. The pulsed magnetic wave provides a propelling force on the projectile along the drive coil. The pulsed magnetic wave of the drive coil stages is advanced along the armature faster than the projectile to thereby generate an induced current wave in the armature. The pulsed generation of the magnetic wave minimizes electromagnetic heating of the projectile and provides for smooth acceleration of the projectile through the barrel of the launcher.

[Research on a non-invasive pulse wave detection and analysis system].

PubMed

Li, Ting; Yu, Gang

2008-10-01

A novel non-invasive pulse wave detection and analysis system has been developed, including the software and the hardware. Bi-channel signals can be acquired, stored and shown on the screen dynamically at the same time. Pulse wave can be reshown and printed after pulse wave analysis and pulse wave velocity analysis. This system embraces a computer which is designed for fast data saving, analyzing and processing, and a portable data sampling machine which is based on a singlechip. Experimental results have shown that the system is stable and easy to use, and the parameters are calculated accurately.

Skin graft take and healing following 193-nm excimer, continuous-wave carbon dioxide (CO2), pulsed CO2, or pulsed holmium: YAG laser ablation of the graft bed.

PubMed

Green, H A; Burd, E E; Nishioka, N S; Compton, C C

1993-08-01

Ablative lasers have been used for cutaneous surgery for greater than two decades since they can remove skin and skin lesions bloodlessly and efficiently. Because full-thickness skin wounds created after thermal laser ablation may require skin grafting in order to heal, we have examined the effect of the residual laser-induced thermal damage in the wound bed on subsequent skin graft take and healing. In a pig model, four different pulsed and continuous-wave lasers with varying wavelengths and radiant energy exposures were used to create uniform fascial graft bed thermal damage of approximately 25, 160, 470, and 1100 microns. Meshed split-thickness skin graft take and healing on the thermally damaged fascial graft beds were examined on a gross and microscopic level on days 3 and 7, and then weekly up to 42 days. Laser-induced thermal damage on the graft bed measuring greater than 160 +/- 60 microns in depth significantly decreased skin graft take. Other deleterious effects included delayed graft revascularization, increased inflammatory cell infiltrate at the graft-wound bed interface, and accelerated formation of hypertrophied fibrous tissue within the graft bed and underlying muscle. Ablative lasers developed for cutaneous surgery should create less than 160 +/- 60 microns of residual thermal damage to permit optimal skin graft take and healing. Pulsed carbon dioxide and 193-nm excimer lasers may be valuable instruments for the removal of full-thickness skin, skin lesions, and necrotic tissue, since they create wound beds with minimal thermal damage permitting graft take comparable to that achieved with standard surgical techniques.

Photoacoustic simulation study of chirp excitation response from different size absorbers

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Jnawali, K.; Chinni, B.; Dogra, V.; Rao, N.

2017-03-01

Photoacoustic (PA) imaging is a hybrid imaging modality that integrates the strength of optical and ultrasound imaging. Nanosecond (ns) pulsed lasers used in current PA imaging systems are expensive, bulky and they often waste energy. We propose and evaluate, through simulations, the use of a continuous wave (CW) laser whose amplitude is linear frequency modulated (chirp) for PA imaging. The chirp signal provides signal-to-side-lobe ratio (SSR) improvement potential and full control over PA signal frequencies excited in the sample. The PA signal spectrum is a function of absorber size and the time frequencies present in the chirp. A mismatch between the input chirp spectrum and the output PA signal spectrum can affect the compressed pulse that is recovered from cross-correlating the two. We have quantitatively characterized this effect. The k-wave Matlab tool box was used to simulate PA signals in three dimensions for absorbers ranging in size from 0.1 mm to 0.6 mm, in response to laser excitation amplitude that is linearly swept from 0.5 MHz to 4 MHz. This sweep frequency range was chosen based on the spectrum analysis of a PA signal generated from ex-vivo human prostate tissue samples. In comparison, the energy wastage by a ns laser pulse was also estimated. For the chirp methodology, the compressed pulse peak amplitude, pulse width and side lobe structure parameters were extracted for different size absorbers. While the SSR increased 6 fold with absorber size, the pulse width decreased by 25%.

Chasing the reflected wave back into the heart: a new hypothesis while the jury is still out

PubMed Central

Codreanu, Ion; Robson, Matthew D; Rider, Oliver J; Pegg, Tammy J; Jung, Bernd A; Dasanu, Constantin A; Clarke, Kieran; Holloway, Cameron J

2011-01-01

Background: Arterial stiffness directly influences cardiac function and is independently associated with cardiovascular risk. However, the influence of the aortic reflected pulse pressure wave on left ventricular function has not been well characterized. The aim of this study was to obtain detailed information on regional ventricular wall motion patterns corresponding to the propagation of the reflected aortic wave on ventricular segments. Methods: Left ventricular wall motion was investigated in a group of healthy volunteers (n = 14, age 23 ± 3 years), using cardiac magnetic resonance navigator-gated tissue phase mapping. The left ventricle was divided into 16 segments and regional wall motion was studied in high temporal detail. Results: Corresponding to the expected timing of the reflected aortic wave reaching the left ventricle, a characteristic “notch” of regional myocardial motion was seen in all radial, circumferential, and longitudinal velocity graphs. This notch was particularly prominent in septal segments adjacent to the left ventricular outflow tract on radial velocity graphs and in anterior and posterior left ventricular segments on circumferential velocity graphs. Similarly, longitudinal velocity graphs demonstrated a brief deceleration in the upward recoil motion of the entire ventricle at the beginning of diastole. Conclusion: These results provide new insights into the possible influence of the reflected aortic waves on ventricular segments. Although the association with the reflected wave appears to us to be unambiguous, it represents a novel research concept, and further studies enabling the actual recording of the pulse wave are required. PMID:21731888

Spectroscopic Imaging of Deep Tissue through Photoacoustic Detection of Molecular Vibration

PubMed Central

Wang, Pu; Rajian, Justin R.; Cheng, Ji-Xin

2013-01-01

The quantized vibration of chemical bonds provides a way of imaging target molecules in a complex tissue environment. Photoacoustic detection of harmonic vibrational transitions provides an approach to visualize tissue content beyond the ballistic photon regime. This method involves pulsed laser excitation of overtone transitions in target molecules inside a tissue. Fast relaxation of the vibrational energy into heat results in a local temperature rise on the order of mK and a subsequent generation of acoustic waves detectable with an ultrasonic transducer. In this perspective, we review recent advances that demonstrate the advantages of vibration-based photoacoustic imaging and illustrate its potential in diagnosing cardiovascular plaques. An outlook into future development of vibrational photoacoustic endoscopy and tomography is provided. PMID:24073304

EVOLUTION OF FAST MAGNETOACOUSTIC PULSES IN RANDOMLY STRUCTURED CORONAL PLASMAS

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Yuan, D.; Li, B.; Pascoe, D. J.

2015-02-01

We investigate the evolution of fast magnetoacoustic pulses in randomly structured plasmas, in the context of large-scale propagating waves in the solar atmosphere. We perform one-dimensional numerical simulations of fast wave pulses propagating perpendicular to a constant magnetic field in a low-β plasma with a random density profile across the field. Both linear and nonlinear regimes are considered. We study how the evolution of the pulse amplitude and width depends on their initial values and the parameters of the random structuring. Acting as a dispersive medium, a randomly structured plasma causes amplitude attenuation and width broadening of the fast wavemore » pulses. After the passage of the main pulse, secondary propagating and standing fast waves appear. Width evolution of both linear and nonlinear pulses can be well approximated by linear functions; however, narrow pulses may have zero or negative broadening. This arises because narrow pulses are prone to splitting, while broad pulses usually deviate less from their initial Gaussian shape and form ripple structures on top of the main pulse. Linear pulses decay at an almost constant rate, while nonlinear pulses decay exponentially. A pulse interacts most efficiently with a random medium with a correlation length of about half of the initial pulse width. This detailed model of fast wave pulses propagating in highly structured media substantiates the interpretation of EIT waves as fast magnetoacoustic waves. Evolution of a fast pulse provides us with a novel method to diagnose the sub-resolution filamentation of the solar atmosphere.« less

Surface-Wave Pulse Routing around Sharp Right Angles

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gao, Z.; Xu, H.; Gao, F.; Zhang, Y.; Luo, Y.; Zhang, B.

2018-04-01

Surface-plasmon polaritons (SPPs), or localized electromagnetic surface waves propagating on a metal-dielectric interface, are deemed promising information carriers for future subwavelength terahertz and optical photonic circuitry. However, surface waves fundamentally suffer from scattering loss when encountering sharp corners in routing and interconnection of photonic signals. Previous approaches enabling scattering-free surface-wave guidance around sharp corners are limited to either volumetric waveguide environments or extremely narrow bandwidth, being unable to guide a surface-wave pulse (SPP wave packet) on an on-chip platform. Here, in a surface-wave band-gap crystal implemented on a single metal surface, we demonstrate in time-domain routing a surface-wave pulse around multiple sharp right angles without perceptible scattering. Our work not only offers a solution to on-chip surface-wave pulse routing along an arbitrary path, but it also provides spatiotemporal information on the interplay between surface-wave pulses and sharp corners, both of which are desirable in developing high-performance large-scale integrated photonic circuits.

In vivo microwave-based thermoacoustic tomography of rats (Conference Presentation)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lin, Li; Zhou, Yong; Wang, Lihong V.

2016-03-01

Microwave-based thermoacoustic tomography (TAT), based on the measurement of ultrasonic waves induced by microwave pulses, can reveal tissue dielectric properties that may be closely related to the physiological and pathological status of the tissues. Using microwaves as the excitation source improved imaging depth because of their deep penetration into biological tissues. We demonstrate, for the first time, in vivo microwave-based thermoacoustic imaging in rats. The transducer is rotated around the rat in a full circle, providing a full two-dimensional view. Instead of a flat ultrasonic transducer, we used a virtual line detector based on a cylindrically focused transducer. A 3 GHz microwave source with 0.6 µs pulse width and an electromagnetically shielded transducer with 2.25 MHz central frequency provided clear cross-sectional images of the rat's body. The high imaging contrast, based on the tissue's rate of absorption, and the ultrasonically defined spatial resolution combine to reveal the spine, kidney, muscle, and other deeply seated anatomical features in the rat's abdominal cavity. This non-invasive and non-ionizing imaging modality achieved an imaging depth beyond 6 cm in the rat's tissue. Cancer diagnosis based on information about tissue properties from microwave band TAT can potentially be more accurate than has previously been achievable.

Investigation of possible fs-LASIK induced retinal damage

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Schumacher, S.; Sander, M.; Stolte, A.; Doepke, C.; Baumgaertner, W.; Lubatschowski, H.

2006-02-01

Rapid development of new laser technologies enabled the application of ultra short lasers in refractive surgery. Focused ultra short laser pulses in near-infrared spectral range can generate a laser induced breakdown (LIB) in the cornea, which will disrupt the tissue. Cutting depth and position can be established by varying the laser focus. The fs-LASIK technique allows both flap and lenticule to be formed by using fs-pulses without the presence of any mechanical impact. During the cutting process not all of the pulse energy is deposited into the cornea; approximately half of the remaining energy propagates through the eye and reaches the retina. Though defocused, the transmitted energy can still induce damage to the retina due to absorption by the retinal pigment epithelium and the transfer of thermal energy to surrounding tissue. The fs-LASIK process was simulated with two laser systems; one continous-wave and one in the fs-regime. For the simulation the exposure time and focusing numerical aperature which defines the retinal spot size were varied. The Damage thresholds of the laser beam exposed eyes were determined in terms of ophthalmoscopic and histopathologic observations.

Overview of the physics of US.

PubMed

Goldstein, A

1993-05-01

In ultrasonography (US), high-frequency sound waves are transmitted through the body by a transducer. When a transmitted ultrasound pulse encounters a tissue target, some of its energy is deflected back to the transducer. The time of flight of this ultrasound echo is used to calculate depth of the target in the transducer beam. The pulse-echo parameters used in the formation of images include echo amplitude, target spatial position, and frequency shift between the transmitted pulse and the received echo. The first two are displayed in gray-scale images and all three in color flow images. In gray-scale US, echo amplitude is encoded into shades of gray, with the lighter shades representing higher amplitude echoes. In color flow US, velocity of moving blood is usually presented in blue for motion toward the transducer and in red for motion away from it. A Doppler spectrum depicts changing blood velocity as a function of time. US has become more clinically valuable due to its ability to demonstrate soft-tissue structures, real-time imaging capability, relative safety, portability, and cost-effectiveness.

Comparison of Regression Analysis and Transfer Function in Estimating the Parameters of Central Pulse Waves from Brachial Pulse Wave.

PubMed

Chai, Rui; Xu, Li-Sheng; Yao, Yang; Hao, Li-Ling; Qi, Lin

2017-01-01

This study analyzed ascending branch slope (A_slope), dicrotic notch height (Hn), diastolic area (Ad) and systolic area (As) diastolic blood pressure (DBP), systolic blood pressure (SBP), pulse pressure (PP), subendocardial viability ratio (SEVR), waveform parameter (k), stroke volume (SV), cardiac output (CO), and peripheral resistance (RS) of central pulse wave invasively and non-invasively measured. Invasively measured parameters were compared with parameters measured from brachial pulse waves by regression model and transfer function model. Accuracy of parameters estimated by regression and transfer function model, was compared too. Findings showed that k value, central pulse wave and brachial pulse wave parameters invasively measured, correlated positively. Regression model parameters including A_slope, DBP, SEVR, and transfer function model parameters had good consistency with parameters invasively measured. They had same effect of consistency. SBP, PP, SV, and CO could be calculated through the regression model, but their accuracies were worse than that of transfer function model.

Non-filamentated ultra-intense and ultra-short pulse fronts in three-dimensional Raman seed amplification

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Lehmann, G.; Spatschek, K. H.

Ultra-intense and ultra-short laser pulses may be generated up to the exawatt-zetawatt regime due to parametric processes in plasmas. The minimization of unwanted plasma processes leads to operational limits which are discussed here with respect to filamentation. Transverse filamentation, which originally was derived for plane waves, is being investigated for seed pulse propagation in the so called π-pulse limit. A three-dimensional (3D) three-wave-interaction model is the basis of the present investigation. To demonstrate the applicability of the three-wave-interaction model, the 1D pulse forms are compared with those obtained from 1D particle in cell and Vlasov simulations. Although wave-breaking may occur,more » the kinetic simulations show that the leading pumped pulse develops a form similar to that obtained from the three-wave-interaction model. In the main part, 2D and 3D filamentation processes of (localized) pulses are investigated with the three-wave-interaction model. It is shown that the leading pulse front can stay filamentation-free, whereas the rear parts show transverse modulations.« less

Biological response in vitro of skeletal muscle cells treated with different intensity continuous and pulsed ultrasound fields

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Abrunhosa, Viviane M.; Mermelstein, Claudia S.; Costa, Manoel L.; Costa-Felix, Rodrigo P. B.

2011-02-01

Therapeutic ultrasound has been used in physiotherapy to accelerate tissue healing. Although the ultrasonic wave is widely used in clinical practice, not much is known about the biological effects of ultrasound on cells and tissues. This study aims to evaluate the biological response of ultrasound in primary cultures of chick myogenic cells. To ensure the metrological reliability of whole measurement process, the ultrasound equipment was calibrated in accordance with IEC 61689:2007. The skeletal muscle cells were divided in four samples. One sample was used as a control group and the others were submitted to different time and intensity and operation mode of ultrasound: 1) 0.5 W/cm2 continuous for 5 minutes, 2) 0.5 W/cm2 pulsed for 5 minutes, 3) 1.0 W/cm2 pulsed for 10 minutes. The samples were analyzed with phase contrast optical microscopy before and after the treatment. The results showed alignment of myogenic cells in the sample treated with 0.5 W/cm2 continuous during 5 minutes when compared with the control group and the other samples. This study is a first step towards a metrological and scientific based protocol to cells and tissues treatment under different ultrasound field exposures.

3D ultrafast ultrasound imaging in vivo.

PubMed

Provost, Jean; Papadacci, Clement; Arango, Juan Esteban; Imbault, Marion; Fink, Mathias; Gennisson, Jean-Luc; Tanter, Mickael; Pernot, Mathieu

2014-10-07

Very high frame rate ultrasound imaging has recently allowed for the extension of the applications of echography to new fields of study such as the functional imaging of the brain, cardiac electrophysiology, and the quantitative imaging of the intrinsic mechanical properties of tumors, to name a few, non-invasively and in real time. In this study, we present the first implementation of Ultrafast Ultrasound Imaging in 3D based on the use of either diverging or plane waves emanating from a sparse virtual array located behind the probe. It achieves high contrast and resolution while maintaining imaging rates of thousands of volumes per second. A customized portable ultrasound system was developed to sample 1024 independent channels and to drive a 32  ×  32 matrix-array probe. Its ability to track in 3D transient phenomena occurring in the millisecond range within a single ultrafast acquisition was demonstrated for 3D Shear-Wave Imaging, 3D Ultrafast Doppler Imaging, and, finally, 3D Ultrafast combined Tissue and Flow Doppler Imaging. The propagation of shear waves was tracked in a phantom and used to characterize its stiffness. 3D Ultrafast Doppler was used to obtain 3D maps of Pulsed Doppler, Color Doppler, and Power Doppler quantities in a single acquisition and revealed, at thousands of volumes per second, the complex 3D flow patterns occurring in the ventricles of the human heart during an entire cardiac cycle, as well as the 3D in vivo interaction of blood flow and wall motion during the pulse wave in the carotid at the bifurcation. This study demonstrates the potential of 3D Ultrafast Ultrasound Imaging for the 3D mapping of stiffness, tissue motion, and flow in humans in vivo and promises new clinical applications of ultrasound with reduced intra--and inter-observer variability.

Enhanced kidney stone fragmentation by short delay tandem conventional and modified lithotriptor shock waves: a numerical analysis.

PubMed

Tham, Leung-Mun; Lee, Heow Pueh; Lu, Chun

2007-07-01

We evaluated the effectiveness of modified lithotriptor shock waves using computer models. Finite element models were used to simulate the propagation of lithotriptor shock waves in human renal calculi in vivo. Kidney stones were assumed to be spherical, homogeneous, isotropic and linearly elastic, and immersed in a continuum fluid. Single and tandem shock wave pulses modified to intensify the collapse of cavitation bubbles near the stone surface to increase fragmentation efficiency and suppress the expansion of intraluminal bubbles for decreased vascular injury were analyzed. The effectiveness of the modified shock waves was assessed by comparing the states of loading in the renal calculi induced by these shock waves to those produced by conventional shock waves. Our numerical simulations revealed that modified shock waves produced marginally lower stresses in spherical renal calculi than those produced by conventional shock waves. Tandem pulses of conventional or modified shock waves produced peak stresses in the front and back halves of the renal calculi. However, the single shock wave pulses generated significant peak stresses in only the back halves of the renal calculi. Our numerical simulations suggest that for direct stress wave induced fragmentation modified shock waves should be as effective as conventional shock waves for fragmenting kidney stones. Also, with a small interval of 20 microseconds between the pulses tandem pulse lithotripsy using modified or conventional shock waves could be considerably more effective than single pulse lithotripsy for fragmenting kidney stones.

Impact of MR-guided boiling histotripsy in distinct murine tumor models.

PubMed

Hoogenboom, Martijn; Eikelenboom, Dylan C; van den Bijgaart, Renske J E; Heerschap, Arend; Wesseling, Pieter; den Brok, Martijn H; Fütterer, Jurgen J; Adema, Gosse J

2017-09-01

Interest in mechanical high intensity focused ultrasound (HIFU) ablation is rapidly growing. Boiling histotripsy (BH) is applied for mechanical fragmentation of soft tissue into submicron fragments with limited temperature increase using the shock wave and cavitation effects of HIFU. Research on BH has been largely limited to ex vivo experiments. As a consequence, the in vivo pathology after BH treatment and the relation to preexistent tissue characteristics are not well understood. This study reports on in vivo MR guided BH treatment, either with 100 or 200 pulses per focal spot, in three different subcutaneous mouse tumor models: a soft-tissue melanoma (B16OVA), a compact growing thymoma (EL4), and a highly vascularized neuroblastoma (9464D). Extensive treatment evaluation was performed using MR imaging followed by histopathology 2h after treatment. T2 weighted MRI allowed direct in vivo visualization of the BH lesions in all tumor models. The 100-pulse treated area in the B16OVA tumors was larger than the predicted treatment volume (500±10%). For the more compact growing EL4 and 9464D tumors this was 95±13% and 55±33%, respectively. Histopathology after the 100-pulse treatment revealed completely disintegrated lesions in the treated area with sharp borders in the compact EL4 and 9464D tumors, while for B16OVA tumors the lesion contained a mixture of discohesive (partly viable) clusters of cells, micro-vessel remainings, and tumor cell debris. The treatment of B16OVA with 200 pulses increased the fragmentation of tumor tissue. In all tumor types only micro-hemorrhages were detected after ablation (slightly higher after 200-pulse treatment for the highly vascularized 9464D tumors). Collagen staining revealed that the collagen fibers were to a greater or lesser extent still intact and partly clotted together near the lesion border in all tumor models. In conclusion, this study reveals effective mechanical fragmentation of different tumor types using BH without major hemorrhages. However, treatment settings may need to be adjusted to the tissue characteristics for optimal tissue fragmentation. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Improvement of depth resolution on photoacoustic imaging using multiphoton absorption

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yamaoka, Yoshihisa; Fujiwara, Katsuji; Takamatsu, Tetsuro

2007-07-01

Commercial imaging systems, such as computed tomography and magnetic resonance imaging, are frequently used powerful tools for observing structures deep within the human body. However, they cannot precisely visualized several-tens micrometer-sized structures for lack of spatial resolution. In this presentation, we propose photoacoustic imaging using multiphoton absorption technique to generate ultrasonic waves as a means of improving depth resolution. Since the multiphoton absorption occurs at only the focus point and the employed infrared pulses deeply penetrate living tissues, it enables us to extract characteristic features of structures embedded in the living tissue. When nanosecond pulses from a 1064-nm Nd:YAG laser were focused on Rhodamine B/chloroform solution (absorption peak: 540 nm), the peak intensity of the generated photoacoustic signal was proportional to the square of the input pulse energy. This result shows that the photoacoustic signals can be induced by the two-photon absorption of infrared nanosecond pulse laser and also can be detected by a commercial low-frequency MHz transducer. Furthermore, in order to evaluate the depth resolution of multiphoton-photoacoustic imaging, we investigated the dependence of photoacoustic signal on depth position using a 1-mm-thick phantom in a water bath. We found that the depth resolution of two-photon photoacoustic imaging (1064 nm) is greater than that of one-photon photoacoustic imaging (532 nm). We conclude that evolving multiphoton-photoacoustic imaging technology renders feasible the investigation of biomedical phenomena at the deep layer in living tissue.

Optoacoustic induced vibrations within the inner ear.

PubMed

Zhang, K Y; Wenzel, G I; Balster, S; Lim, H H; Lubatschowski, H; Lenarz, T; Ertmer, W; Reuter, G

2009-12-07

An acoustic transient can be generated inside an absorbing tissue as a result of laser-tissue interaction after pulsed laser irradiation. Herein we report a novel application of this physical process, the optoacoustic wave generation in the inner ear and subsequently the induction of basilar membrane vibrations. These laser induced vibrations show a direct correlation to the laser energy and an indirect correlation to the distance from the irradiation focus. Through these characteristics they may be used, in a new generation of cochlear implants, to improve the frequency specific cochlear activation and consequently improve speech perception in hearing impaired patients with residual hearing.

Pulse-wave propagation in straight-geometry vessels for stiffness estimation: theory, simulations, phantoms and in vitro findings.

PubMed

Shahmirzadi, Danial; Li, Ronny X; Konofagou, Elisa E

2012-11-01

Pulse wave imaging (PWI) is an ultrasound-based method for noninvasive characterization of arterial stiffness based on pulse wave propagation. Reliable numerical models of pulse wave propagation in normal and pathological aortas could serve as powerful tools for local pulse wave analysis and a guideline for PWI measurements in vivo. The objectives of this paper are to (1) apply a fluid-structure interaction (FSI) simulation of a straight-geometry aorta to confirm the Moens-Korteweg relationship between the pulse wave velocity (PWV) and the wall modulus, and (2) validate the simulation findings against phantom and in vitro results. PWI depicted and tracked the pulse wave propagation along the abdominal wall of canine aorta in vitro in sequential Radio-Frequency (RF) ultrasound frames and estimates the PWV in the imaged wall. The same system was also used to image multiple polyacrylamide phantoms, mimicking the canine measurements as well as modeling softer and stiffer walls. Finally, the model parameters from the canine and phantom studies were used to perform 3D two-way coupled FSI simulations of pulse wave propagation and estimate the PWV. The simulation results were found to correlate well with the corresponding Moens-Korteweg equation. A high linear correlation was also established between PWV² and E measurements using the combined simulation and experimental findings (R² =  0.98) confirming the relationship established by the aforementioned equation.

Simulations of Shock-induced Bubble Collapse near Hard and Soft Objects

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Rodriguez, Mauro; Johnsen, Eric

2016-11-01

Understanding the dynamics of cavitation bubbles and shock waves in and near hard and soft objects is important particularly in various naval and medical applications. Two examples are therapeutic ultrasound procedures, which utilize this phenomenon for breaking kidney stones (lithotripsy) and ablation of pathogenic tissue (histotripsy), and erosion to elastomeric coatings on propellers. Although not fully understood, the damage mechanism combines the effect of the incoming pulses and cavitation produced by the high tension of the pulses. To understand the damage mechanism, it is of key interest to quantifying the influence of the shock waves on the material and the response of the material to the shock waves. A novel Eulerian numerical approach for simulating shock and acoustic wave propagation in viscoelastic media is leveraged to understand this influence. High-fidelity simulations of the bubble collapse dynamics for various experimental configurations (i.e. the viscous or viscoelastic material surrounding the bubble and neighboring object's rigidity are varied) will be conducted. In particular, we will discuss the shock emission from collapse and its propagation in the neighboring object, including stresses thereby produced. This research was supported in part by ONR Grant N00014-12-1-0751 under Dr. Ki-Han Kim and by NSF Grant Number CBET 1253157.

Cavitation and shock waves emission on the rigid boundary of water under mid-IR nanosecond laser pulse excitation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Pushkin, A. V.; Bychkov, A. S.; Karabutov, A. A.; Potemkin, F. V.

2018-06-01

The processes of conversion of light energy into mechanical energy under mid-IR nanosecond laser excitation on a rigid boundary of water are investigated. Strong water absorption of Q-switched Cr:Yb:Ho:YSGG (2.85 µm, 6 mJ, 45 ns) laser radiation provides rapid energy deposition of ~8 kJ cm‑3 accompanied with strong mechanical transients. The evolution of shock waves and cavitation bubbles is studied using the technique of shadowgraphy and acoustic measurements, and the conversion efficiency into these energy channels for various laser fluence (0.75–2.0 J cm‑2) is calculated. For 6 mJ laser pulse with fluence of 2.0 J cm‑2, the conversion into shock wave energy reaches 67%. The major part of the shock wave energy (92%) is dissipated when the shock front travels the first 250 µm, and the remaining 8% is transferred to the acoustic far field. The calculated pressure in the vicinity of water-silicon interface is 0.9 GPa. Cavitation efficiency is significantly less and reaches up to 5% of the light energy. The results of the current study could be used in laser parameters optimization for micromachining and biological tissue ablation.

Penetration and propagation into biological matter and biological effects of high-power ultra-wideband pulses: a review.

PubMed

Schunck, Thérèse; Bieth, François; Pinguet, Sylvain; Delmote, Philippe

2016-01-01

Systems emitting ultra-wideband high power microwave (HP/UWB) pulses are developed for military and civilian applications. HP/UWB pulses typically have durations on the order of nanoseconds, rise times of picoseconds and amplitudes around 100 kV m(-1). This article reviews current research on biological effects from HP/UWB exposure. The different references were classified according to endpoints (cardiovascular system, central nervous system, behavior, genotoxicity, teratology …). The article also reviews the aspects of mechanisms of interactions and tissue damage as well as the numerical work that has been done for studying HP/UWB pulse propagation and pulse energy deposition inside biological tissues. The mechanisms proposed are the molecular conformation change, the modification of chemical reaction rates, membrane excitation and breakdown and direct electrical forces on cells or cell constituents, and the energy deposition. As regards the penetration of biological matter and the deposited energy, mainly computations were published. They have shown that the EM field inside the biological matter is strongly modified compared to the incident EM field and that the energy absorption for HP/UWB pulses occurs in the same way as for continuous waves. However, the energy carried by a HP/UWB pulse is very low and the deposited energy is low. The number of published studies dealing with the biological effects is small and only a few pointed out slight effects. It should be further noted that the animal populations used in the studies were not always large, the statistical analyses not always relevant and the teams involved in this research rather limited in number.

Development of integrated photoplethysmographic recording circuit for trans-nail pulse-wave monitoring system

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Qian, Zhengyang; Takezawa, Yoshiki; Shimokawa, Kenji; Kino, Hisashi; Fukushima, Takafumi; Kiyoyama, Koji; Tanaka, Tetsu

2018-04-01

Health monitoring and self-management have become increasingly more important because of health awareness improvement, the aging of population, and other reasons. In general, pulse waves are among the most useful physiological signals that can be used to calculate several parameters such as heart rate and blood pressure for health monitoring and self-management. To realize an automatic and real-time pulse-wave monitoring system that can be used in daily life, we have proposed a trans-nail pulse-wave monitoring system that was placed on the fingernail to detect photoplethysmographic (PPG) signals as pulse waves. In this study, we designed a PPG recording circuit that was composed of a 600 × 600 µm2 photodiode (PD), an LED driver with pulse wave modulation (PWM) and a low-frequency ring oscillator (RING), and a PPG signal readout circuit. The proposed circuit had a very small area of 2.2 × 1.1 mm2 designed with 0.18 µm CMOS technology. The proposed circuit was used to detect pulse waves on the human fingernail in both the reflection and transmission modes. Electrical characteristics of the prototype system were evaluated precisely and PPG waveforms were obtained successfully.

Skin welding using pulsed laser radiation and a dye

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Fried, Nathaniel M.; Walsh, Joseph T., Jr.

1998-07-01

Previous skin welding studies have used continuous wave (CW) delivery of radiation. However, heat diffusion during irradiation prevents strong welds from being achieved without creating large zones of thermal damage to surrounding tissue. This damage may prevent normal wound healing. Strong welds and minimal thermal damage can be achieved by introducing a dye and delivering the radiation in a pulsed mode. Two-cm-long, full-thickness incisions were made in guinea pig skin. India ink was used as an absorber, and egg white albumin was used as an adhesive. A 5-mm-diameter spot of CW, 1.06-micrometer Nd:YAG laser radiation was scanned over the weld site, producing 100 millisecond pulses. The cooling time between scans and number of scans was varied. Thermal damage zones were measured using a transmission polarizing microscope to identify birefringence changes in tissue. Tensile strengths were measured using a tensiometer. For pulsed welding and long cooling times, weld strengths of 2.4 kg/cm2 were measured, and thermal damage to the epidermis was limited to approximately 500 micrometers. With CW welding, comparable weld strengths resulted in approximately 2700 micrometer of thermal damage. CW laser radiation weld strengths were only 0.6 kg/cm2 when thermal damage in the epidermis was limited to approximately 500 micrometers.

Effect of pulse duration and pulse repetition frequency of cavitation histotripsy on erosion at the surface of soft material.

PubMed

Zhou, Yufeng; Wang, Xiaotong

2018-03-01

Cavitation histotripsy with the short pulse duration (PD) but high pulse repetition frequency (PRF) disintegrates the tissue at a fluid interface. However, longer PD and lower PRF are used in the other focused ultrasound applications, where the acoustic radiation force, streaming, and cavitation are different, and their effects on erosion are unknown. In this study, the erosion at the surface of phantom/ex vivo tissue and the characteristics of induced bubble cloud captured by high-speed photography, passive cavitation detection, and light transmission during histotripsy exposure at varied PDs and PRFs but the same duty cycle were compared. The peak negative pressure of 6.6 MPa at the PD of 20 ms and PRF of 1 Hz began to erode the phantom, which becomes more significant with the increase of peak negative pressure, PD, and interval time between bursts. The increase of the PRF from 1 Hz to 1000 Hz, while the decrease of the PD from 20 ms to 20 μs (duty cycle of 2%) at the same energy was delivered to the gel phantom immersed in the degassed water led to the decrease of erosion volume but a slight increase of the erosion area and smoother surface. Low PRF and long PD produce the significant tissue deformation, acoustic wave refocusing, confinement of bubbles in a conical region, and more bubble dissolution after the collapse for the high acoustic scattering and light transmission signals. In comparison, high PRF and low PD produce a wide distribution of bubbles with only little wave refocusing at the beginning of cavitation histotripsy and high inertial cavitation. Acoustic emission dose has a good correlation with the erosion volume. The erosion on the porcine kidney at the varied PRFs and PDs with the same energy output showed similar trends as those in the phantom but at a slow rate. In summary, the PRF and PD are important parameters for the cavitation histotripsy-induced erosion at the interface of fluid and soft material, and they should be optimized for the best outcome. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Combining Ultrasound Pulse-Echo and Transmission Computed Tomography for Quantitative Imaging the Cortical Shell of Long Bone Replicas

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Shortell, Matthew P.; Althomali, Marwan A. M.; Wille, Marie-Luise; Langton, Christian M.

2017-11-01

We demonstrate a simple technique for quantitative ultrasound imaging of the cortical shell of long bone replicas. Traditional ultrasound computed tomography instruments use the transmitted or reflected waves for separate reconstructions but suffer from strong refraction artefacts in highly heterogenous samples such as bones in soft tissue. The technique described here simplifies the long bone to a two-component composite and uses both the transmitted and reflected waves for reconstructions, allowing the speed of sound and thickness of the cortical shell to be calculated accurately. The technique is simple to implement, computationally inexpensive and sample positioning errors are minimal.

Echocardiographic Assessment of Left Ventricular Function in Healthy Horses and in Horses with Heart Disease Using Pulsed-Wave Tissue Doppler Imaging.

PubMed

Koenig, T R; Mitchell, K J; Schwarzwald, C C

2017-03-01

Assessment of left ventricular (LV) function by tissue Doppler imaging (TDI) is not well established in horses with heart disease. To describe the use of pulsed-wave (PW) TDI for the assessment of LV function, establish reference intervals, investigate effects of mitral regurgitation (MR), aortic regurgitation (AR), and primary myocardial disease (MD), and provide proof of concept for the use of PW TDI in Warmblood horses with heart disease. Thirty healthy horses, 38 horses with MR, 25 with AR, 8 with MD. Echocardiograms were retrospectively analyzed. Reference intervals were calculated. PW TDI indices of healthy horses and horses with MR, AR, and MD were compared by one-way ANOVA and Dunnett's test. A complete set of PW TDI variables could be obtained in 94 of 101 horses. Variables corresponding to isovolumic intervals were most difficult to measure. Valvular regurgitation influenced variables describing isovolumic contraction and ejection. Horses with MD had significantly shortened ET m (-118.5 [-154.1 to -82.9] ms; mean difference [95% CI of difference of means]), increased PEP m /ET m (0.11 [0.05 to 0.17]), prolonged IMP m (0.28 [0.18 to 0.37]), increased S 1 (8.9 [5.2 to 12.6] cm/s), and decreased E 1 (-2.6 [-4.7 to -0.5] cm/s), E m (-14.2 [-19.9 to -8.5] cm/s), and E m /A m ratio (-1.6 [-2.6 to -0.6]). Pulsed-wave TDI might be useful for detection of LV dysfunction in horses with primary MD. The clinical value of TDI in horses with MR and AR remains uncertain. Copyright © 2017 The Authors. Journal of Veterinary Internal Medicine published by Wiley Periodicals, Inc. on behalf of the American College of Veterinary Internal Medicine.

Tissue Doppler Imaging can be useful to distinguish pathological from physiological left ventricular hypertrophy: a study in master athletes and mild hypertensive subjects

PubMed Central

Galanti, Giorgio; Toncelli, Loira; Del Furia, Francesca; Stefani, Laura; Cappelli, Brunello; De Luca, Alessio; Vono, Maria Concetta Roberta

2009-01-01

Background Transthoracic echocardiography left ventricular wall thickness is often increased in master athletes and it results by intense physical training. Left Ventricular Hypertrophy can also be due to a constant pressure overload. Conventional Pulsed Wave (PW) Doppler analysis of diastolic function sometimes fails to distinguish physiological from pathological LVH. The aim of this study is to evaluate the role of Pulsed Wave Tissue Doppler Imaging in differentiating pathological from physiological LVH in the middle-aged population. Methods we selected a group of 80 master athletes, a group of 80 sedentary subjects with essential hypertension and an apparent normal diastolic function at standard PW Doppler analysis. The two groups were comparable for increased left ventricular wall thickness and mass index (134.4 ± 19.7 vs 134.5 ± 22.1 gr/m2; p > .05). Diastolic function indexes using the PW technique were in the normal range for both. Results Pulsed Wave TDI study of diastolic function immediately distinguished the two groups. While in master athletes the diastolic TDI-derived parameters remained within normal range (E' 9.4 ± 3.1 cm/sec; E/E' 7.8 ± 2.1), in the hypertensive group these parameters were found to be constantly altered, with mean values and variation ranges always outside normal validated limits (E' 7.2 ± 2.4 cm/sec; E/E' 10.6 ± 3.2), and with E' and E/E' statistically different in the two groups (p < .001). Conclusion Our study showed that the TDI technique can be an easy and validated method to assess diastolic function in differentiating normal from pseudonormal diastolic patterns and it can distinguish physiological from pathological LVH emphasizing the eligibility certification required by legal medical legislation as in Italy. PMID:19845938

1.9 μm square-wave passively Q-witched mode-locked fiber laser.

PubMed

Ma, Wanzhuo; Wang, Tianshu; Su, Qingchao; Wang, Furen; Zhang, Jing; Wang, Chengbo; Jiang, Huilin

2018-05-14

We propose and demonstrate the operation of Q-switched mode-locked square-wave pulses in a thulium-holmium co-doped fiber laser. By using a nonlinear amplifying loop mirror, continuous square-wave dissipative soliton resonance pulse is obtained with 4.4 MHz repetition rate. With the increasing pump power, square-wave pulse duration can be broadened from 1.7 ns to 3.2 ns. On such basis Q-switched mode-locked operation is achieved by properly setting the pump power and the polarization controllers. The internal mode-locked pulses in Q-switched envelope still keep square-wave type. The Q-switched repetition rate can be varied from 41.6 kHz to 74 kHz by increasing pump power. The corresponding average single-pulse energy increases from 2.67 nJ to 5.2 nJ. The average peak power is also improved from 0.6 W to 1.1 W when continuous square-wave operation is changed into Q-switched mode-locked operation. It indicates that Q-switched mode-locked operation is an effective method to increase the square-wave pulse energy and peak power.

Characteristics of the pulse waveform during altered nitric oxide synthesis in the rabbit.

PubMed

Weinberg, P D; Habens, F; Kengatharan, M; Barnes, S E; Matz, J; Anggård, E E; Carrier, M J

2001-06-01

Nitrovasodilators produce characteristic changes in the shape of the peripheral pulse wave. Similar changes might also be caused by alteration of endogenous NO activity, which would allow such activity to be assessed in vivo. We investigated whether manipulation of the NO pathway influences the pulse waveform, and the mechanisms involved. The pulse wave in the ear of normal rabbits was examined by reflectance photoplethysmography before and during infusion of vasoactive agents. Pulse wave velocity was assessed by using an additional sensor on the rear foot. A diastolic peak was observed in the ear pulse; its timing was consistent with it being a reflection of the systolic peak from the lower body. The height of the dicrotic notch marking the start of this diastolic wave was decreased by acetylcholine or an NO donor, and further decreased by a phosphodiesterase type V inhibitor. The acetylcholine-induced decreases were blocked by inhibiting NO synthesis with N(G)-nitro-L-arginine methyl ester (L-NAME) but were unaffected by the inactive enantiomer D-NAME. These data demonstrate that NO influences the height of the notch in the pulse wave. Heart rate and blood pressure were altered during acetylcholine or L-NAME infusion, but there were no changes in pulse wave amplitude or velocity, or in the timing of the diastolic peak or dicrotic notch. The slope of the pulse wave between the systolic peak and notch changed substantially. These effects are most convincingly explained by changes in wave reflection, not only from the lower body but also from more proximal sites.

Characteristics of the pulse waveform during altered nitric oxide synthesis in the rabbit

PubMed Central

Weinberg, P D; Habens, F; Kengatharan, M; Barnes, S E; Matz, J; Änggård, E E; Carrier, M J

2001-01-01

Nitrovasodilators produce characteristic changes in the shape of the peripheral pulse wave. Similar changes might also be caused by alteration of endogenous NO activity, which would allow such activity to be assessed in vivo. We investigated whether manipulation of the NO pathway influences the pulse waveform, and the mechanisms involved. The pulse wave in the ear of normal rabbits was examined by reflectance photoplethysmography before and during infusion of vasoactive agents. Pulse wave velocity was assessed by using an additional sensor on the rear foot. A diastolic peak was observed in the ear pulse; its timing was consistent with it being a reflection of the systolic peak from the lower body. The height of the dicrotic notch marking the start of this diastolic wave was decreased by acetylcholine or an NO donor, and further decreased by a phosphodiesterase type V inhibitor. The acetylcholine-induced decreases were blocked by inhibiting NO synthesis with NG-nitro-L-arginine methyl ester (L-NAME) but were unaffected by the inactive enantiomer D-NAME. These data demonstrate that NO influences the height of the notch in the pulse wave. Heart rate and blood pressure were altered during acetylcholine or L-NAME infusion, but there were no changes in pulse wave amplitude or velocity, or in the timing of the diastolic peak or dicrotic notch. The slope of the pulse wave between the systolic peak and notch changed substantially. These effects are most convincingly explained by changes in wave reflection, not only from the lower body but also from more proximal sites. PMID:11375252

Forward and Backward Pressure Waveform Morphology in Hypertension

PubMed Central

Li, Ye; Gu, Haotian; Fok, Henry; Alastruey, Jordi

2017-01-01

We tested the hypothesis that increased pulse wave reflection and altered backward waveform morphology contribute to increased pulse pressure in subjects with higher pulse pressure compared with lower pulse pressure and to actions of vasoactive drugs to increase pulse pressure. We examined the relationship of backward to forward wave morphology in 158 subjects who were evaluated for hypertension (including some normotensive subjects) divided into 3 groups by central pulse pressure: group 1, 33±6.5 mm Hg; group 2, 45±4.1 mm Hg; and group 3, 64±12.9 mm Hg (means±SD) and in healthy normotensive subjects during administration of inotropic and vasomotor drugs. Aortic pressure and flow in the aortic root were estimated by carotid tonometry and Doppler sonography, respectively. Morphology of the backward wave relative to the forward wave was similar in subjects in the lowest and highest tertiles of pulse pressure. Similar results were seen with the inotropic, vasopressor and vasodilator drugs, dobutamine, norepinephrine, and phentolamine, with the backward wave maintaining a constant ratio to the forward wave. However, nitroglycerin, a drug with a specific action to dilate muscular conduit arteries, reduced the amplitude of the backward wave relative to the forward wave from 0.26±0.018 at baseline to 0.19±0.019 during nitroglycerin 30 μg/min IV (P<0.01). These results are best explained by an approximately constant amount of reflection of the forward wave from the peripheral vasculature. The amount of reflection can be modified by dilation of peripheral muscular conduit arteries but contributes little to increased pulse pressure in hypertension. PMID:27920128

Imaging mechanical properties of hepatic tissue by magnetic resonance elastography

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yin, Meng; Rouviere, Olivier; Burgart, Lawrence J.; Fidler, Jeff L.; Manduca, Armando; Ehman, Richard L.

2006-03-01

PURPOSE: To assess the feasibility of a modified phase-contrast MRI technique (MR Elastography) for quantitatively assessing the mechanical properties of hepatic tissues by imaging propagating acoustic shear waves. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Both phantom and human studies were performed to develop and optimize a practical imaging protocol by visualizing and investigating the diffraction field of shear waves generated from pneumatic longitudinal drivers. The effects of interposed ribs in a transcostal approach were also investigated. A gradient echo MRE pulse sequence was adapted for shear wave imaging in the liver during suspended respiration, and then tested to measure hepatic shear stiffness in 13 healthy volunteers and 1 patient with chronic liver disease to determine the potential of non-invasively detecting liver fibrosis. RESULTS: Phantom studies demonstrate that longitudinal waves generated by the driver are mode-converted to shear waves in a distribution governed by diffraction principles. The transcostal approach was determined to be the most effective method for generating shear waves in human studies. Hepatic stiffness measurements in the 13 normal volunteers demonstrated a mean value of 2.0+/-0.2kPa. The shear stiffness measurement in the patient was much higher at 8.5kPa. CONCLUSION: MR Elastography of the liver shows promise as a method to non-invasively detect and characterize diffuse liver disease, potentially reducing the need for biopsy to diagnose hepatic fibrosis.

Association between ICP pulse waveform morphology and ICP B waves.

PubMed

Kasprowicz, Magdalena; Bergsneider, Marvin; Czosnyka, Marek; Hu, Xiao

2012-01-01

The study aimed to investigate changes in the shape of ICP pulses associated with different patterns of the ICP slow waves (0.5-2.0 cycles/min) during ICP overnight monitoring in hydrocephalus. Four patterns of ICP slow waves were characterized in 44 overnight ICP recordings (no waves - NW, slow symmetrical waves - SW, slow asymmetrical waves - AS, slow waves with plateau phase - PW). The morphological clustering and analysis of ICP pulse (MOCAIP) algorithm was utilized to calculate a set of metrics describing ICP pulse morphology based on the location of three sub-peaks in an ICP pulse: systolic peak (P(1)), tidal peak (P(2)) and dicrotic peak (P(3)). Step-wise discriminant analysis was applied to select the most characteristic morphological features to distinguish between different ICP slow waves. Based on relative changes in variability of amplitudes of P(2) and P(3) we were able to distinguish between the combined groups NW + SW and AS + PW (p < 0.000001). The AS pattern can be differentiated from PW based on respective changes in the mean curvature of P(2) and P(3) (p < 0.000001); however, none of the MOCAIP feature separates between NW and SW. The investigation of ICP pulse morphology associated with different ICP B waves may provide additional information for analysing recordings of overnight ICP.

Arterial stiffness estimation based photoplethysmographic pulse wave analysis

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Huotari, Matti; Maatta, Kari; Kostamovaara, Juha

2010-11-01

Arterial stiffness is one of the indices of vascular healthiness. It is based on pulse wave analysis. In the case we decompose the pulse waveform for the estimation and determination of arterial elasticity. Firstly, optically measured with photoplethysmograph and then investigating means by four lognormal pulse waveforms for which we can find very good fit between the original and summed decomposed pulse wave. Several studies have demonstrated that these kinds of measures predict cardiovascular events. While dynamic factors, e.g., arterial stiffness, depend on fixed structural features of the vascular wall. Arterial stiffness is estimated based on pulse wave decomposition analysis in the radial and tibial arteries. Elucidation of the precise relationship between endothelial function and vascular stiffness awaits still further study.

Method for generating a plasma wave to accelerate electrons

DOEpatents

Umstadter, D.; Esarey, E.; Kim, J.K.

1997-06-10

The invention provides a method and apparatus for generating large amplitude nonlinear plasma waves, driven by an optimized train of independently adjustable, intense laser pulses. In the method, optimal pulse widths, interpulse spacing, and intensity profiles of each pulse are determined for each pulse in a series of pulses. A resonant region of the plasma wave phase space is found where the plasma wave is driven most efficiently by the laser pulses. The accelerator system of the invention comprises several parts: the laser system, with its pulse-shaping subsystem; the electron gun system, also called beam source, which preferably comprises photo cathode electron source and RF-LINAC accelerator; electron photo-cathode triggering system; the electron diagnostics; and the feedback system between the electron diagnostics and the laser system. The system also includes plasma source including vacuum chamber, magnetic lens, and magnetic field means. The laser system produces a train of pulses that has been optimized to maximize the axial electric field amplitude of the plasma wave, and thus the electron acceleration, using the method of the invention. 21 figs.

Method for generating a plasma wave to accelerate electrons

DOEpatents

Umstadter, Donald; Esarey, Eric; Kim, Joon K.

1997-01-01

The invention provides a method and apparatus for generating large amplitude nonlinear plasma waves, driven by an optimized train of independently adjustable, intense laser pulses. In the method, optimal pulse widths, interpulse spacing, and intensity profiles of each pulse are determined for each pulse in a series of pulses. A resonant region of the plasma wave phase space is found where the plasma wave is driven most efficiently by the laser pulses. The accelerator system of the invention comprises several parts: the laser system, with its pulse-shaping subsystem; the electron gun system, also called beam source, which preferably comprises photo cathode electron source and RF-LINAC accelerator; electron photo-cathode triggering system; the electron diagnostics; and the feedback system between the electron diagnostics and the laser system. The system also includes plasma source including vacuum chamber, magnetic lens, and magnetic field means. The laser system produces a train of pulses that has been optimized to maximize the axial electric field amplitude of the plasma wave, and thus the electron acceleration, using the method of the invention.

Alignment-free, all-spliced fiber laser source for CARS microscopy based on four-wave-mixing.

PubMed

Baumgartl, Martin; Gottschall, Thomas; Abreu-Afonso, Javier; Díez, Antonio; Meyer, Tobias; Dietzek, Benjamin; Rothhardt, Manfred; Popp, Jürgen; Limpert, Jens; Tünnermann, Andreas

2012-09-10

An environmentally-stable low-repetition rate fiber oscillator is developed to produce narrow-bandwidth pulses with several tens of picoseconds duration. Based on this oscillator an alignment-free all-fiber laser for multi-photon microscopy is realized using in-fiber frequency conversion based on four-wave-mixing. Both pump and Stokes pulses for coherent anti-Stokes Raman scattering (CARS) microscopy are readily available from one fiber end, intrinsically overlapped in space and time, which drastically simplifies the experimental handling for the user. The complete laser setup is mounted on a home-built laser scanning microscope with small footprint. High-quality multimodal microscope images of biological tissue are presented probing the CH-stretching resonance of lipids at an anti-Stokes Raman-shift of 2845 cm(-1) and second-harmonic generation of collagen. Due to its simplicity, compactness, maintenance-free operation, and ease-of-use the presented low-cost laser is an ideal source for bio-medical applications outside laser laboratories and in particular inside clinics.

Laser-Material Interaction of Powerful Ultrashort Laser Pulses

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Komashko, A

2003-01-06

Laser-material interaction of powerful (up to a terawatt) ultrashort (several picoseconds or shorter) laser pulses and laser-induced effects were investigated theoretically in this dissertation. Since the ultrashort laser pulse (USLP) duration time is much smaller than the characteristic time of the hydrodynamic expansion and thermal diffusion, the interaction occurs at a solid-like material density with most of the light energy absorbed in a thin surface layer. Powerful USLP creates hot, high-pressure plasma, which is quickly ejected without significant energy diffusion into the bulk of the material, Thus collateral damage is reduced. These and other features make USLPs attractive for amore » variety of applications. The purpose of this dissertation was development of the physical models and numerical tools for improvement of our understanding of the process and as an aid in optimization of the USLP applications. The study is concentrated on two types of materials - simple metals (materials like aluminum or copper) and wide-bandgap dielectrics (fused silica, water). First, key physical phenomena of the ultrashort light interaction with metals and the models needed to describe it are presented. Then, employing one-dimensional plasma hydrodynamics code enhanced with models for laser energy deposition and material properties at low and moderate temperatures, light absorption was self-consistently simulated as a function of laser wavelength, pulse energy and length, angle of incidence and polarization. Next, material response on time scales much longer than the pulse duration was studied using the hydrocode and analytical models. These studies include examination of evolution of the pressure pulses, effects of the shock waves, material ablation and removal and three-dimensional dynamics of the ablation plume. Investigation of the interaction with wide-bandgap dielectrics was stimulated by the experimental studies of the USLP surface ablation of water (water is a model of biological tissue) and laser-induced pressure waves. Simulations on the basis of the nonlinear ionization equation were used to examine effects of the laser created surface plasma on light absorption, reflection and transmission. Laser pulse energy conversion efficiency into pressure waves was studied experimentally and theoretically.« less

The use of shock waves in peripheral nerve regeneration: new perspectives?

PubMed

Hausner, Thomas; Nógrádi, Antal

2013-01-01

Low-energy extracorporeal shock wave treatment (ESWT) is a relatively new therapeutic tool that is widely used for the treatment of epicondylitis and plantar fasciitis and to foster bone and wound healing. Shock waves, sonic pulses with high energy impact, are thought to induce biochemical changes within the targeted tissues through mechanotransduction. The biological effects of ESWT are manifested in improved vascularization, the local release of growth factors, and local anti-inflammatory effects, but the target cells too are influenced. ESWT appears to have differential effects on peripheral nerves and has been proved to promote axonal regeneration after axotomy. This review discusses the effects of ESWT on intact and injured peripheral nerves and suggests a multiple mechanism of action. © 2013 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Computational modeling of stress transient and bubble evolution in short-pulse laser irradiated melanosome particles

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Strauss, M.; Amendt, P.A.; London, R.A.

1997-03-04

Objective is to study retinal injury by subnanosecond laser pulses absorbed in the retinal pigment epithelium (RPE) cells. The absorption centers in the RPE cell are melanosomes of order 1 {mu}m radius. Each melanosome includes many melanin particles of 10-15 nm radius, which are the local absorbers of the laser light and generate a discrete structure of hot spots. This work use the hydrodynamic code LATIS (LAser-TISsue interaction modeling) and a water equation of state to first simulate the small melanin particle of 15 nm responsible for initiating the hot spot and the pressure field. A average melanosome of 1more » {mu}m scale is next simulated. Supersonic shocks and fast vapor bubbles are generated in both cases: the melanin scale and the melanosome scale. The hot spot induces a shock wave pressure than with a uniform deposition of laser energy. It is found that an absorption coefficient of 6000 -8000 cm{sup -1} can explain the enhanced shock wave emitted by the melanosome. An experimental and theoretical effort should be considered to identify the mechanism for generating shock wave enhancement.« less

Experiment and analysis of shock waves radiated from pulse laser focusing in a gelatin gel

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Nakamura, Nobuyuki; Ando, Keita

2017-11-01

A fundamental understanding of shock and bubble dynamics in human tissues is essential to laser application for medical purposes. Here, we experimentally study the dynamics of shock waves in viscoelastic media. A nanosecond laser pulse of wavelength at 532 nm and of energy up to 2.66 +/- 0.09 mJ was focused through a microscope objective lens (10 x, NA = 0.30) into a gel of gelatin concentration at 3 and 10 wt%; a shock wave and a bubble can be generated, respectively, by rapid expansion of the laser-induced plasma and local heat deposition after the plasma recombines. The shock propagation and the bubble growth were recorded by a ultra-high-speed camera at 100 Mfps. The shock evolution was determined by image analysis of the recording and the shock pressure in the near field was computed according to the Rankine-Hugoniot relation. The far-field pressure was measured by a hydrophone. In the poster, we will present the decay rate of the shock pressure in the near and far fields and examine viscous effects on the shock dynamics. The Research Grant of Keio Leading-edge Laboratory of Science & Technology.

Pressures, flow, and brain oxygenation during plateau waves of intracranial pressure.

PubMed

Dias, Celeste; Maia, Isabel; Cerejo, António; Varsos, Georgios; Smielewski, Peter; Paiva, José-Artur; Czosnyka, Marek

2014-08-01

Plateau waves are common in traumatic brain injury. They constitute abrupt increases of intracranial pressure (ICP) above 40 mmHg associated with a decrease in cerebral perfusion pressure (CPP). The aim of this study was to describe plateau waves characteristics with multimodal brain monitoring in head injured patients admitted in neurocritical care. Prospective observational study in 18 multiple trauma patients with head injury admitted to Neurocritical Care Unit of Hospital Sao Joao in Porto. Multimodal systemic and brain monitoring of primary variables [heart rate, arterial blood pressure, ICP, CPP, pulse amplitude, end tidal CO₂, brain temperature, brain tissue oxygenation pressure, cerebral oximetry (CO) with transcutaneous near-infrared spectroscopy and cerebral blood flow (CBF)] and secondary variables related to cerebral compensatory reserve and cerebrovascular reactivity were supported by dedicated software ICM+ ( www.neurosurg.cam.ac.uk/icmplus) . The compiled data were analyzed in patients who developed plateau waves. In this study we identified 59 plateau waves that occurred in 44% of the patients (8/18). During plateau waves CBF, cerebrovascular resistance, CO, and brain tissue oxygenation decreased. The duration and magnitude of plateau waves were greater in patients with working cerebrovascular reactivity. After the end of plateau wave, a hyperemic response was recorded in 64% of cases with increase in CBF and brain oxygenation. The magnitude of hyperemia was associated with better autoregulation status and low oxygenation levels at baseline. Multimodal brain monitoring facilitates identification and understanding of intrinsic vascular brain phenomenon, such as plateau waves, and may help the adequate management of acute head injury at bed side.

Detection of cerebral ischemia using the power spectrum of the pulse wave measured by near-infrared spectroscopy.

PubMed

Ebihara, Akira; Tanaka, Yuichi; Konno, Takehiko; Kawasaki, Shingo; Fujiwara, Michiyuki; Watanabe, Eiju

2013-10-01

The diagnosis and medical treatment of cerebral ischemia are becoming more important due to the increase in the prevalence of cerebrovascular disease. However, conventional methods of evaluating cerebral perfusion have several drawbacks: they are invasive, require physical restraint, and the equipment is not portable, which makes repeated measurements at the bedside difficult. An alternative method is developed using near-infrared spectroscopy (NIRS). NIRS signals are measured at 44 positions (22 on each side) on the fronto-temporal areas in 20 patients with cerebral ischemia. In order to extract the pulse-wave component, the raw total hemoglobin data recorded from each position are band-pass filtered (0.8 to 2.0 Hz) and subjected to a fast Fourier transform to obtain the power spectrum of the pulse wave. The ischemic region is determined by single-photon emission computed tomography. The pulse-wave power in the ischemic region is compared with that in the symmetrical region on the contralateral side. In 17 cases (85%), the pulse-wave power on the ischemic side is significantly lower than that on the contralateral side, which indicates that the transmission of the pulse wave is attenuated in the region with reduced blood flow. Pulse-wave power might be useful as a noninvasive marker of cerebral ischemia.

Optoacoustic Monitoring of Physiologic Variables

PubMed Central

Esenaliev, Rinat O.

2017-01-01

Optoacoustic (photoacoustic) technique is a novel diagnostic platform that can be used for noninvasive measurements of physiologic variables, functional imaging, and hemodynamic monitoring. This technique is based on generation and time-resolved detection of optoacoustic (thermoelastic) waves generated in tissue by short optical pulses. This provides probing of tissues and individual blood vessels with high optical contrast and ultrasound spatial resolution. Because the optoacoustic waves carry information on tissue optical and thermophysical properties, detection, and analysis of the optoacoustic waves allow for measurements of physiologic variables with high accuracy and specificity. We proposed to use the optoacoustic technique for monitoring of a number of important physiologic variables including temperature, thermal coagulation, freezing, concentration of molecular dyes, nanoparticles, oxygenation, and hemoglobin concentration. In this review we present origin of contrast and high spatial resolution in these measurements performed with optoacoustic systems developed and built by our group. We summarize data obtained in vitro, in experimental animals, and in humans on monitoring of these physiologic variables. Our data indicate that the optoacoustic technology may be used for monitoring of cerebral blood oxygenation in patients with traumatic brain injury and in neonatal patients, central venous oxygenation monitoring, total hemoglobin concentration monitoring, hematoma detection and characterization, monitoring of temperature, and coagulation and freezing boundaries during thermotherapy. PMID:29311964

Optoacoustic Monitoring of Physiologic Variables.

PubMed

Esenaliev, Rinat O

2017-01-01

Optoacoustic (photoacoustic) technique is a novel diagnostic platform that can be used for noninvasive measurements of physiologic variables, functional imaging, and hemodynamic monitoring. This technique is based on generation and time-resolved detection of optoacoustic (thermoelastic) waves generated in tissue by short optical pulses. This provides probing of tissues and individual blood vessels with high optical contrast and ultrasound spatial resolution. Because the optoacoustic waves carry information on tissue optical and thermophysical properties, detection, and analysis of the optoacoustic waves allow for measurements of physiologic variables with high accuracy and specificity. We proposed to use the optoacoustic technique for monitoring of a number of important physiologic variables including temperature, thermal coagulation, freezing, concentration of molecular dyes, nanoparticles, oxygenation, and hemoglobin concentration. In this review we present origin of contrast and high spatial resolution in these measurements performed with optoacoustic systems developed and built by our group. We summarize data obtained in vitro , in experimental animals, and in humans on monitoring of these physiologic variables. Our data indicate that the optoacoustic technology may be used for monitoring of cerebral blood oxygenation in patients with traumatic brain injury and in neonatal patients, central venous oxygenation monitoring, total hemoglobin concentration monitoring, hematoma detection and characterization, monitoring of temperature, and coagulation and freezing boundaries during thermotherapy.

Laboratory model of the cardiovascular system for experimental demonstration of pulse wave propagation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Stojadinović, Bojana; Nestorović, Zorica; Djurić, Biljana; Tenne, Tamar; Zikich, Dragoslav; Žikić, Dejan

2017-03-01

The velocity by which a disturbance moves through the medium is the wave velocity. Pulse wave velocity is among the key parameters in hemodynamics. Investigation of wave propagation through the fluid-filled elastic tube has a great importance for the proper biophysical understanding of the nature of blood flow through the cardiovascular system. Here, we present a laboratory model of the cardiovascular system. We have designed an experimental setup which can help medical and nursing students to properly learn and understand basic fluid hemodynamic principles, pulse wave and the phenomenon of wave propagation in blood vessels. Demonstration of wave propagation allowed a real time observation of the formation of compression and expansion waves by students, thus enabling them to better understand the difference between the two waves, and also to measure the pulse wave velocity for different fluid viscosities. The laboratory model of the cardiovascular system could be useful as an active learning methodology and a complementary tool for understanding basic principles of hemodynamics.

Chirped pulse digital holography for measuring the sequence of ultrafast optical wavefronts

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Karasawa, Naoki

2018-04-01

Optical setups for measuring the sequence of ultrafast optical wavefronts using a chirped pulse as a reference wave in digital holography are proposed and analyzed. In this method, multiple ultrafast object pulses are used to probe the temporal evolution of ultrafast phenomena and they are interfered with a chirped reference wave to record a digital hologram. Wavefronts at different times can be reconstructed separately from the recorded hologram when the reference pulse can be treated as a quasi-monochromatic wave during the pulse width of each object pulse. The feasibility of this method is demonstrated by numerical simulation.

Perfluorocarbon compounds: transmitting liquids for infrared laser tissue ablation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Frenz, Martin; Pratisto, Hans S.; Toth, Cynthia A.; Jansen, E. Duco; Altermatt, Hans J.; Welch, Ashley J.; Weber, Heinz P.

1996-05-01

One concern during IR-laser ablation of tissue under water is the mechanical injury that may be induced in tissue due to rapid bubble expansion and collapse or due to strong laser-induced pressure waves. The objective of this study was to evaluate the feasibility of using a liquid which is transparent to the IR-region of the spectrum in order to minimize these undesired mechanical side-effects. As transmitting medium perfluorocarbon liquid was used. Free- running Er:YAG and Ho:YAG laser pulses were delivered into the liquid via a 400 micrometers fiber. Bubble formation during the ablation process was recorded with fast flash photography while pressure transients were measured with a needle hydrophone. The effect of the surrounding material (air, water, perfluorooctane) on the tissue response of chicken breast was evaluated in vitro using histology. It was observed that a large bubble (up to 6 mm in diameter) was formed under perfluorooctane driven by the ablation products. This bubble, however, does not generate a pressure wave when collapsing. Although perfluorooctane only shows a weak absorption for infrared radiation, laser-induced thermal lensing in the liquid strongly decreases the radiant exposure and therefore the ablation efficiency.

Forward and Backward Pressure Waveform Morphology in Hypertension.

PubMed

Li, Ye; Gu, Haotian; Fok, Henry; Alastruey, Jordi; Chowienczyk, Philip

2017-02-01

We tested the hypothesis that increased pulse wave reflection and altered backward waveform morphology contribute to increased pulse pressure in subjects with higher pulse pressure compared with lower pulse pressure and to actions of vasoactive drugs to increase pulse pressure. We examined the relationship of backward to forward wave morphology in 158 subjects who were evaluated for hypertension (including some normotensive subjects) divided into 3 groups by central pulse pressure: group 1, 33±6.5 mm Hg; group 2, 45±4.1 mm Hg; and group 3, 64±12.9 mm Hg (means±SD) and in healthy normotensive subjects during administration of inotropic and vasomotor drugs. Aortic pressure and flow in the aortic root were estimated by carotid tonometry and Doppler sonography, respectively. Morphology of the backward wave relative to the forward wave was similar in subjects in the lowest and highest tertiles of pulse pressure. Similar results were seen with the inotropic, vasopressor and vasodilator drugs, dobutamine, norepinephrine, and phentolamine, with the backward wave maintaining a constant ratio to the forward wave. However, nitroglycerin, a drug with a specific action to dilate muscular conduit arteries, reduced the amplitude of the backward wave relative to the forward wave from 0.26±0.018 at baseline to 0.19±0.019 during nitroglycerin 30 μg/min IV (P<0.01). These results are best explained by an approximately constant amount of reflection of the forward wave from the peripheral vasculature. The amount of reflection can be modified by dilation of peripheral muscular conduit arteries but contributes little to increased pulse pressure in hypertension. © 2016 The Authors.

[Electrohydraulic intracorporeal lithotripsy of salivary calculi. In vitro and animal experiment studies].

PubMed

Iro, H; Zenk, J; Hosemann, W G; Benzel, W

1993-08-01

Extracorporeal lithotripsy is now used routinely for the treatment of salivary duct stones. The question arose whether electrohydraulic intracorporeal lithotripsy, which is applied in urology and gastroenterology, might also be useful in the treatment of this disease. Before its possible clinical application the influence of electrohydraulic intracorporeal shock waves on salivary stones in vitro and any influence on the tissue in the head and neck region (in vivo) had to be investigated. In vitro experiments. Fifty-eight salivary stones and 11 extirpated human submandibular glands were treated by three different electrohydraulic devices. Animal experiments. Electrohydraulic shock waves were applied to the dilated Stensen's duct and other tissues (muscle, parotid gland, facial nerve) of six rabbits. Of 58 salivary stones, 53 (91%) were fragmented, 39 (67%) with a remaining size of less than 1.5 mm and 14 (24%) more than 1.5 mm. In 5 cases (9%) no effects were seen at all. Fragmentation occurred independent of the mineralogical components of the stone and independent of the different lithotriptors used. The smaller the probe diameter and the larger the stone, the more shock waves were needed to achieve fragmentation. With the smaller probes the stones could not be fragmented completely. In human submandibular glands, extensive tissue lesions could be evidenced macroscopically and histologically after application of electrohydraulic shock waves in vitro. Application of electrohydraulic shock waves to the dilated parotid gland duct of rabbits led to perforations of the duct after 1-5 single pulses. Lesions of nerves and blood vessels could also be observed within the duct environment. This occurred with all of the different electrohydraulic devices, probe diameters and intensities used. In our opinion the damage produced is probably the result of both the direct effect of the plasma as well as the resultant stress wave. In view of the severe damage caused to different tissues, use of the described method for the treatment of stones in the narrow human salivary ducts should be greatly restricted.

Comparison of tissue injury from focused ultrasonic propulsion of kidney stones versus extracorporeal shock wave lithotripsy.

PubMed

Connors, Bret A; Evan, Andrew P; Blomgren, Philip M; Hsi, Ryan S; Harper, Jonathan D; Sorensen, Mathew D; Wang, Yak-Nam; Simon, Julianna C; Paun, Marla; Starr, Frank; Cunitz, Bryan W; Bailey, Michael R; Lingeman, James E

2014-01-01

Focused ultrasonic propulsion is a new noninvasive technique designed to move kidney stones and stone fragments out of the urinary collecting system. However, to our knowledge the extent of tissue injury associated with this technique is not known. We quantitated the amount of tissue injury produced by focused ultrasonic propulsion under simulated clinical treatment conditions and under conditions of higher power or continuous duty cycles. We compared those results to extracorporeal shock wave lithotripsy injury. A human calcium oxalate monohydrate stone and/or nickel beads were implanted by ureteroscopy in 3 kidneys of live pigs weighing 45 to 55 kg and repositioned using focused ultrasonic propulsion. Additional pig kidneys were exposed to extracorporeal shock wave lithotripsy level pulse intensity or continuous ultrasound exposure 10 minutes in duration using an ultrasound probe transcutaneously or on the kidney. These kidneys were compared to 6 treated with an unmodified Dornier HM3 lithotripter (Dornier Medical Systems, Kennesaw, Georgia) using 2,400 shocks at 120 shock waves per minute and 24 kV. Histological analysis was performed to assess the volume of hemorrhagic tissue injury created by each technique according to the percent of functional renal volume. Extracorporeal shock wave lithotripsy produced a mean ± SEM lesion of 1.56% ± 0.45% of functional renal volume. Ultrasonic propulsion produced no detectable lesion with simulated clinical treatment. A lesion of 0.46% ± 0.37% or 1.15% ± 0.49% of functional renal volume was produced when excessive treatment parameters were used with the ultrasound probe placed on the kidney. Focused ultrasonic propulsion produced no detectable morphological injury to the renal parenchyma when using clinical treatment parameters but produced injury comparable in size to that of extracorporeal shock wave lithotripsy when using excessive treatment parameters. Copyright © 2014 American Urological Association Education and Research, Inc. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Electromagnetic pulses, localized and causal

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lekner, John

2018-01-01

We show that pulse solutions of the wave equation can be expressed as time Fourier superpositions of scalar monochromatic beam wave functions (solutions of the Helmholtz equation). This formulation is shown to be equivalent to Bateman's integral expression for solutions of the wave equation, for axially symmetric solutions. A closed-form one-parameter solution of the wave equation, containing no backward-propagating parts, is constructed from a beam which is the tight-focus limit of two families of beams. Application is made to transverse electric and transverse magnetic pulses, with evaluation of the energy, momentum and angular momentum for a pulse based on the general localized and causal form. Such pulses can be represented as superpositions of photons. Explicit total energy and total momentum values are given for the one-parameter closed-form pulse.

Generation of spin waves by a train of fs-laser pulses: a novel approach for tuning magnon wavelength.

PubMed

Savochkin, I V; Jäckl, M; Belotelov, V I; Akimov, I A; Kozhaev, M A; Sylgacheva, D A; Chernov, A I; Shaposhnikov, A N; Prokopov, A R; Berzhansky, V N; Yakovlev, D R; Zvezdin, A K; Bayer, M

2017-07-18

Currently spin waves are considered for computation and data processing as an alternative to charge currents. Generation of spin waves by ultrashort laser pulses provides several important advances with respect to conventional approaches using microwaves. In particular, focused laser spot works as a point source for spin waves and allows for directional control of spin waves and switching between their different types. For further progress in this direction it is important to manipulate with the spectrum of the optically generated spin waves. Here we tackle this problem by launching spin waves by a sequence of femtosecond laser pulses with pulse interval much shorter than the relaxation time of the magnetization oscillations. This leads to the cumulative phenomenon and allows us to generate magnons in a specific narrow range of wavenumbers. The wavelength of spin waves can be tuned from 15 μm to hundreds of microns by sweeping the external magnetic field by only 10 Oe or by slight variation of the pulse repetition rate. Our findings expand the capabilities of the optical spin pump-probe technique and provide a new method for the spin wave generation and control.

Autogenerator of beams of charged particles

DOEpatents

Adler, Richard J.; Mazarakis, Michael G.; Miller, Robert B.; Shope, Steven L.; Smith, David L.

1986-01-01

An autogenerating apparatus provides secondary intense relativistic current beam pulses in response to an injected beam pulse. One or more electromagnetic energy storage devices are provided in conjunction with gaps along a beam propagation path for the injected beam pulse. For injected beam pulses which are no longer than double the transit time of electromagnetic waves within the storage devices (which may be resonant cavities), distinct secondary beam pulses are generated by each of the energy storage devices. The beam propagation path, together with the one or more gaps provided therein, operates as a pulse forming transmission line cavity, in which the separate cavities associated with the gaps provide delays for electromagnetic waves generated at the gaps. After doubly traversing the cavity, the electromagnetic waves cause the gap to generate the secondary beam pulses, which are thus delayed by a time interval equal to the double transit time for the induced wave within the cavity.

Autogenerator of beams of charged particles

DOEpatents

Adler, R.J.; Mazarakis, M.G.; Miller, R.M.; Shope, S.L.; Smith, D.L.

1983-10-31

An autogenerating apparatus provides secondary intense relativistic current beam pulses in response to an injected beam pulse. One or more electromagnetic energy storage devices are provided in conjunction with gaps along a beam propagation path for the injected beam pulse. For injected beam pulses which are no longer than double the transit time of electromagnetic waves within the storage devices (which may be resonant cavities), distinct secondary beam pulses are generated by each of the energy storage devices. The beam propagation path, together with the one or more gaps provided therein, operates as a pulse forming transmission line cavity, in which the separate cavities associated with the gaps provide delays for electromagnetic waves generated at the gaps. After doubly traversing the cavity, the electromagnetic waves cause the gap to generate the secondary beam pulses, which are thus delayed by a time interval equal to the double transit time for the induced wave within the cavity.

Associations between Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus and Arterial Stiffness: A Prospective Analysis Based on the Maine-Syracuse Study.

PubMed

Elias, Merrill F; Crichton, Georgina E; Dearborn, Peter J; Robbins, Michael A; Abhayaratna, Walter P

2018-03-01

The aim of this study was to investigate prospective associations between type 2 diabetes mellitus status and the gold standard non-invasive method for ascertaining arterial stiffness, carotid femoral pulse wave velocity. The prospective analysis employed 508 community-dwelling participants (mean age 61 years, 60% women) from the Maine-Syracuse Longitudinal Study. Pulse wave velocity at wave 7 (2006-2010) was compared between those with type 2 diabetes mellitus at wave 6 (2001-2006) ( n = 52) and non-diabetics at wave 6 ( n = 456), with adjustment for demographic factors, cardiovascular risk factors and lifestyle- and pulse wave velocity-related factors. Type 2 diabetes mellitus status was associated with a significantly higher pulse wave velocity (12.5 ± 0.36 vs. 10.4 ± 0.12 m/s). Multivariate adjustment for other cardiovascular risk factors and lifestyle- and pulse wave velocity-related variables did not attenuate the findings. The risk of an elevated pulse wave velocity (≥12 m/s) was over 9 times higher for those with uncontrolled type 2 diabetes mellitus than for those without diabetes (OR 9.14, 95% CI 3.23-25.9, p < 0.001). Type 2 diabetes mellitus, particularly if uncontrolled, is significantly associated with risk of arterial stiffness later in life. Effective management of diabetes mellitus is an important element of protection from arterial stiffness.

Baseline aortic pulse wave velocity is associated with central and peripheral pressor responses during the cold pressor test in healthy subjects.

PubMed

Borner, Anastasiya; Murray, Kyle; Trotter, Claire; Pearson, James

2017-07-01

Cold environmental temperatures increase sympathetic nerve activity and blood pressure, and increase the risk of acute cardiovascular events in aged individuals. The acute risk of cardiovascular events increases with aortic pulse wave velocity as well as elevated central and peripheral pulse pressures. The aim of this study was to examine the independent influence of aortic pulse wave velocity upon central and peripheral pressor responses to sympathetic activation via the cold pressor test (CPT). Twenty-two healthy subjects (age: 18-73 years) completed a CPT with the left hand immersed in 2-4°C water for 3 min. During the CPT, central (from: 36 ± 7 to: 51 ± 12 mmHg) and peripheral pulse pressure increased (from: 54 ± 7 to: 66 ± 11; both P  <   0.05). In all subjects the increase in central pulse pressure during the CPT was independently associated with baseline aortic pulse wave velocity ( r 2  = 0.221, P  =   0.027) but not age ( P  >   0.05). In a subset of subjects with higher arterial stiffness, the increase in peripheral pulse pressure during the CPT was independently associated with baseline aortic pulse wave velocity ( r 2  = 0.415, P  =   0.032) but not age ( P  >   0.05). These data indicate that central and peripheral pulse pressure responses during sympathetic activation are positively and independently associated with aortic pulse wave velocity through a wide age range. Decreasing aortic pulse wave velocity in aged individuals with elevated arterial stiffness may help reduce the incidence of acute cardiovascular events upon exposure to cold environmental temperatures. © 2017 The Authors. Physiological Reports published by Wiley Periodicals, Inc. on behalf of The Physiological Society and the American Physiological Society.

Ultra-Deep Bone Diagnostics with Fat-Skin Overlayers Using New Pulsed Photothermal Radar

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sreekumar, K.; Mandelis, A.

2013-09-01

The constraints imposed by the laser safety (maximum permissible exposure) ceiling on pump laser energy and the strong attenuation of thermal-wave signals in tissues significantly limit the photothermally active depth in most biological specimens to a level which is normally insufficient for practical applications (a few mm below the skin surface). A theoretical approach for improvement of the signal-to-noise ratio (SNR), minimizing the static (dc) component of the photothermal (PT) signal and making use of the PT radiometric nonlinearity has been introduced. At low frequencies fixed-pulse-width chirps of large peak power were found to be superior to all other equal energy modalities, with an SNR improvement by up to two orders of magnitude. Compared to radar peak delay and amplitude, the long-delayed radar output amplitude is found to be more sensitive to subsurface conditions. Two-dimensional spatial plots of this parameter depicting the back-surface conditions of bones with and without fat tissue overlayers are presented. Pulsed-chirp radar thermography has been demonstrated to monitor the degree of demineralization in goat rib bone with a substantial SNR and spatial resolution that is not practicable with harmonic radars of the same energy density.

Handheld probe for portable high frame photoacoustic/ultrasound imaging system

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Daoudi, K.; van den Berg, P. J.; Rabot, O.; Kohl, A.; Tisserand, S.; Brands, P.; Steenbergen, W.

2013-03-01

Photoacoustics is a hybrid imaging modality that is based on the detection of acoustic waves generated by absorption of pulsed light by tissue chromophors. In current research, this technique uses large and costly photoacoustic systems with a low frame rate imaging. To open the door for widespread clinical use, a compact, cost effective and fast system is required. In this paper we report on the development of a small compact handset pulsed laser probe which will be connected to a portable ultrasound system for real-time photoacoustic imaging and ultrasound imaging. The probe integrates diode lasers driven by an electrical driver developed for very short high power pulses. It uses specifically developed highly efficient diode stacks with high frequency repetition rate up to 10 kHz, emitting at 800nm wavelength. The emitted beam is collimated and shaped with compact micro optics beam shaping system delivering a homogenized rectangular laser beam intensity distribution. The laser block is integrated with an ultrasound transducer in an ergonomically designed handset probe. This handset is a building block enabling for a low cost high frame rate photoacoustic and ultrasound imaging system. The probe was used with a modified ultrasound scanner and was tested by imaging a tissue mimicking phantom.

Comparison of laboratory and ambulatory measures of central blood pressure and pulse wave reflection: hitting the target or missing the mark?

PubMed

Burns, Matthew J; Seed, Jeremy D; Incognito, Anthony V; Doherty, Connor J; Notay, Karambir; Millar, Philip J

2018-04-01

Prior studies demonstrating clinical significance of noninvasive estimates of central blood pressure (BP) and pulse wave reflection have relied primarily on discrete resting measures. The aim of this study was to compare central BP and pulse wave reflection measures sampled during a single resting laboratory visit against those obtained under ambulatory conditions. The secondary aim was to investigate the reproducibility of ambulatory central BP and pulse wave reflection measurements. Forty healthy participants (21 males; 24 ± 3 years) completed three measurements of brachial artery pulse wave analysis (Oscar 2 with SphygmoCor Inside) in the laboratory followed by 24 hours of ambulatory monitoring. Seventeen participants repeated the 24-hour ambulatory monitoring visit after at least 1 week. Ambulatory measures were divided into daytime (9 AM-9 PM), nighttime (1 AM-6 AM), and 24-hour periods. Compared with laboratory measurements, central systolic BP, augmentation pressure, and augmentation index (with and without heart rate normalization) were higher (all P < .01) during daytime and 24-hour periods but lower during the nighttime period (all P < .001). The drop in nighttime brachial systolic BP was larger than central systolic pressure (Δ -20 ± 6 vs. -15 ± 6 mm Hg; P < .0001). Repeat ambulatory measurements of central BP and pulse wave reflection displayed good-to-excellent intraclass correlation coefficients (r = 0.58-0.86; all P < .01), although measures of pulse wave reflection had higher coefficients of variation (14%-41%). The results highlight absolute differences in central BP and pulse wave reflection between discrete laboratory and ambulatory conditions. The use of ambulatory measures of central BP and pulse wave reflection warrant further investigation for clinical prognostic value. Copyright © 2018 American Heart Association. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Effect of viscosity on the wave propagation: Experimental determination of compression and expansion pulse wave velocity in fluid-fill elastic tube.

PubMed

Stojadinović, Bojana; Tenne, Tamar; Zikich, Dragoslav; Rajković, Nemanja; Milošević, Nebojša; Lazović, Biljana; Žikić, Dejan

2015-11-26

The velocity by which the disturbance travels through the medium is the wave velocity. Pulse wave velocity is one of the main parameters in hemodynamics. The study of wave propagation through the fluid-fill elastic tube is of great importance for the proper biophysical understanding of the nature of blood flow through of cardiovascular system. The effect of viscosity on the pulse wave velocity is generally ignored. In this paper we present the results of experimental measurements of pulse wave velocity (PWV) of compression and expansion waves in elastic tube. The solutions with different density and viscosity were used in the experiment. Biophysical model of the circulatory flow is designed to perform measurements. Experimental results show that the PWV of the expansion waves is higher than the compression waves during the same experimental conditions. It was found that the change in viscosity causes a change of PWV for both waves. We found a relationship between PWV, fluid density and viscosity. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Modeling the Pulse Signal by Wave-Shape Function and Analyzing by Synchrosqueezing Transform

PubMed Central

Wang, Chun-Li; Yang, Yueh-Lung; Wu, Wen-Hsiang; Tsai, Tung-Hu; Chang, Hen-Hong

2016-01-01

We apply the recently developed adaptive non-harmonic model based on the wave-shape function, as well as the time-frequency analysis tool called synchrosqueezing transform (SST) to model and analyze oscillatory physiological signals. To demonstrate how the model and algorithm work, we apply them to study the pulse wave signal. By extracting features called the spectral pulse signature, and based on functional regression, we characterize the hemodynamics from the radial pulse wave signals recorded by the sphygmomanometer. Analysis results suggest the potential of the proposed signal processing approach to extract health-related hemodynamics features. PMID:27304979

Modeling the Pulse Signal by Wave-Shape Function and Analyzing by Synchrosqueezing Transform.

PubMed

Wu, Hau-Tieng; Wu, Han-Kuei; Wang, Chun-Li; Yang, Yueh-Lung; Wu, Wen-Hsiang; Tsai, Tung-Hu; Chang, Hen-Hong

2016-01-01

We apply the recently developed adaptive non-harmonic model based on the wave-shape function, as well as the time-frequency analysis tool called synchrosqueezing transform (SST) to model and analyze oscillatory physiological signals. To demonstrate how the model and algorithm work, we apply them to study the pulse wave signal. By extracting features called the spectral pulse signature, and based on functional regression, we characterize the hemodynamics from the radial pulse wave signals recorded by the sphygmomanometer. Analysis results suggest the potential of the proposed signal processing approach to extract health-related hemodynamics features.

[De-noising and measurement of pulse wave velocity of the wavelet].

PubMed

Liu, Baohua; Zhu, Honglian; Ren, Xiaohua

2011-02-01

Pulse wave velocity (PWV) is a vital index of the cardiovascular pathology, so that the accurate measurement of PWV can be of benefit for prevention and treatment of cardiovascular diseases. The noise in the measure system of pulse wave signal, rounding error and selection of the recording site all cause errors in the measure result. In this paper, with wavelet transformation to eliminate the noise and to raise the precision, and with the choice of the point whose slope was maximum as the recording site of the reconstructing pulse wave, the measuring system accuracy was improved.

Optical Production and Detection of Ultrasonic Waves in Metals for Nondestructive Testing

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Morrison, R. A.

1972-01-01

Ultrasonic waves were produced by striking the surface of a metal with the focused one-joule pulse of a Q-switched ruby laser. Rayleigh (surface) waves and longitudinal waves were detected with conventional transducers. Optical methods of detection were tested and developed. Rayleigh waves were produced with an oscillator and transducer. They were optically detected on curved polished surfaces, and on unpolished surfaces. The technique uses a knife edge to detect small angle changes of the surface as the wave pulse passes the illuminated spot. Optical flaw detection using pulse echo and attenuation is demonstrated.

Observed stratospheric downward reflection, and its relation to upward pulses of wave activity

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Harnik, N.

2009-04-01

We examine the differences between observed stratospheric vertical wave reflection and wave absorption events, which differ in that the wave induced deceleration remains confined to upper levels in the former. The two types of events signify two types of stratospheric winter dynamics, associated with different downward coupling to the troposphere (Perlwitz and Harnik, 2004). Using time lag composites, we find that the main factor influencing which event will occur is the duration, in time, of the upward pulse of wave activity entering the stratosphere from the troposphere. Short pulses accelerate the flow at their trailing edge in the lower stratosphere while they decelerate it at upper levels, resulting in a vertical shear reversal, and corresponding downward reflection, while long pulses continue decelerating the vortex at progressively lower levels. The confinement of deceleration to upper levels for short wave forcing pulses is also found in an idealized model of an interaction between a planetary wave and the stratospheric vortex, though some aspects of the wave geometry evolution, and thus vertical reflection, are not captured realistically in the model. The results suggest the stratospheric influence on the type of wave interaction, in reality, is indirect - through a possible effect on the duration of upward wave fluxes through the tropopause.

Observation of laser-induced elastic waves in agar skin phantoms using a high-speed camera and a laser-beam-deflection probe

PubMed Central

Laloš, Jernej; Gregorčič, Peter; Jezeršek, Matija

2018-01-01

We present an optical study of elastic wave propagation inside skin phantoms consisting of agar gel as induced by an Er:YAG (wavelength of 2.94 μm) laser pulse. A laser-beam-deflection probe is used to measure ultrasonic propagation and a high-speed camera is used to record displacements in ablation-induced elastic transients. These measurements are further analyzed with a custom developed image recognition algorithm utilizing the methods of particle image velocimetry and spline interpolation to determine point trajectories, material displacement and strain during the passing of the transients. The results indicate that the ablation-induced elastic waves propagate with a velocity of 1 m/s and amplitudes of 0.1 mm. Compared to them, the measured velocities of ultrasonic waves are much higher, within the range of 1.42–1.51 km/s, while their amplitudes are three orders of magnitude smaller. This proves that the agar gel may be used as a rudimental skin and soft tissue substitute in biomedical research, since its polymeric structure reproduces adequate soft-solid properties and its transparency for visible light makes it convenient to study with optical instruments. The results presented provide an insight into the distribution of laser-induced elastic transients in soft tissue phantoms, while the experimental approach serves as a foundation for further research of laser-induced mechanical effects deeper in the tissue. PMID:29675327

Observation of laser-induced elastic waves in agar skin phantoms using a high-speed camera and a laser-beam-deflection probe.

PubMed

Laloš, Jernej; Gregorčič, Peter; Jezeršek, Matija

2018-04-01

We present an optical study of elastic wave propagation inside skin phantoms consisting of agar gel as induced by an Er:YAG (wavelength of 2.94 μm) laser pulse. A laser-beam-deflection probe is used to measure ultrasonic propagation and a high-speed camera is used to record displacements in ablation-induced elastic transients. These measurements are further analyzed with a custom developed image recognition algorithm utilizing the methods of particle image velocimetry and spline interpolation to determine point trajectories, material displacement and strain during the passing of the transients. The results indicate that the ablation-induced elastic waves propagate with a velocity of 1 m/s and amplitudes of 0.1 mm. Compared to them, the measured velocities of ultrasonic waves are much higher, within the range of 1.42-1.51 km/s, while their amplitudes are three orders of magnitude smaller. This proves that the agar gel may be used as a rudimental skin and soft tissue substitute in biomedical research, since its polymeric structure reproduces adequate soft-solid properties and its transparency for visible light makes it convenient to study with optical instruments. The results presented provide an insight into the distribution of laser-induced elastic transients in soft tissue phantoms, while the experimental approach serves as a foundation for further research of laser-induced mechanical effects deeper in the tissue.

Human Pulse Wave Measurement by MEMS Electret Condenser Microphone

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Nomura, Shusaku; Hanasaka, Yasushi; Ishiguro, Tadashi; Ogawa, Hiroshi

A micro Electret Condenser Microphone (ECM) fabricated by Micro Electro Mechanical System (MEMS) technology was employed as a novel apparatus for human pulse wave measurement. Since ECM frequency response characteristic, i.e. sensitivity, logically maintains a constant level at lower than the resonance frequency (stiffness control), the slightest pressure difference at around 1.0Hz generated by human pulse wave is expected to detect by MEMS-ECM. As a result of the verification of frequency response of MEMS-ECM, it was found that -20dB/dec of reduction in the sensitivity around 1.0Hz was engendered by a high input-impedance amplifier, i.e. the field effect transistor (FET), mounted near MEMS chip for amplifying tiny ECM signal. Therefore, MEMS-ECM is assumed to be equivalent with a differentiation circuit at around human pulse frequency. Introducing compensation circuit, human pulse wave was successfully obtained. In addition, the radial and ulnar artery tracing, and pulse wave velocity measurement at forearm were demonstrated; as illustrating a possible application of this micro device.

Simulation of the excitation of quasi-plane wake waves in a plasma by a resonant sequence of laser pulses with a variable envelope

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Kalinnikova, E. I.; Levchenko, V. D.

2008-04-15

Results are presented from full-scale numerical simulations of the excitation of wake waves by a sequence of weakly relativistic laser pulses in a subcritical plasma. Computations were carried out with a 2D3V version of the SUR-CA code that is based on the local-recursive nonlocal-asynchronous algorithm of the particle-in-cell method. The parameters of a train of laser pulses were chosen to correspond to the resonant excitation of the wake field. The curvature of the envelope of the pulses was chosen to depend on the number of the pulse in the train. Numerical simulations showed that there are plane waves during themore » first period of the plasma wave behind the pulse train.« less

Photoacoustic design parameter optimization for deep tissue imaging by numerical simulation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wang, Zhaohui; Ha, Seunghan; Kim, Kang

2012-02-01

A new design of light illumination scheme for deep tissue photoacoustic (PA) imaging, a light catcher, is proposed and evaluated by in silico simulation. Finite element (FE)-based numerical simulation model was developed for photoacoustic (PA) imaging in soft tissues. In this in silico simulation using a commercially available FE simulation package (COMSOL MultiphysicsTM, COMSOL Inc., USA), a short-pulsed laser point source (pulse length of 5 ns) was placed in water on the tissue surface. Overall, four sets of simulation models were integrated together to describe the physical principles of PA imaging. Light energy transmission through background tissues from the laser source to the target tissue or contrast agent was described by diffusion equation. The absorption of light energy and its conversion to heat by target tissue or contrast agent was modeled using bio-heat equation. The heat then causes the stress and strain change, and the resulting displacement of the target surface produces acoustic pressure. The created wide-band acoustic pressure will propagate through background tissues to the ultrasound detector, which is governed by acoustic wave equation. Both optical and acoustical parameters in soft tissues such as scattering, absorption, and attenuation are incorporated in tissue models. PA imaging performance with different design parameters of the laser source and energy delivery scheme was investigated. The laser light illumination into the deep tissues can be significantly improved by up to 134.8% increase of fluence rate by introducing a designed compact light catcher with highly reflecting inner surface surrounding the light source. The optimized parameters through this simulation will guide the design of PA system for deep tissue imaging, and help to form the base protocols of experimental evaluations in vitro and in vivo.

Attosecond electromagnetic pulse generation due to the interaction of a relativistic soliton with a breaking-wake plasma wave.

PubMed

Isanin, A V; Bulanov, S S; Kamenets, F F; Pegoraro, F

2005-03-01

During the interaction of a low-frequency relativistic soliton with the electron density modulations of a wake plasma wave, part of the electromagnetic energy of the soliton is reflected in the form of an extremely short and ultraintense electromagnetic pulse. We calculate the spectra of the reflected and of the transmitted electromagnetic pulses analytically. The reflected wave has the form of a single cycle attosecond pulse.

Strong sub-terahertz surface waves generated on a metal wire by high-intensity laser pulses

PubMed Central

Tokita, Shigeki; Sakabe, Shuji; Nagashima, Takeshi; Hashida, Masaki; Inoue, Shunsuke

2015-01-01

Terahertz pulses trapped as surface waves on a wire waveguide can be flexibly transmitted and focused to sub-wavelength dimensions by using, for example, a tapered tip. This is particularly useful for applications that require high-field pulses. However, the generation of strong terahertz surface waves on a wire waveguide remains a challenge. Here, ultrafast field propagation along a metal wire driven by a femtosecond laser pulse with an intensity of 1018 W/cm2 is characterized by femtosecond electron deflectometry. From experimental and numerical results, we conclude that the field propagating at the speed of light is a half-cycle transverse-magnetic surface wave excited on the wire and a considerable portion of the kinetic energy of laser-produced fast electrons can be transferred to the sub-surface wave. The peak electric field strength of the surface wave and the pulse duration are estimated to be 200 MV/m and 7 ps, respectively. PMID:25652694

Multi-beam laser-induced hydrodynamic shock waves used for delivery of microparticles and liquids in skin.

PubMed

Belikov, Andrey V; Skrypnik, Alexei V; Shatilova, Ksenia V; Tuchin, Valery V

2015-11-01

Laser radiation is often used to provide micro and nanoparticle delivery into the skin for medical and cosmetic purposes. This technique inherently has limited speed and effective penetration. We proposed and investigated a new method of rapid delivery of solid microparticles, nanoparticles and liquids into tissue through multiple microchannels created by a fractional laser microablation (FLMA) using Er:YAG-laser. The dependence of microchannel depth on laser pulse temporal structure and number of pulses and dermal coloration changes are studied in this paper. Microchannels created in the porcine skin in vitro by a fractional Er:YAG-laser were used to deliver Zirconium oxide (ZrO2) microparticles or hydrocortisone solution. Each laser pulse consisted of subpulses. Number of laser pulses (Np) and subpulses (Nsp) can be adjusted. The enhancement of delivery is expected due to hydrodynamic impact of laser pulse on the layer of the aqueous suspension of the particles or hydrocortisone solution placed on the skin surface. For color investigation, we used standard CIE Lab parameter analysis. The relationship between microchannel depth in the skin and number of laser pulses and subpulses was established. We found that free filling of microchannels with ZrO2-particle suspension has a low speed of ∼4 × 10(-5)  mm/s. Particle delivery into microchannels induced by the hydrodynamic shock waves generated by Er:YAG-laser pulses is carried out with a high speed of 28.5 mm/s. We also found that skin color at ZrO2 -particle delivery differs from color of the intact skin, namely: the parameter L, which characterizes the "lightness" increased by 9 ± 1%; parameter a, which characterizes the "redness" decreased by 38 ± 4%; and parameter b, which characterizes the "yellowness" decreased by 21 ± 2%. The effective delivery of hydrocortisone was demonstrated using fluorescence method technique. Multi-beam laser-induced hydrodynamic shock waves generated by Er:YAG-laser pulses on the layer of the aqueous suspension of the particles or solution of a high molecular weight drug placed on the skin can be used for their rapid delivery into the skin. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Stringlike Pulse Quantification Study by Pulse Wave in 3D Pulse Mapping

PubMed Central

Chung, Yu-Feng; Yeh, Cheng-Chang; Si, Xiao-Chen; Chang, Chien-Chen; Hu, Chung-Shing; Chu, Yu-Wen

2012-01-01

Abstract Background A stringlike pulse is highly related to hypertension, and many classification approaches have been proposed in which the differentiation pulse wave (dPW) can effectively classify the stringlike pulse indicating hypertension. Unfortunately, the dPW method cannot distinguish the spring stringlike pulse from the stringlike pulse so labeled by physicians in clinics. Design By using a Bi-Sensing Pulse Diagnosis Instrument (BSPDI), this study proposed a novel Plain Pulse Wave (PPW) to classify a stringlike pulse based on an array of pulse signals, mimicking a Traditional Chinese Medicine physician's finger-reading skill. Results In comparison to PPWs at different pulse taking positions, phase delay Δθand correlation coefficient r can be elucidated as the quantification parameters of stringlike pulse. As a result, the recognition rates of a hypertensive stringlike pulse, spring stringlike pulse, and non–stringlike pulse are 100%, 100%, 77% for PPW and 70%, 0%, 59% for dPW, respectively. Conclusions Integrating dPW and PPW can unify the classification of stringlike pulse including hypertensive stringlike pulse and spring stringlike pulse. Hence, the proposed novel method, PPW, enhances quantification of stringlike pulse. PMID:23057481

Particle energy distributions and metastable atoms in transient low pressure interpulse microwave plasma

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Pandey, Shail; Nath Patel, Dudh; Ram Baitha, Anuj; Bhattacharjee, Sudeep

2015-12-01

The electron energies and its distribution function are measured in non-equilibrium transient pulsed microwave plasmas in the interpulse regime using a retarding field electron energy analyzer. The plasmas are driven to different initial conditions by varying the electromagnetic (EM) wave pulse duration, peak power, or the wave frequency. Two cases of wave excitation are investigated: (i) short-pulse (pulse duration, t w ~ 1 μs), high-power (~60 kW) waves of 9.45 GHz and (ii) medium-pulse (t w ~ 20 μs), and moderate power waves of ~3 kW at 2.45 GHz. It is found that high-power, short-duration pulses lead to a significantly different electron energy probability function (EEPF) in the interpulse phase—a Maxwellian with a bump on the tail, although the average energy per pulse (~60 mJ) is maintained the same in the two modes of wave excitation. Electrons with energies  >250 eV are found to exist in the discharge in the both cases. Another subset of experiments is performed to delineate the effect of the wave frequency and the peak power on EEPF. A traveling wave tube (TWT) amplifier based microwave source for generating pulsed plasma (t w  =  230 μs) in a wide frequency range (6-18 GHz) is employed for this purpose. Further experiments on measurements of metastable density using optical emission spectroscopy and ion energy analyzer have been carried out. By tailoring the EEPF of the transient plasma and metastable densities, new applications in plasma processing, chemistry and biology can be realized in the interpulse phase of the discharge.

THz and mm-Wave Sensing of Corneal Tissue Water Content: In Vivo Sensing and Imaging Results

PubMed Central

Taylor, Zachary D.; Garritano, James; Sung, Shijun; Bajwa, Neha; Bennett, David B.; Nowroozi, Bryan; Tewari, Priyamvada; Sayre, James W.; Hubschman, Jean-Pierre; Deng, Sophie X.; Brown, Elliott R.; Grundfest, Warren S.

2015-01-01

A pulsed terahertz (THz) imaging system and millimeter-wave reflectometer were used to acquire images and point measurements, respectively, of five rabbit cornea in vivo. These imaging results are the first ever produced of in vivo cornea. A modified version of a standard protocol using a gentle stream of air and a Mylar window was employed to slightly dehydrate healthy cornea. The sensor data and companion central corneal thickness (CCT) measurements were acquired every 10–15 min over the course of two hours using ultrasound pachymmetry.. Statistically significant positive correlations were established between CCT measurements and millimeter wave reflectivity. Local shifts in reflectivity contrast were observed in the THz imagery; however, the THz reflectivity did not display a significant correlation with thickness in the region probed by the 100 GHz and CCT measurements. This is explained in part by a thickness sensitivity at least 10× higher in the mm-wave than the THz systems. Stratified media and effective media modeling suggest that the protocol perturbed the thickness and not the corneal tissue water content (CTWC). To further explore possible etalon effects, an additional rabbit was euthanized and millimeter wave measurements were obtained during death induced edema. These observations represent the first time that the uncoupled sensing of CTWC and CCT have been achieved in vivo. PMID:26161292

Combined Burst Wave Lithotripsy and Ultrasonic Propulsion for Improved Urinary Stone Fragmentation.

PubMed

Zwaschka, Theresa A; Ahn, Justin S; Cunitz, Bryan W; Bailey, Michael R; Dunmire, Barbrina; Sorensen, Mathew D; Harper, Jonathan D; Maxwell, Adam D

2018-04-01

Burst wave lithotripsy (BWL) is a new technology in development to fragment urinary stones. Ultrasonic propulsion (UP) is a separate technology under investigation for displacing stones. We measure the effect of propulsion pulses on stone fragmentation from BWL. Two artificial stone models (crystalline calcite, BegoStone plaster) and human calcium oxalate monohydrate (COM) stones measuring 5 to 8 mm were subjected to ultrasound exposures in a polyvinyl chloride tissue phantom within a water bath. Stones were exposed to BWL with and without propulsion pulses interleaved for set time intervals depending on stone type. Fragmentation was measured as a fraction of the initial stone mass fragmented to pieces smaller than 2 mm. BegoStone model comminution improved from 6% to 35% (p < 0.001) between BWL and BWL with interleaved propulsion in a 10-minute exposure. Propulsion alone did not fragment stones, whereas addition of propulsion after BWL slightly improved BegoStone model comminution from 6% to 11% (p < 0.001). BegoStone model fragmentation increased with rate of propulsion pulses. Calcite stone fragmentation improved from 24% to 39% in 5 minutes (p = 0.047) and COM stones improved from 17% to 36% (p = 0.01) with interleaved propulsion. BWL with UP improved stone fragmentation compared with BWL alone in vitro. The improvement was greatest when propulsion pulses are interleaved with BWL treatment and when propulsion pulses are applied at a higher rate. Thus, UP may be a useful adjunct to enhance fragmentation in lithotripsy in vivo.

Engineering studies of vectorcardiographs in blood pressure measuring systems, appendix 2

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Mark, R. G.

1975-01-01

The development of a cardiovascular monitoring system to noninvasively monitor the blood pressure and heart rate using pulse wave velocity was described. The following topics were covered: (1) pulse wave velocity as a measure of arterial blood pressure, (2) diastolic blood pressure and pulse wave velocity in humans, (3) transducer development for blood pressure measuring device, and (4) cardiovascular monitoring system. It was found, in experiments on dogs, that the pulse wave velocity is linearly related to diastolic blood pressure over a wide range of blood pressure and in the presence of many physiological perturbations. A similar relationship was observed in normal, young human males over a moderate range of pressures. Past methods for monitoring blood pressure and a new method based on pulse wave velocity determination were described. Two systems were tested: a Doppler ultrasonic transducer and a photoelectric plethysmograph. A cardiovascular monitoring system was described, including operating instructions.

Mach 5 bow shock control by a nanosecond pulse surface dielectric barrier discharge

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Nishihara, M.; Takashima, K.; Rich, J. W.

2011-06-15

Bow shock perturbations in a Mach 5 air flow, produced by low-temperature, nanosecond pulse, and surface dielectric barrier discharge (DBD), are detected by phase-locked schlieren imaging. A diffuse nanosecond pulse discharge is generated in a DBD plasma actuator on a surface of a cylinder model placed in air flow in a small scale blow-down supersonic wind tunnel. Discharge energy coupled to the actuator is 7.3-7.8 mJ/pulse. Plasma temperature inferred from nitrogen emission spectra is a few tens of degrees higher than flow stagnation temperature, T = 340 {+-} 30 K. Phase-locked Schlieren images are used to detect compression waves generatedmore » by individual nanosecond discharge pulses near the actuator surface. The compression wave propagates upstream toward the baseline bow shock standing in front of the cylinder model. Interaction of the compression wave and the bow shock causes its displacement in the upstream direction, increasing shock stand-off distance by up to 25%. The compression wave speed behind the bow shock and the perturbed bow shock velocity are inferred from the Schlieren images. The effect of compression waves generated by nanosecond discharge pulses on shock stand-off distance is demonstrated in a single-pulse regime (at pulse repetition rates of a few hundred Hz) and in a quasi-continuous mode (using a two-pulse sequence at a pulse repetition rate of 100 kHz). The results demonstrate feasibility of hypersonic flow control by low-temperature, repetitive nanosecond pulse discharges.« less

Potential of M-Wave Elicited by Double Pulse for Muscle Fatigue Evaluation in Intermittent Muscle Activation by Functional Electrical Stimulation for Motor Rehabilitation

PubMed Central

Miura, Naoto; Watanabe, Takashi

2016-01-01

Clinical studies on application of functional electrical stimulation (FES) to motor rehabilitation have been increasing. However, muscle fatigue appears early in the course of repetitive movement production training by FES. Although M-wave variables were suggested to be reliable indices of muscle fatigue in long lasting constant electrical stimulation under the isometric condition, the ability of M-wave needs more studies under intermittent stimulation condition, because the intervals between electrical stimulations help recovery of muscle activation level. In this paper, M-waves elicited by double pulses were examined in muscle fatigue evaluation during repetitive movements considering rehabilitation training with surface electrical stimulation. M-waves were measured under the two conditions of repetitive stimulation: knee extension force production under the isometric condition and the dynamic movement condition by knee joint angle control. Amplitude of M-wave elicited by the 2nd pulse of a double pulse decreased during muscle fatigue in both measurement conditions, while the change in M-waves elicited by single pulses in a stimulation burst was not relevant to muscle fatigue in repeated activation with stimulation interval of 1 s. Fatigue index obtained from M-waves elicited by 2nd pulses was suggested to provide good estimation of muscle fatigue during repetitive movements with FES. PMID:27110556

Efficient and broadband Stokes wave generation by degenerate four-wave mixing at the mid-infrared wavelength in a silica photonic crystal fiber.

PubMed

Yuan, Jinhui; Sang, Xinzhu; Wu, Qiang; Zhou, Guiyao; Yu, Chongxiu; Wang, Kuiru; Yan, Binbin; Han, Ying; Farrell, Gerald; Hou, Lantian

2013-12-15

Based on degenerate four-wave mixing (FWM), the broadband Stokes waves are efficiently generated at the mid-infrared wavelength above 2 μm, for the first time to our knowledge, by coupling the femtosecond pulses into the fundamental mode of a silica photonic crystal fiber designed and fabricated in our laboratory. Influences of the power and wavelength of pump pulses on the phase-matched frequency conversion process are discussed. When pump pulses with central wavelength of 815 nm and average power of 300 mW are used, the output power ratio of the Stokes wave generated at 2226 nm and the residual pump wave P(s)/P(res) is estimated to be 10.8:1, and the corresponding conversion efficiency η(s) and bandwidth B(s) of the Stokes wave can be up to 26% and 33 nm, respectively. The efficient and broadband Stokes waves can be used as the ultrashort pulse sources for mid-infrared photonics and spectroscopy.

Rotary wave-ejector enhanced pulse detonation engine

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Nalim, M. R.; Izzy, Z. A.; Akbari, P.

2012-01-01

The use of a non-steady ejector based on wave rotor technology is modeled for pulse detonation engine performance improvement and for compatibility with turbomachinery components in hybrid propulsion systems. The rotary wave ejector device integrates a pulse detonation process with an efficient momentum transfer process in specially shaped channels of a single wave-rotor component. In this paper, a quasi-one-dimensional numerical model is developed to help design the basic geometry and operating parameters of the device. The unsteady combustion and flow processes are simulated and compared with a baseline PDE without ejector enhancement. A preliminary performance assessment is presented for the wave ejector configuration, considering the effect of key geometric parameters, which are selected for high specific impulse. It is shown that the rotary wave ejector concept has significant potential for thrust augmentation relative to a basic pulse detonation engine.

Chirped-Pulse Millimeter-Wave Spectroscopy of Rydberg-Rydberg Transitions

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Prozument, Kirill; Colombo, Anthony P.; Zhou Yan

2011-09-30

Transitions between Rydberg states of Ca atoms, in a pulsed, supersonic atomic beam, are directly detected by chirped-pulse millimeter-wave spectroscopy. Broadband, high-resolution spectra with accurate relative intensities are recorded instantly. Free induction decay (FID) of atoms, polarized by the chirped pulse, at their Rydberg-Rydberg transition frequencies, is heterodyne detected, averaged in the time domain, and Fourier transformed into the frequency domain. Millimeter-wave transient nutations are observed, and the possibility of FID evolving to superradiance is discussed.

Phase and frequency structure of superradiance pulses generated by relativistic Ka-band backward-wave oscillator

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Rostov, V. V.; Romanchenko, I. V.; Elchaninov, A. A.

2016-08-15

Phase and frequency stability of electromagnetic oscillations in sub-gigawatt superradiance (SR) pulses generated by an extensive slow-wave structure of a relativistic Ka-band backward-wave oscillator were experimentally investigated. Data on the frequency tuning and radiation phase stability of SR pulses with a variation of the energy and current of electron beam were obtained.

Electro-optic Q-switch

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Zou, Yingyin (Inventor); Chen, Qiushui (Inventor); Zhang, Run (Inventor); Jiang, Hua (Inventor)

2006-01-01

An electro-optic Q-switch for generating sequence of laser pulses was disclosed. The Q-switch comprises a quadratic electro-optic material and is connected with an electronic unit generating a radio frequency wave with positive and negative pulses alternatively. The Q-switch is controlled by the radio frequency wave in such a way that laser pulse is generated when the radio frequency wave changes its polarity.

Underwater acoustic wave generation by filamentation of terawatt ultrashort laser pulses.

PubMed

Jukna, Vytautas; Jarnac, Amélie; Milián, Carles; Brelet, Yohann; Carbonnel, Jérôme; André, Yves-Bernard; Guillermin, Régine; Sessarego, Jean-Pierre; Fattaccioli, Dominique; Mysyrowicz, André; Couairon, Arnaud; Houard, Aurélien

2016-06-01

Acoustic signals generated by filamentation of ultrashort terawatt laser pulses in water are characterized experimentally. Measurements reveal a strong influence of input pulse duration on the shape and intensity of the acoustic wave. Numerical simulations of the laser pulse nonlinear propagation and the subsequent water hydrodynamics and acoustic wave generation show that the strong acoustic emission is related to the mechanism of superfilamention in water. The elongated shape of the plasma volume where energy is deposited drives the far-field profile of the acoustic signal, which takes the form of a radially directed pressure wave with a single oscillation and a very broad spectrum.

Pulse based sensor networking using mechanical waves through metal substrates

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lorenz, S.; Dong, B.; Huo, Q.; Tomlinson, W. J.; Biswas, S.

2013-05-01

This paper presents a novel wireless sensor networking technique using ultrasonic signal as the carrier wave for binary data exchange. Using the properties of lamb wave propagation through metal substrates, the proposed network structure can be used for runtime transport of structural fault information to ultrasound access points. Primary applications of the proposed sensor networking technique will include conveying fault information on an aircraft wing or on a bridge to an ultrasonic access point using ultrasonic wave through the structure itself (i.e. wing or bridge). Once a fault event has been detected, a mechanical pulse is forwarded to the access node using shortest path multi-hop ultrasonic pulse routing. The advantages of mechanical waves over traditional radio transmission using pulses are the following: First, unlike radio frequency, surface acoustic waves are not detectable outside the medium, which increases the inherent security for sensitive environments in respect to tapping. Second, event detection can be represented by the injection of a single mechanical pulse at a specific temporal position, whereas radio messages usually take several bits. The contributions of this paper are: 1) Development of a transceiver for transmitting/receiving ultrasound pulses with a pulse loss rate below 2·10-5 and false positive rate with an upper bound of 2·10-4. 2) A novel one-hop distance estimation based on the properties of lamb wave propagation with an accuracy of above 80%. 3) Implementation of a wireless sensor network using mechanical wave propagation for event detection on a 2024 aluminum alloy commonly used for aircraft skin construction.

Observation of skull-guided acoustic waves in a water-immersed murine skull using optoacoustic excitation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Estrada, Héctor; Rebling, Johannes; Razansky, Daniel

2017-02-01

The skull bone, a curved solid multilayered plate protecting the brain, constitutes a big challenge for the use of ultrasound-mediated techniques in neuroscience. Ultrasound waves incident from water or soft biological tissue are mostly reflected when impinging on the skull. To this end, skull properties have been characterized for both high-intensity focused ultrasound (HIFU) operating in the narrowband far-field regime and optoacoustic imaging applications. Yet, no study has been conducted to characterize the near-field of water immersed skulls. We used the thermoelastic effect with a 532 nm pulsed laser to trigger a wide range of broad-band ultrasound modes in a mouse skull. In order to capture the waves propagating in the near-field, a thin hydrophone was scanned in close proximity to the skull's surface. While Leaky pseudo-Lamb waves and grazing-angle bulk water waves are clearly visible in the spatio-temporal data, we were only able to identify skull-guided acoustic waves after dispersion analysis in the wavenumber-frequency space. The experimental data was found to be in a reasonable agreement with a flat multilayered plate model.

RELATIONS BETWEEN DAIRY FOOD INTAKE AND ARTERIAL STIFFNESS: PULSE WAVE VELOCITY AND PULSE PRESSURE

PubMed Central

Crichton, Georgina E.; Elias, Merrrill F.; Dore, Gregory A.; Abhayaratna, Walter P.; Robbins, Michael A.

2012-01-01

Modifiable risk factors, such as diet, are becomingly increasingly important in the management of cardiovascular disease, one of the greatest major causes of death and disease burden. Few studies have examined the role of diet as a possible means of reducing arterial stiffness, as measured by pulse wave velocity, an independent predictor of cardiovascular events and all-cause mortality. The aim of this study was to investigate whether dairy food intake is associated with measures of arterial stiffness including carotid-femoral pulse wave velocity and pulse pressure. A cross-sectional analysis of a subset of the Maine Syracuse Longitudinal Study sample was performed. A linear decrease in pulse wave velocity was observed across increasing intakes of dairy food consumption (ranging from never/rarely to daily dairy food intake). The negative linear relationship between pulse wave velocity and intake of dairy food was independent of demographic variables, other cardiovascular disease risk factors and nutrition variables. The pattern of results was very similar for pulse pressure, while no association between dairy food intake and lipid levels was found. Further intervention studies are needed to ascertain whether dairy food intake may be an appropriate dietary intervention for the attenuation of age-related arterial stiffening and reduction of cardiovascular disease risk. PMID:22431583

[Obstetrical ultrasound: can the fetus hear the wave and feel the heat?].

PubMed

Abramowicz, J S; Kremkau, F W; Merz, E

2012-06-01

"Fetuses can hear ultrasound and the sound is as loud as a subway train entering a station." This statement originates in a single report in a non-peer reviewed journal, despite its name 1, of a presentation at a scientific meeting by researchers who reported measuring the sound intensity in the uterus of pregnant women and being able to demonstrate the above. This was later published in a peer-review journal 2 probably not very widely read by clinicians or the general public. From time to time, the popular press or various pregnancy-related websites repeat the assertion or a worried pregnant patient inquires about the truthfulness of this statement. A second, oft-quoted concern is that ultrasound leads to heating of the amniotic fluid. These two assertions may be very concerning to expectant parents and merit scientific scrutiny. In this editorial, we shall examine the known facts about the physical properties of ultrasound as they relate to these two issues. Diagnostic ultrasound employs a pulsed sound wave with positive and negative pressures and the Mayo team, quoted in the New Scientist, predicted that the pulsing would translate into a "tapping" effect 1. According to their report, they placed a tiny hydrophone inside a woman's uterus while she was undergoing an ultrasound examination. They stated that they picked up a hum at around the frequency of the pulsing generated when the ultrasound is switched on and off. The sound was similar to the highest notes on a piano. They also indicated that when the ultrasound probe was pointed right at the hydrophone, it registered a level of 100 decibels, as loud as a subway train coming into a station. Sound levels in decibels are defined for audible frequencies with the reference level being the threshold for hearing at a given frequency. Although the operating frequencies used in sonography are inaudible, it is possible for the pulsing rate (pulse repetition frequency, PRF) to be heard, thus falling in the audible range. A previous report had hinted at similar phenomena 3.Ultrasound is a pressure wave with a frequency beyond (ultra) that detectable in the human auditory system. The human ear can discern sound at roughly 20 - 20 000 cycles (hertz) per second. The frequencies of diagnostic ultrasound are roughly 1 - 10 megahertz (MHz) or 1 000 000 to 10 000 000 cycles per second. It is a form of energy and, as such, may have effects in tissues it traverses. Any consequences occurring in living tissues secondary to an external influence are called biological effects or bioeffects. This term does not imply damage or harm. The two major mechanisms for bioeffects are thermal and non-thermal. Thermal effects are secondary to ultrasound energy being converted into heat in the tissue (indirect effect of ultrasound) and non-thermal effects are secondary to the alternating positive and negative pressures generated by the wave (direct effect). The definition of moderately loud sound is 60 - 70 dB (2 × 10-3-2 × 10-2 Pa), defined as high urban ambient sound, normal conversation at 1 m, or living room music 4. In comparison, quiet conversation is 40 dB, a railway diesel engine passing at 45 mph at 100 feet is 80 - 85 dB and a rock band is 110 dB 4. There have been a few publications describing harm to fetuses exposed to elevated levels of ambient noise, particularly industrial noise 567, specifically in the aircraft and textile industries, but while there have been reports of impaired hearing in infants who were exposed to ultrasound in the womb, several rigorous studies have disproved that notion 891011. Furthermore, a study of fetuses exposed in utero to vibroacoustic stimulation 12 and a recent study of fetuses exposed to noise generated during an MR exam of the pregnant women 13 showed no ill effect on the auditory system. There have been some reports of being able to hear a "hum" during transcranial ultrasound. This may be the pulse-repetition frequency (PRF), but, if so, it would be described as a higher pitch, and probably not a "hum". To our knowledge, this phenomenon has not been investigated. Although the report mentioned above suggested that diagnostic ultrasound is detectable at measurable levels in the uterus, there is no independently confirmed, peer-reviewed, published evidence that the fetus actually hears the PRF, responds to it or is harmed by it."The fetus cannot regulate its own body temperature, so amniotic fluid can reach very high temperatures over long periods" 14. Does this statement reflect a real risk? What does it mean if this statement is scientifically true? The fear is, of course, that this will raise the temperature of the fetus. Thermally induced teratogenesis has been demonstrated in many animal studies, as well as several controlled human studies 1516. A temperature increase of 1.5 °C above the normal value has been suggested as a universal threshold 17. It is important to note that diagnostic ultrasound was not the source of the temperature elevation in any of these studies. Some believe that there are temperature thresholds for hyperthermia-induced birth defects (hence the ALARA [as low as reasonably achievable] principle), but there is some evidence that any positive temperature differential for any period of time has some effect, in other words there may be no thermal threshold for hyperthermia-induced birth defects 18. In experimental animals the most common defects are microcephaly with associated functional and behavioral problems 17, microphthalmia and cataracts. There are reports on the effects of hyperthermia and measurements of in vivo temperature induced by pulsed ultrasound but not in humans 192021. Temperature increases of 1 °C are easily reached in routine scanning 22. Elevation of up to 1.5 °C can be obtained in the first trimester and up to 4 °C in the second and third trimesters, particularly with the use of pulsed Doppler 23. When the ultrasound wave travels through tissue, its intensity diminishes with distance (attenuation). In completely homogeneous materials, the signal amplitude is reduced only by beam divergence and absorption (conversion of sound to heat). However, biologic tissues are non-homogeneous and further weakening occurs due to scattering. The issue of temperature increase in the amniotic fluid is based on the fact that the energy of the ultrasound waves is partially converted to heat in the tissue traversed by the waves. Tissues with a high absorption coefficient (such as bone) will produce a high conversion rate while the conversion will be lower in tissues with low absorption. Fluids have very low absorption characteristics and, therefore, the risk of temperature elevation in the amniotic fluid is minimal. The only available study on the topic did not demonstrate any increase in temperature in the amniotic fluid when performing diagnostic ultrasound, both in grayscale anatomic imaging (sonography) and Doppler ultrasound 24. ConclusionWhile ultrasound is a sound wave which can produce mechanical effects and temperature elevation in tissues that it traverses, the risk to human fetuses when using diagnostic ultrasound appears to be minimal if certain rules are followed, such as performing a scan when medically indicated, and observing the ALARA principle (using the lowest output power consistent with acquiring the necessary diagnostic information and keeping the exposure time as low as possible for accurate diagnosis). © Georg Thieme Verlag KG Stuttgart · New York.

978-nm square-wave in an all-fiber single-mode ytterbium-doped fiber laser

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Li, Shujie; Xu, Lixin; Gu, Chun

2018-01-01

A 978 nm single mode passively mode-locked all-fiber laser delivering square-wave pulses was demonstrated using a figure-8 cavity and a 75 cm commercial double-clad ytterbium-doped fiber. We found the three-level system near 978 nm was able to operate efficiently under clad pumping, simultaneously oscillation around 1030 nm well inhibited. The optimized nonlinear amplifying loop mirror made the mode locking stable and performed the square-pulses shaping. To the best of our knowledge, it is the first time to report the square-wave pulse fiber laser operating at 980 nm. The spectral width of the 978 mode-locked square pulses was about 4 nm, far greater than that of the mode-locked square pulses around 1060 nm reported before, which would be helpful to deeply understand the various square-wave pulses' natures and forming mechanisms. Compared with modulated single-mode or multimode 980 nm LDs, this kind of 980 nm square-wave sources having higher brightness, more steeper rising and falling edge and shorter pulse width, might have potential applications in pumping nanosecond ytterbium or erbium fiber lasers and amplifiers.

Optical generation of millimeter-wave pulses using a fiber Bragg grating in a fiber-optics system.

PubMed

Ye, Qing; Qu, Ronghui; Fang, Zujie

2007-04-10

A scheme is proposed to transform an optical pulse into a millimeter-wave frequency modulation pulse by using a weak fiber Bragg grating (FBG) in a fiber-optics system. The Fourier transformation method is used to obtain the required spectrum response function of the FBG for the Gaussian pulse, soliton pulse, and Lorenz shape pulse. On the condition of the first-order Born approximation of the weak fiber grating, the relation of the refractive index distribution and the spectrum response function of the FBG satisfies the Fourier transformation, and the corresponding refractive index distribution forms are obtained for single-frequency modulation and linear-frequency modulation millimeter-wave pulse generation. The performances of the designed fiber gratings are also studied by a numerical simulation method for a supershort pulse transmission.

Excitation of plasma waves by nonlinear currents induced by a high-frequency electromagnetic pulse

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Grishkov, V. E.; Uryupin, S. A.

2017-03-01

Excitation of plasma waves by nonlinear currents induced by a high-frequency electromagnetic pulse is analyzed within the kinetic approach. It is shown that the most efficient source of plasma waves is the nonlinear current arising due to the gradient of the energy density of the high-frequency field. Generation of plasma waves by the drag current is usually less efficient but not negligibly small at relatively high frequencies of electron-ion collisions. The influence of electron collisions on the excitation of plasma waves by pulses of different duration is described quantitatively.

Theory of spin and lattice wave dynamics excited by focused laser pulses

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Shen, Ka; Bauer, Gerrit E. W.

2018-06-01

We develop a theory of spin wave dynamics excited by ultrafast focused laser pulses in a magnetic film. We take into account both the volume and surface spin wave modes in the presence of applied, dipolar and magnetic anisotropy fields and include the dependence on laser spot exposure size and magnetic damping. We show that the sound waves generated by local heating by an ultrafast focused laser pulse can excite a wide spectrum of spin waves (on top of a dominant magnon–phonon contribution). Good agreement with recent experiments supports the validity of the model.

Excitation of plasma waves by nonlinear currents induced by a high-frequency electromagnetic pulse

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Grishkov, V. E.; Uryupin, S. A., E-mail: uryupin@sci.lebedev.ru

Excitation of plasma waves by nonlinear currents induced by a high-frequency electromagnetic pulse is analyzed within the kinetic approach. It is shown that the most efficient source of plasma waves is the nonlinear current arising due to the gradient of the energy density of the high-frequency field. Generation of plasma waves by the drag current is usually less efficient but not negligibly small at relatively high frequencies of electron–ion collisions. The influence of electron collisions on the excitation of plasma waves by pulses of different duration is described quantitatively.

Nonlinear dynamics of shells conveying pulsatile flow with pulse-wave propagation. Theory and numerical results for a single harmonic pulsation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Tubaldi, Eleonora; Amabili, Marco; Païdoussis, Michael P.

2017-05-01

In deformable shells conveying pulsatile flow, oscillatory pressure changes cause local movements of the fluid and deformation of the shell wall, which propagate downstream in the form of a wave. In biomechanics, it is the propagation of the pulse that determines the pressure gradient during the flow at every location of the arterial tree. In this study, a woven Dacron aortic prosthesis is modelled as an orthotropic circular cylindrical shell described by means of the Novozhilov nonlinear shell theory. Flexible boundary conditions are considered to simulate connection with the remaining tissue. Nonlinear vibrations of the shell conveying pulsatile flow and subjected to pulsatile pressure are investigated taking into account the effects of the pulse-wave propagation. For the first time in literature, coupled fluid-structure Lagrange equations of motion for a non-material volume with wave propagation in case of pulsatile flow are developed. The fluid is modeled as a Newtonian inviscid pulsatile flow and it is formulated using a hybrid model based on the linear potential flow theory and considering the unsteady viscous effects obtained from the unsteady time-averaged Navier-Stokes equations. Contributions of pressure and velocity propagation are also considered in the pressure drop along the shell and in the pulsatile frictional traction on the internal wall in the axial direction. A numerical bifurcation analysis employs a refined reduced order model to investigate the dynamic behavior of a pressurized Dacron aortic graft conveying blood flow. A pulsatile time-dependent blood flow model is considered by applying the first harmonic of the physiological waveforms of velocity and pressure during the heart beating period. Geometrically nonlinear vibration response to pulsatile flow and transmural pulsatile pressure, considering the propagation of pressure and velocity changes inside the shell, is here presented via frequency-response curves, time histories, bifurcation diagrams and Poincaré maps. It is shown that traveling waves of pressure and velocity cause a delay in the radial displacement of the shell at different values of the axial coordinate. The effect of different pulse wave velocities is also studied. Comparisons with the corresponding ideal case without wave propagation (i.e. with the same pulsatile velocity and pressure at any point of the shell) are here discussed. Bifurcation diagrams of Poincaré maps obtained from direct time integration have been used to study the system in the spectral neighborhood of the fundamental natural frequency. By increasing the forcing frequency, the response undergoes very complex nonlinear dynamics (chaos, amplitude modulation and period-doubling bifurcation), here deeply investigated.

Does ketogenic diet have any negative effect on cardiac systolic and diastolic functions in children with intractable epilepsy?: One-year follow-up results.

PubMed

Ozdemir, Rahmi; Kucuk, Mehmet; Guzel, Orkide; Karadeniz, Cem; Yilmaz, Unsal; Mese, Timur

2016-10-01

The ketogenic diet (KD) has been referred to as an "effective therapy with side effects" for children with intractable epilepsy. Among the most recognized adverse effects, there are cardiac conduction abnormalities, vascular and myocardial dysfunction. However, very limited and controversial data are available regarding the effects of the KD on cardiac functions. We sought to analyze the mid-term effect of ketogenic diet on cardiac functions in patients with intractable epilepsy who received a ketogenic diet for at least 12months using conventional and relatively new imaging techniques. This prospective study included 61 patients with intractable epilepsy who received ketogenic diet for at least 12months. Clinical examinations, serum carnitine and selenium levels as well as electrocardiographic and echocardiographic examinations were scheduled prior to the procedure and at 1, 3, 6 and 12months. We utilized two-dimensional, M-mode, colored Doppler, spectral Doppler and pulsed wave tissue Doppler imaging techniques to investigate ventricular systolic and diastolic functions of this subgroup of patients. In our study, there was no significant difference after 1year of KD therapy compared to baseline values-except a significantly decreased A wave velocity-in terms of pulse wave Doppler echocardiographic measurements of the diastolic function. The tissue Doppler measurements obtained from the lateral wall of tricuspide and mitral annuli were not different at baseline and at month 12 of the treatment, as well. The ketogenic diet appears to have no disturbing effect on ventricular functions in epileptic children in the midterm. Copyright © 2016 The Japanese Society of Child Neurology. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Generation of ultra-wideband triplet pulses based on four-wave mixing and phase-to-intensity modulation conversion.

PubMed

Li, Wei; Wang, Li Xian; Hofmann, Werner; Zhu, Ning Hua; Bimberg, Dieter

2012-08-27

We propose and demonstrate a novel scheme to generate ultra-wideband (UWB) triplet pulses based on four-wave mixing and phase-to-intensity modulation conversion. First a phase-modulated Gaussian doublet pulse is generated by four-wave mixing in a highly nonlinear fiber. Then an UWB triplet pulse is generated by generating the first-order derivative of the phase-modulated Gaussian doublet pulse using an optical filter serving as a frequency discriminator. By locating the optical signal at the linear slope of the optical filter, the phase modulated Gaussian doublet pulse is converted to an intensity-modulated UWB triplet pulse which well satisfies the Federal Communications Commission spectral mask requirements, even in the extremely power-restricted global positioning system band.

Systematic approach to study of thinly and thickly sectioned melanoma tissues with scanning acoustic microscopy

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Miyasaka, C.; Tittmann, B. R.; Tutwiler, R.; Tian, Y.; Maeva, E.; Shum, D.

2010-03-01

The present study is to investigate the feasibility of applying in-vivo acoustic microscopy to the analysis of cancerous tissue. The study was implemented with mechanical scanning reflection acoustic microscope (SAM) by the following procedures. First, we ultrasonically visualized thick sections of normal and tumor tissues to determine the lowest transducer frequency required for cellular imaging. We used skin for normal tissue and the tumor was a malignant melanoma. Thin sections of the tissue were also studied with the optical and high-frequency-ultrasonic imaging for pathological evaluation. Secondly, we ultrasonically visualized subsurface cellular details of thin tissue specimens with different modes (i.e., pulse and tone-burst wave modes) to obtain the highest quality ultrasonic images. The objective is to select the best mode for the future design of a future SAM for in-vivo examination. Thirdly, we developed a mathematical modeling technique based on an angular spectrum approach for improving image processing and comparing numerical to experimental results.

Extension of harmonic cutoff in a multicycle chirped pulse combined with a chirp-free pulse

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Xu Junjie; Zeng Bin; Yu Yongli

2010-11-15

We demonstrate high-order harmonic generation in a wave form synthesized by a multicycle 800-nm chirped laser pulse and a chirp-free laser pulse. Compared with the case of using only a chirped pulse, both the harmonic cutoff and the extreme ultraviolet supercontinuum can be extended when a weak chirp-free pulse is combined with the chirped pulse. When chirp-free pulse intensity grows, the cutoff energy and bandwidth of the supercontinuum grow as well. It is found that the broad supercontinuum can be achieved for a driving pulse with long duration even though the driving pulse reaches 10 optical cycles. An isolated attosecondmore » pulse with duration of about 59 as is obtained, and after appropriate phase compensation with a duration of about 11 as. In addition, by performing time-frequency analyses and the classical trajectory simulation, the difference in supercontinuum generation between the preceding wave form and a similar wave form synthesized by an 800-nm fundamental pulse and a 1600-nm subharmonic pulse is investigated.« less

Pulse wave imaging in normal, hypertensive and aneurysmal human aortas in vivo: a feasibility study

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Li, Ronny X.; Luo, Jianwen; Balaram, Sandhya K.; Chaudhry, Farooq A.; Shahmirzadi, Danial; Konofagou, Elisa E.

2013-07-01

Arterial stiffness is a well-established biomarker for cardiovascular risk, especially in the case of hypertension. The progressive stages of an abdominal aortic aneurysm (AAA) have also been associated with varying arterial stiffness. Pulse wave imaging (PWI) is a noninvasive, ultrasound imaging-based technique that uses the pulse wave-induced arterial wall motion to map the propagation of the pulse wave and measure the regional pulse wave velocity (PWV) as an index of arterial stiffness. In this study, the clinical feasibility of PWI was evaluated in normal, hypertensive, and aneurysmal human aortas. Radiofrequency-based speckle tracking was used to estimate the pulse wave-induced displacements in the abdominal aortic walls of normal (N = 15, mean age 32.5 ± 10.2 years), hypertensive (N = 13, mean age 60.8 ± 15.8 years), and aneurysmal (N = 5, mean age 71.6 ± 11.8 years) human subjects. Linear regression of the spatio-temporal variation of the displacement waveform in the anterior aortic wall over a single cardiac cycle yielded the slope as the PWV and the coefficient of determination r2 as an approximate measure of the pulse wave propagation uniformity. The aortic PWV measurements in all normal, hypertensive, and AAA subjects were 6.03 ± 1.68, 6.69 ± 2.80, and 10.54 ± 6.52 m s-1, respectively. There was no significant difference (p = 0.15) between the PWVs of the normal and hypertensive subjects while the PWVs of the AAA subjects were significantly higher (p < 0.001) compared to those of the other two groups. Also, the average r2 in the AAA subjects was significantly lower (p < 0.001) than that in the normal and hypertensive subjects. These preliminary results suggest that the regional PWV and the pulse wave propagation uniformity (r2) obtained using PWI, in addition to the PWI images and spatio-temporal maps that provide qualitative visualization of the pulse wave, may potentially provide valuable information for the clinical characterization of aneurysms and other vascular pathologies that regionally alter the arterial wall mechanics.

Generation of multicolor vacuum ultraviolet pulses through four-wave sum-frequency mixing in argon

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Shi, Liping; Li, Wenxue; Zhou, Hui; Wang, Di; Ding, Liang'en; Zeng, Heping

2013-11-01

We demonstrate efficient generation of multicolor vacuum ultraviolet pulses with excellent mode quality through χ(3)-based four-wave sum-frequency mixing and third-order harmonic generation of 400- and 267-nm femtosecond laser pulses in argon gas. The χ(3)-based nonlinear optical processes were optimized with appropriate control of gas pressure and group velocity delay between the driving pulses. Furthermore, the pulse breakup effects were observed for tightly focused ultraviolet pulses.

Comparison of acoustic fields produced by the original and upgraded HM-3 lithotripter

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhou, Yufeng; Zhu, Songlin; Dreyer, Thomas; Liebler, Marko; Zhong, Pei

2003-10-01

To reduce tissue injury in shock wave lithotripsy (SWL) while maintaining satisfactory stone comminution, an original HM-3 lithotripter was upgraded by a reflector insert to suppress large intraluminal bubble expansion, which is a primary mechanism of vascular injury in SWL. The pressure waveforms produced by the original and upgraded HM-3 lithotripter were measured by using a fiber optical probe hydrophone (FOPH), which was scanned both along and transverse to the lithotripter axis at 1-mm step using a computer-controlled 3-D positioning system. At F2, the pressure waveform produced by the upgraded HM-3 lithotripter at 22 kV has a distinct dual-pulse structure, with a leading shock wave of ~45 MPa from the reflector insert and a 4-μs delayed second pulse of ~15 MPa reflected from the uncovered bottom surface of the original HM-3 reflector. The beam sizes of the original and upgraded HM-3 lithotripter are comparable in both axial and lateral directions. The pressure waveforms measured at the reflector aperture will be used as input to the KZK equation to predict the lithotripter shock wave at F2. Furthermore, bubble dynamics predicted by the Gilmore model will be compared with experimental observation by high-speed imaging. [Work supported by NIH.

The pulsed dye laser versus the Q-switched Nd:YAG laser in laser-induced shock-wave lithotripsy.

PubMed

Thomas, S; Pensel, J; Engelhardt, R; Meyer, W; Hofstetter, A G

1988-01-01

To date, there are two fairly well-established alternatives for laser-induced shock-wave lithotripsy in clinical practice. The Q-switched Nd:YAG laser is distinguished by the high-stone selectivity of its coupler systems. The necessity of a coupler system and its fairly small conversion rate of light energy into mechanical energy present serious drawbacks. Furthermore, the minimal outer diameter of the transmission system is 1.8 mm. The pulsed-dye laser can be used with a highly flexible and uncomplicated 200-micron fiber. However, the laser system itself is more complicated than the Q-switched Nd:YAG laser and requires a great deal of maintenance. Biological evaluation of damage caused by direct irradiation shows that both laser systems produce minor damage of different degrees. YAG laser lithotripsy with the optomechanical coupler was assessed in 31 patients with ureteral calculi. The instability and limited effectiveness of the fiber application system necessitated auxiliary lithotripsy methods in 14 cases. Dye-laser lithotripsy is currently being tested in clinical application. Further development, such as systems for blind application or electronic feedback mechanisms to limit adverse tissue effects, have yet to be optimized. Nevertheless, laser-induced shock-wave lithotripsy has the potential to become a standard procedure in the endourologic management of stone disease.

Tissue Doppler imaging and echo-Doppler findings associated with a mitral valve stenosis with an immobile posterior valve leaflet in a bull terrier.

PubMed

Tidholm, A; Nicolle, A P; Carlos, C; Gouni, V; Caruso, J L; Pouchelon, J L; Chetboul, V

2004-04-01

A mitral valve stenosis was diagnosed in a 2-year-old female Bull Terrier by use of two-dimensional (2-D) and M-mode echocardiography, colour-flow imaging and spectral Doppler examinations. Tissue Doppler Imaging was also performed to assess the segmental radial myocardial motion. The mitral valve stenosis was characterized by a decreased mitral orifice area/left ventricle area ratio (0.14), an increased early diastolic flow velocity (E wave = 1.9 m/s), a prolonged pressure half-time (106 ms) and a decreased E-F slope (4.5 cm/s) on pulsed-wave Doppler examination. This mitral stenosis was associated with an immobile posterior leaflet, as seen on 2-D and M-mode echocardiography. Immobility of the posterior mitral leaflet is considered to be a rare finding in humans and, to our knowledge, has not been precisely documented in dogs with mitral valve stenosis.

Dynamics of bubble collapse under vessel confinement in 2D hydrodynamic experiments

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Shpuntova, Galina; Austin, Joanna

2013-11-01

One trauma mechanism in biomedical treatment techniques based on the application of cumulative pressure pulses generated either externally (as in shock-wave lithotripsy) or internally (by laser-induced plasma) is the collapse of voids. However, prediction of void-collapse driven tissue damage is a challenging problem, involving complex and dynamic thermomechanical processes in a heterogeneous material. We carry out a series of model experiments to investigate the hydrodynamic processes of voids collapsing under dynamic loading in configurations designed to model cavitation with vessel confinement. The baseline case of void collapse near a single interface is also examined. Thin sheets of tissue-surrogate polymer materials with varying acoustic impedance are used to create one or two parallel material interfaces near the void. Shadowgraph photography and two-color, single-frame particle image velocimetry quantify bubble collapse dynamics including jetting, interface dynamics and penetration, and the response of the surrounding material. Research supported by NSF Award #0954769, ``CAREER: Dynamics and damage of void collapse in biological materials under stress wave loading.''

Effect of the body wall on lithotripter shock waves.

PubMed

Li, Guangyan; McAteer, James A; Williams, James C; Berwick, Zachary C

2014-04-01

Determine the influence of passage through the body wall on the properties of lithotripter shock waves (SWs) and the characteristics of the acoustic field of an electromagnetic lithotripter. Full-thickness ex vivo segments of pig abdominal wall were secured against the acoustic window of a test tank coupled to the lithotripter. A fiber-optic probe hydrophone was used to measure SW pressures, determine shock rise time, and map the acoustic field in the focal plane. Peak positive pressure on axis was attenuated roughly proportional to tissue thickness-approximately 6% per cm. Irregularities in the tissue path affected the symmetry of SW focusing, shifting the maximum peak positive pressure laterally by as much as ∼2 mm. Within the time resolution of the hydrophone (7-15 ns), shock rise time was unchanged, measuring ∼17-21 ns with and without tissue present. Mapping of the field showed no effect of the body wall on focal width, regardless of thickness of the body wall. Passage through the body wall has minimal effect on the characteristics of lithotripter SWs. Other than reducing pulse amplitude and having the potential to affect the symmetry of the focused wave, the body wall has little influence on the acoustic field. These findings help to validate laboratory assessment of lithotripter acoustic field and suggest that the properties of SWs in the body are much the same as have been measured in vitro.

Simulation of the effects of cavitation and anatomy in the shock path of model lithotripters

PubMed Central

Krimmel, Jeff; Colonius, Tim; Tanguay, Michel

2011-01-01

We report on recent efforts to develop predictive models for the pressure and other flow variables in the focal region of shock wave lithotripters. Baseline simulations of three representative lithotripters (electrohydraulic, electromagnetic, and piezoelectric) compare favorably with in vitro experiments (in a water bath). We proceed to model and investigate how shock focusing is altered by the presence of material interfaces associated with different types of tissue encountered along the shock path, and by the presence of cavitation bubbles that are excited by tensile pressures associated with the focused shock wave. We use human anatomical data, but simplify the description by assuming that the tissue behaves as a fluid, and by assuming cylindrical symmetry along the shock path. Scattering by material interfaces is significant, and regions of high pressure amplitudes (both compressive and tensile) are generated almost 4 cm postfocus. Bubble dynamics generate secondary shocks whose strength depends on the density of bubbles and the pulse repetition frequency (PRF). At sufficiently large densities, the bubbles also attenuate the shock. Together with experimental evidence, the simulations suggest that high PRF may be counter-productive for stone comminution. Finally, we discuss how the lithotripter simulations can be used as input to more detailed physical models that attempt to characterize the mechanisms by which collapsing cavitation models erode stones, and by which shock waves and bubbles may damage tissue. PMID:21063697

Low-energy Control of Electrical Turbulence in the Heart

PubMed Central

Luther, Stefan; Fenton, Flavio H.; Kornreich, Bruce G.; Squires, Amgad; Bittihn, Philip; Hornung, Daniel; Zabel, Markus; Flanders, James; Gladuli, Andrea; Campoy, Luis; Cherry, Elizabeth M.; Luther, Gisa; Hasenfuss, Gerd; Krinsky, Valentin I.; Pumir, Alain; Gilmour, Robert F.; Bodenschatz, Eberhard

2011-01-01

Controlling the complex spatio-temporal dynamics underlying life-threatening cardiac arrhythmias such as fibrillation is extremely difficult due to the nonlinear interaction of excitation waves within a heterogeneous anatomical substrate1–4. Lacking a better strategy, strong, globally resetting electrical shocks remain the only reliable treatment for cardiac fibrillation5–7. Here, we establish the relation between the response of the tissue to an electric field and the spatial distribution of heterogeneities of the scale-free coronary vascular structure. We show that in response to a pulsed electric field E, these heterogeneities serve as nucleation sites for the generation of intramural electrical waves with a source density ρ(E), and a characteristic time τ for tissue depolarization that obeys a power law τ∝Eα. These intramural wave sources permit targeting of electrical turbulence near the cores of the vortices of electrical activity that drive complex fibrillatory dynamics. We show in vitro that simultaneous and direct access to multiple vortex cores results in rapid synchronization of cardiac tissue and therefore efficient termination of fibrillation. Using this novel control strategy, we demonstrate, for the first time, low-energy termination of fibrillation in vivo. Our results give new insights into the mechanisms and dynamics underlying the control of spatio-temporal chaos in heterogeneous excitable media and at the same time provide new research perspectives towards alternative, life-saving low-energy defibrillation techniques. PMID:21753855

LASER BIOLOGY AND MEDICINE: Optoacoustic laser monitoring of cooling and freezing of tissues

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Larin, Kirill V.; Larina, I. V.; Motamedi, M.; Esenaliev, R. O.

2002-11-01

Real-time monitoring of cooling and freezing of tissues, cells, and other biological objects with a high spatial and time resolution, which is necessary for selective destruction of cancer and benign tumours during cryotherapy, as well as for preventing any damage to the structure and functioning of biological objects in cryobiology, is considered. The optoacoustic method, based on the measurement and analysis of acoustic waves induced by short laser pulses, is proposed for monitoring the cooling and freezing of the tissue. The effect of cooling and freezing on the amplitude and time profile of acoustic signals generated in real tissues and in a model object is studied. The experimental results indicate that the optoacoustic laser technique can be used for real-time monitoring of cooling and freezing of biological objects with a submillimeter spatial resolution and a high contrast.

Amplification of pressure waves in laser-assisted endodontics with synchronized delivery of Er:YAG laser pulses.

PubMed

Lukač, Nejc; Jezeršek, Matija

2018-05-01

When attempting to clean surfaces of dental root canals with laser-induced cavitation bubbles, the resulting cavitation oscillations are significantly prolonged due to friction on the cavity walls and other factors. Consequently, the collapses are less intense and the shock waves that are usually emitted following a bubble's collapse are diminished or not present at all. A new technique of synchronized laser-pulse delivery intended to enhance the emission of shock waves from collapsed bubbles in fluid-filled endodontic canals is reported. A laser beam deflection probe, a high-speed camera, and shadow photography were used to characterize the induced photoacoustic phenomena during synchronized delivery of Er:YAG laser pulses in a confined volume of water. A shock wave enhancing technique was employed which consists of delivering a second laser pulse at a delay with regard to the first cavitation bubble-forming laser pulse. Influence of the delay between the first and second laser pulses on the generation of pressure and shock waves during the first bubble's collapse was measured for different laser pulse energies and cavity volumes. Results show that the optimal delay between the two laser pulses is strongly correlated with the cavitation bubble's oscillation period. Under optimal synchronization conditions, the growth of the second cavitation bubble was observed to accelerate the collapse of the first cavitation bubble, leading to a violent collapse, during which shock waves are emitted. Additionally, shock waves created by the accelerated collapse of the primary cavitation bubble and as well of the accompanying smaller secondary bubbles near the cavity walls were observed. The reported phenomena may have applications in improved laser cleaning of surfaces during laser-assisted dental root canal treatments.

Glycerol dehydration of native and diabetic animal tissues studied by THz-TDS and NMR methods

PubMed Central

Smolyanskaya, O. A.; Schelkanova, I. J.; Kulya, M. S.; Odlyanitskiy, E. L.; Goryachev, I. S.; Tcypkin, A. N.; Grachev, Ya. V.; Toropova, Ya. G.; Tuchin, V. V.

2018-01-01

The optical clearing method has been widely used for different spectral ranges where it provides tissue transparency. In this work, we observed the enhanced penetration of the terahertz waves inside biological samples (skin, kidney, and cornea) treated with glycerol solutions inducing changes of optical and dielectric properties. It was supported by the observed trend of free-to-bound water ratio measured by the nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) method. The terahertz clearing efficiency was found to be less for diabetic samples than for normal ones. Results of the numerical simulation proved that pulse deformation is due to bigger penetration depth caused by the reduction of absorption and refraction at optical clearing. PMID:29541513

Effects of laser parameters on propagation characteristics of laser-induced stress wave for gene transfer

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ando, Takahiro; Sato, Shunichi; Terakawa, Mitsuhiro; Ashida, Hiroshi; Obara, Minoru

2010-02-01

Laser-based gene delivery is attractive as a new method for topical gene therapy because of the high spatial controllability of laser energy. Previously, we demonstrated that an exogenous gene can be transferred to cells both in vitro and in vivo by applying nanosecond pulsed laser-induced stress waves (LISWs) or photomechanical waves (PMWs). In this study, we investigated effects of laser parameters on the propagation characteristics of LISWs in soft tissue phantoms and depth-dependent properties of gene transfection. Temporal pressure profiles of LISWs were measured with a hydrophone, showing that with a larger laser spot diameter, LISWs can be propagated more efficiently in phantoms with keeping flat wavefront. Phantoms with various thicknesses were placed on the rat dorsal skin that had been injected with plasmid DNA coding for reporter gene, and LISWs were applied from the top of the phantom. Efficient gene expression was observed in the rat skin that had interacted with LISWs propagating through a 15-mm-thick phantom. These results would be useful to determine appropriate laser parameters for gene delivery to deep-located tissue by transcutaneous application of LISWs.

Phased laser diode array permits selective excitation of ultrasonic guided waves in coated bone-mimicking tubes

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Moilanen, Petro; Salmi, Ari; Kilappa, Vantte; Zhao, Zuomin; Timonen, Jussi; Hæggström, Edward

2017-10-01

This paper validates simulation predictions, which state that specific modes could be enhanced in quantitative ultrasonic bone testing. Tunable selection of ultrasonic guided wave excitation is useful in non-destructive testing since it permits the mediation of energy into diagnostically useful modes while reducing the energy mediated into disturbing contributions. For instance, it is often challenging to distinguish and extract the useful modes from ultrasound signals measured in bone covered by a soft tissue. We show that a laser diode array can selectively excite ultrasound in bone mimicking phantoms. A fiber-coupled diode array (4 elements) illuminated two solid tubes (2-3 mm wall thickness) embraced by an opaque soft-tissue mimicking elastomer coating (5 mm thick). A predetermined time delay matching the selected mode and frequency was employed between the outputs of the elements. The generated ultrasound was detected by a 215 kHz piezo receiver. Our results suggest that this array reduces the disturbances caused by the elastomer cover and so pave way to permit non-contacting in vivo guided wave ultrasound assessment of human bones. The implementation is small, inexpensive, and robust in comparison with the conventional pulsed lasers.

Numerical Simulation of Shock Wave Propagation in Fractured Cortical Bone

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Padilla, Frédéric; Cleveland, Robin

2009-04-01

Shock waves (SW) are considered a promising method to treat bone non unions, but the associated mechanisms of action are not well understood. In this study, numerical simulations are used to quantify the stresses induced by SWs in cortical bone tissue. We use a 3D FDTD code to solve the linear lossless equations that describe wave propagation in solids and fluids. A 3D model of a fractured rat femur was obtained from micro-CT data with a resolution of 32 μm. The bone was subject to a plane SW pulse with a peak positive pressure of 40 MPa and peak negative pressure of -8 MPa. During the simulations the principal tensile stress and maximum shear stress were tracked throughout the bone. It was found that the simulated stresses in a transverse plane relative to the bone axis may reach values higher than the tensile and shear strength of the bone tissue (around 50 MPa). These results suggest that the stresses induced by the SW may be large enough to initiate local micro-fractures, which may in turn trigger the start of bone healing for the case of a non union.

Comparative study of methodologies for pulse wave velocity estimation.

PubMed

Salvi, P; Magnani, E; Valbusa, F; Agnoletti, D; Alecu, C; Joly, L; Benetos, A

2008-10-01

Arterial stiffness, estimated by pulse wave velocity (PWV), is an independent predictor of cardiovascular mortality and morbidity. However, the clinical applicability of these measurements and the elaboration of reference PWV values are difficult due to differences between the various devices used. In a population of 50 subjects aged 20-84 years, we compared PWV measurements with three frequently used devices: the Complior and the PulsePen, both of which determine aortic PWV as the delay between carotid and femoral pressure wave and the PulseTrace, which estimates the Stiffness Index (SI) by analyzing photoplethysmographic waves acquired on the fingertip. PWV was measured twice by each device. Coefficient of variation of PWV was 12.3, 12.4 and 14.5% for PulsePen, Complior and PulseTrace, respectively. These measurements were compared with the reference method, that is, a simultaneous acquisition of pressure waves using two tonometers. High correlation coefficients with the reference method were observed for PulsePen (r = 0.99) and Complior (r = 0.83), whereas for PulseTrace correlation with the reference method was much lower (r = 0.55). Upon Bland-Altman analysis, mean differences of values +/- 2s.d. versus the reference method were -0.15 +/- 0.62 m/s, 2.09 +/- 2.68 m/s and -1.12 +/- 4.92 m/s, for PulsePen, Complior and Pulse-Trace, respectively. This study confirms the reliability of Complior and PulsePen devices in estimating PWV, while the SI determined by the PulseTrace device was found to be inappropriate as a surrogate of PWV. The present results indicate the urgent need for evaluation and comparison of the different devices to standardize PWV measurements and establish reference values.

Self-reflection of extremely short light pulses in nonlinear optical waveguides

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kurasov, Alexander E.; Kozlov, Sergei A.

2004-07-01

An equation describing the generation of reflected radiation during the propagation of high-intensity extremely short pulses in a nonlinear optical waveguide is derived. The phenomena taking place during the strong self-inducted changes of the temporal structure of the forward wave are studied. It is shown that the duration of the backward pulse is much greater than the duration of the forward pulse and that the main part of the energy of the backward wave is carried by lower frequencies than the central frequency of the forward wave.

Effect of Shock Waves Generated by Pulsed Electric Discharges in Water on Yeast Cells and Virus Particles

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Girdyuk, A. E.; Gorshkov, A. N.; Egorov, V. V.; Kolikov, V. A.; Snetov, V. N.; Shneerson, G. A.

2018-02-01

The aim of this study is to determine the optimal parameters of the electric pulses and shock waves generated by them for the soft destruction of the virus and yeast envelopes with no changes in the structure of antigenic surface albumin and in the cell morphology in order to use them to produce antivirus vaccines and in biotechnology. The pulse electric discharges in water have been studied for different values of amplitude, pulse duration and the rate of the rise in the current. A mathematical model has been developed to estimate the optimal parameters of pulsed electric charges and shock waves for the complete destruction of the yeast cell envelopes and virus particles at a minimum of pulses.

Sequentially pulsed traveling wave accelerator

DOEpatents

Caporaso, George J [Livermore, CA; Nelson, Scott D [Patterson, CA; Poole, Brian R [Tracy, CA

2009-08-18

A sequentially pulsed traveling wave compact accelerator having two or more pulse forming lines each with a switch for producing a short acceleration pulse along a short length of a beam tube, and a trigger mechanism for sequentially triggering the switches so that a traveling axial electric field is produced along the beam tube in synchronism with an axially traversing pulsed beam of charged particles to serially impart energy to the particle beam.

A physics based approach to the pulse wave velocity prediction in compliant arterial segments.

PubMed

Liberson, Alexander S; Lillie, Jeffrey S; Day, Steven W; Borkholder, David A

2016-10-03

Pulse wave velocity (PWV) quantification commonly serves as a highly robust prognostic parameter being used in a preventative cardiovascular therapy. Being dependent on arterial elastance, it can serve as a marker of cardiovascular risk. Since it is influenced by a blood pressure (BP), the pertaining theory can lay the foundation in developing a technique for noninvasive blood pressure measurement. Previous studies have reported application of PWV, measured noninvasively, for both the estimation of arterial compliance and blood pressure, based on simplified physical or statistical models. A new theoretical model for pulse wave propagation in a compliant arterial segment is presented within the framework of pseudo-elastic deformation of biological tissue undergoing finite deformation. An essential ingredient is the dependence of results on nonlinear aspects of the model: convective fluid phenomena, hyperelastic constitutive relation, large deformation and a longitudinal pre-stress load. An exact analytical solution for PWV is presented as a function of pressure, flow and pseudo-elastic orthotropic parameters. Results from our model are compared with published in-vivo PWV measurements under diverse physiological conditions. Contributions of each of the nonlinearities are analyzed. It was found that the totally nonlinear model achieves the best match with the experimental data. To retrieve individual vascular information of a patient, the inverse problem of hemodynamics is presented, calculating local orthotropic hyperelastic properties of the arterial wall. The proposed technique can be used for non-invasive assessment of arterial elastance, and blood pressure using direct measurement of PWV, with account of hyperelastic orthotropic properties. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Effects of grape seed proanthocyanidin extracts on aortic pulse wave velocity in streptozocin induced diabetic rats.

PubMed

Li, Xiao-li; Li, Bao-ying; Gao, Hai-qing; Cheng, Mei; Xu, Ling; Li, Xian-hua; Ma, Ya-bing

2009-06-01

Grape seed proanthocyanidin extracts (GSPEs) have been reported to be effective in treating arteriosclerosis, while little is known about therapeutic agents against diabetic macrovascular complications. We used streptozocin to induce diabetic rats. GSPEs (250 mg/kg of body weight) were administrated to diabetic rats for 24 weeks. Aortic blood pressure and pulse wave velocity (PWV) were determined in anesthetized rats. Serum glycated hemoglobin and advanced glycation end products (AGEs) were determined. An electronic microscope was used to observe the changes in aortic ultrastructure. Immunohistochemistry was used to evaluate the receptor of advanced glycation end product (RAGE) protein expression in aortic tissue. GSPEs significantly decreased aortic PWV, blood pressure, and aortic medial thickness (P<0.05), and inhibited the migration of vascular smooth muscle cells. GSPEs significantly reduced the AGEs (P<0.05) and the expression of RAGE in aortas of diabetic rats. GSPEs play an important role against diabetic macrovascular complications. This study may provide a new recognition of natural medicine for the treatment of diabetic macrovascular complications.

A study of phase explosion of metal using high power Nd:YAG laser ablation

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Yoh, Jack J.; Lee, H. H.; Choi, J. H.

2007-12-12

The interaction of high-power pulsed-laser beam with metal targets in air from 1.06 {mu}m, 5 ns, 3 J/pulse max, Nd:YAG pulsed laser is investigated together with hydrodynamic theories of laser-supported detonation (LSD) wave and multi-material reactive Euler equations. The high speed blast wave generated by the laser ablation of metal reaches maximum velocity of several thousand meters per second. The apparently similar flow conditions to those of reactive shock wave allow one to apply the equations of motion for energetic materials and to understand the explosive behavior of metal vaporization upon laser ablation. The characteristic time at which planar tomore » spherical wave transition occurs is confirmed at low (20 mJ/pulse) to higher (200 mJ/pulse) beam intensities. The flow structure behind the leading shock wave during the early planar shock state is confirmed by the high-resolution multi-material hydrocode originally developed for shock compression of condensed matter.« less

HISTOLOGICAL AND BIOCHEMICAL ANALYSIS OF MECHANICAL AND THERMAL BIOEFFECTS IN BOILING HISTOTRIPSY LESIONS INDUCED BY HIGH INTENSITY FOCUSED ULTRASOUND

PubMed Central

Wang, Yak-Nam; Khokhlova, Tatiana; Bailey, Michael; Hwang, Joo Ha; Khokhlova, Vera

2013-01-01

Recent studies have shown that shock wave heating and millisecond boiling in high intensity focused ultrasound (HIFU) fields can result in mechanical fractionation or emulsification of tissue - named boiling histotripsy. Visual observations of the change in color and contents indicated that the degree of thermal damage in the emulsified lesions can be controlled by varying the parameters of the exposure. The goal of this work was to examine thermal and mechanical effects in boiling histotripsy lesions using histological and biochemical analysis. The lesions were induced in ex vivo bovine heart and liver using a 2-MHz single-element transducer operating at duty factors of 0.005–0.01, pulse durations of 5–500 ms, and in situ shock amplitude of 73 MPa. Mechanical and thermal damage to tissue was evaluated histologically using conventional staining techniques (H&E and NADH-diphorase). Thermal effects were quantified by measuring denaturation of salt soluble proteins in the treated region. According to histology, the lesions that visually appeared as a liquid, contained no cellular structures larger than a cell nucleus and had a very sharp border of 1–2 cells. Both histology and protein analysis showed that lesions obtained with short pulses (< 10 ms) did not contain any thermal damage. Increasing the pulse duration resulted in an increase in thermal damage. However, both protein analysis and NADH-diaphorase staining showed less denaturation than visually observed as whitening of tissue. The number of HIFU pulses delivered per exposure did not change the lesion shape or the degree of thermal denaturation, whereas the size of the lesion showed a saturating behaviour thus suggesting optimal exposure duration. This study confirmed that boiling histotripsy offers an effective, predictable way to non-invasively fractionate tissue into subcellular fragments with or without inducing thermal damage. PMID:23312958

Arterial stiffness, pressure and flow pulsatility and brain structure and function: the Age, Gene/Environment Susceptibility--Reykjavik study.

PubMed

Mitchell, Gary F; van Buchem, Mark A; Sigurdsson, Sigurdur; Gotal, John D; Jonsdottir, Maria K; Kjartansson, Ólafur; Garcia, Melissa; Aspelund, Thor; Harris, Tamara B; Gudnason, Vilmundur; Launer, Lenore J

2011-11-01

Aortic stiffness increases with age and vascular risk factor exposure and is associated with increased risk for structural and functional abnormalities in the brain. High ambient flow and low impedance are thought to sensitize the cerebral microcirculation to harmful effects of excessive pressure and flow pulsatility. However, haemodynamic mechanisms contributing to structural brain lesions and cognitive impairment in the presence of high aortic stiffness remain unclear. We hypothesized that disproportionate stiffening of the proximal aorta as compared with the carotid arteries reduces wave reflection at this important interface and thereby facilitates transmission of excessive pulsatile energy into the cerebral microcirculation, leading to microvascular damage and impaired function. To assess this hypothesis, we evaluated carotid pressure and flow, carotid-femoral pulse wave velocity, brain magnetic resonance images and cognitive scores in participants in the community-based Age, Gene/Environment Susceptibility--Reykjavik study who had no history of stroke, transient ischaemic attack or dementia (n = 668, 378 females, 69-93 years of age). Aortic characteristic impedance was assessed in a random subset (n = 422) and the reflection coefficient at the aorta-carotid interface was computed. Carotid flow pulsatility index was negatively related to the aorta-carotid reflection coefficient (R = -0.66, P<0.001). Carotid pulse pressure, pulsatility index and carotid-femoral pulse wave velocity were each associated with increased risk for silent subcortical infarcts (hazard ratios of 1.62-1.71 per standard deviation, P<0.002). Carotid-femoral pulse wave velocity was associated with higher white matter hyperintensity volume (0.108 ± 0.045 SD/SD, P = 0.018). Pulsatility index was associated with lower whole brain (-0.127 ± 0.037 SD/SD, P<0.001), grey matter (-0.079 ± 0.038 SD/SD, P = 0.038) and white matter (-0.128 ± 0.039 SD/SD, P<0.001) volumes. Carotid-femoral pulse wave velocity (-0.095 ± 0.043 SD/SD, P = 0.028) and carotid pulse pressure (-0.114 ± 0.045 SD/SD, P = 0.013) were associated with lower memory scores. Pulsatility index was associated with lower memory scores (-0.165 ± 0.039 SD/SD, P<0.001), slower processing speed (-0.118 ± 0.033 SD/SD, P<0.001) and worse performance on tests assessing executive function (-0.155 ± 0.041 SD/SD, P<0.001). When magnetic resonance imaging measures (grey and white matter volumes, white matter hyperintensity volumes and prevalent subcortical infarcts) were included in cognitive models, haemodynamic associations were attenuated or no longer significant, consistent with the hypothesis that increased aortic stiffness and excessive flow pulsatility damage the microcirculation, leading to quantifiable tissue damage and reduced cognitive performance. Marked stiffening of the aorta is associated with reduced wave reflection at the interface between carotid and aorta, transmission of excessive flow pulsatility into the brain, microvascular structural brain damage and lower scores in various cognitive domains.

Aortic stiffness is associated with visceral adiposity in older adults enrolled in the study of health, aging, and body composition.

PubMed

Sutton-Tyrrell, K; Newman, A; Simonsick, E M; Havlik, R; Pahor, M; Lakatta, E; Spurgeon, H; Vaitkevicius, P

2001-09-01

The central arteries stiffen with age, causing hemodynamic alterations that have been associated with cardiovascular events. Changes in body fat with age may be related to aortic stiffening. The association between vascular stiffness and body fat was evaluated in 2488 older adults (mean age, 74 years; 52% female; 40% black) enrolled in the Study of Health, Aging, and Body Composition (Health ABC), a prospective study of changes in weight and body composition. Clinical sites were located in Pittsburgh, Pa, and Memphis, Tenn. Aortic pulse wave velocity was used as an indirect measure of aortic stiffness. A faster pulse wave velocity indicates a stiffer aorta. Body fat measures were evaluated with dual energy x-ray absorptiometry and computed tomography. Independent of age and blood pressure, pulse wave velocity was positively associated with weight, abdominal circumference, abdominal subcutaneous fat, abdominal visceral fat, thigh fat area, and total fat (P<0.001 for all). The strongest association was with abdominal visceral fat. Elevated pulse wave velocity was also positively associated with history of diabetes and higher levels of glucose, insulin, and hemoglobin A1c (P<0.001 for all). In multivariate analysis, independent positive associations with pulse wave velocity were found for age, systolic blood pressure, heart rate, abdominal visceral fat, smoking, hemoglobin A1c, and history of hypertension. The association between pulse wave velocity and abdominal visceral fat was consistent across tertiles of body weight. Among older adults, higher levels of visceral fat are associated with greater aortic stiffness as measured by pulse wave velocity.

Kinetic Monte Carlo simulations of travelling pulses and spiral waves in the lattice Lotka-Volterra model.

PubMed

Makeev, Alexei G; Kurkina, Elena S; Kevrekidis, Ioannis G

2012-06-01

Kinetic Monte Carlo simulations are used to study the stochastic two-species Lotka-Volterra model on a square lattice. For certain values of the model parameters, the system constitutes an excitable medium: travelling pulses and rotating spiral waves can be excited. Stable solitary pulses travel with constant (modulo stochastic fluctuations) shape and speed along a periodic lattice. The spiral waves observed persist sometimes for hundreds of rotations, but they are ultimately unstable and break-up (because of fluctuations and interactions between neighboring fronts) giving rise to complex dynamic behavior in which numerous small spiral waves rotate and interact with each other. It is interesting that travelling pulses and spiral waves can be exhibited by the model even for completely immobile species, due to the non-local reaction kinetics.

Acoustic-based proton range verification in heterogeneous tissue: simulation studies

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Jones, Kevin C.; Nie, Wei; Chu, James C. H.; Turian, Julius V.; Kassaee, Alireza; Sehgal, Chandra M.; Avery, Stephen

2018-01-01

Acoustic-based proton range verification (protoacoustics) is a potential in vivo technique for determining the Bragg peak position. Previous measurements and simulations have been restricted to homogeneous water tanks. Here, a CT-based simulation method is proposed and applied to a liver and prostate case to model the effects of tissue heterogeneity on the protoacoustic amplitude and time-of-flight range verification accuracy. For the liver case, posterior irradiation with a single proton pencil beam was simulated for detectors placed on the skin. In the prostate case, a transrectal probe measured the protoacoustic pressure generated by irradiation with five separate anterior proton beams. After calculating the proton beam dose deposition, each CT voxel’s material properties were mapped based on Hounsfield Unit values, and thermoacoustically-generated acoustic wave propagation was simulated with the k-Wave MATLAB toolbox. By comparing the simulation results for the original liver CT to homogenized variants, the effects of heterogeneity were assessed. For the liver case, 1.4 cGy of dose at the Bragg peak generated 50 mPa of pressure (13 cm distal), a 2×  lower amplitude than simulated in a homogeneous water tank. Protoacoustic triangulation of the Bragg peak based on multiple detector measurements resulted in 0.4 mm accuracy for a δ-function proton pulse irradiation of the liver. For the prostate case, higher amplitudes are simulated (92-1004 mPa) for closer detectors (<8 cm). For four of the prostate beams, the protoacoustic range triangulation was accurate to  ⩽1.6 mm (δ-function proton pulse). Based on the results, application of protoacoustic range verification to heterogeneous tissue will result in decreased signal amplitudes relative to homogeneous water tank measurements, but accurate range verification is still expected to be possible.

Gastric electrical stimulation with short pulses reduces vomiting but not dysrhythmias in dogs.

PubMed

Chen, Jiande D Z; Qian, Liwei; Ouyang, Hui; Yin, Jieyun

2003-02-01

The aim of this study was to investigate the acute effects of 3 different methods of electrical stimulation in the prevention of vasopressin-induced emetic response and gastric dysrhythmias. Seven female hound dogs chronically implanted with 4 pairs of electrodes on gastric serosa were used in a 5-session study. Saline and vasopressin were infused in sessions 1 and 2, respectively. In the other 3 sessions with vasopressin infusion, 3 different methods of electrical stimulation (short-pulse stimulation, long-pulse stimulation, and electroacupuncture) were applied. Gastric slow waves and vomiting and behaviors suggestive of nausea were recorded in each session. In a separate study, additional experiments were performed in 5 vagotomized dogs to investigate vagally mediated mechanisms. Vasopressin induced gastric dysrhythmias, uncoupling of slow waves, and vomiting and behaviors suggestive of nausea (P < 0.02, analysis of variance). Long-pulse stimulation, but not short-pulse stimulation or electroacupuncture, was capable of preventing vasopressin-induced gastric dysrhythmias and gastric slow wave uncoupling. Short-pulse stimulation and electroacupuncture, but not long-pulse stimulation, prevented vomiting and significantly reduced the symptom scores, which was not noted in the dogs with truncal vagotomy. Long-pulse stimulation normalizes vasopressin-induced slow wave abnormalities with no improvement in vomiting and behaviors suggestive of nausea. Short-pulse stimulation and electroacupuncture prevent vomiting and behaviors suggestive of nausea induced by vasopressin but have no effects on slow waves, and their effects are vagally mediated.

Acoustic Events and “Optophonic” Cochlear Responses Induced by Pulsed Near-Infrared LASER

PubMed Central

Maier, Hannes; Richter, Claus-Peter; Kral, Andrej

2012-01-01

Optical stimulation of neural tissue within the cochlea was described as a possible alternative to electrical stimulation. Most optical stimulation was performed with pulsed lasers operating with near-infrared (NIR) light and in thermal confinement. Under these conditions, the coexistence of laser-induced optoacoustic stimulation of the cochlea (“optophony”) has not been analyzed yet. This study demonstrates that pulsed 1850-nm laser light used for neural stimulation also results in sound pressure levels up to 62 dB peak-to-peak equivalent sound pressure level (SPL) in air. The sound field was confined to a small volume along the laser beam. In dry nitrogen, laser-induced acoustic events disappeared. Hydrophone measurements demonstrated pressure waves for laser fibers immersed in water. In hearing rats, laser-evoked signals were recorded from the cochlea without targeting neural tissue. The signals showed a two-domain response differing in amplitude and latency functions, as well as sensitivity to white-noise masking. The first component had characteristics of a cochlear microphonic potential, and the second component was characteristic for a compound action potential. The present data demonstrate that laser-evoked acoustic events can stimulate a hearing cochlea. Whenever optical stimulation is used, care must be taken to distinguish between such “optophony” and the true optoneural response. PMID:21278011

Strategies to improve phase-stability of ultrafast swept source optical coherence tomography for single shot imaging of transient mechanical waves at 16 kHz frame rate

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Song, Shaozhen; Wei, Wei; Hsieh, Bao-Yu

We present single-shot phase-sensitive imaging of propagating mechanical waves within tissue, enabled by an ultrafast optical coherence tomography (OCT) system powered by a 1.628 MHz Fourier domain mode-locked (FDML) swept laser source. We propose a practical strategy for phase-sensitive measurement by comparing the phases between adjacent OCT B-scans, where the B-scan contains a number of A-scans equaling an integer number of FDML buffers. With this approach, we show that micro-strain fields can be mapped with ∼3.0 nm sensitivity at ∼16 000 fps. The system's capabilities are demonstrated on porcine cornea by imaging mechanical wave propagation launched by a pulsed UV laser beam, promisingmore » non-contact, real-time, and high-resolution optical coherence elastography.« less

Creating Rydberg electron wave packets using terahertz pulses

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bromage, Jake

1999-10-01

In this thesis I present experiments in which we excited classical-limit states of an atom using terahertz pulses. In a classical-limit state, an atom's outer electron is confined to a wave packet that orbits the core along a classical trajectory. Researchers have excited states with classical traits, but wave packets localized in all three dimensions have proved elusive. Theoretical studies have shown such states can be created using terahertz pulses. Using these techniques, we created a linear-orbit wave packet (LOWP), that is three-dimensionally localized and orbits along a line on one side of the atom's core. Terahertz pulses are sub-picosecond bursts of far- infrared radiation. Unlike ultrashort optical pulses, the electric field of terahertz pulses barely completes a single cycle. Our simulations of the atom-pulse interaction show that this electric field profile is critical in determining the quality of the wave packet. To characterize our terahertz pulses, we invented dithered-edge sampling which time- resolves the electric field using a photoconductive receiver and a triggered attenuator. We also studied how pulses are distorted after propagating through metallic structures, and used our findings to design our atomic experiments. We excited wave packets in atomic sodium using a two-step process. First, we used tunable, nanosecond dye lasers to excite an extreme Stark state. Next, we used a terahertz pump pulse to coherently redistribute population among extreme Stark states in neighboring manifolds. Interference between the final states produces a localized, dynamic LOWP. To analyze the LOWP, we ionized it with a stronger terahertz probe pulse, varying the pump-probe delay to map out its motion. We observed two strong LOWP signatures. Changing the static electric field produced small changes (2%) in the orbital period that agreed with our theoretical predictions. Secondly, because the LOWP scatters off the core, the pump-probe signal depended on the direction of the kick the LOWP received from the robe pulse. These observations, combined with our detailed simulations that used sodium parameters and the actual shape of the terahertz pulse, lead us to conclude that we excited a LOWP.

Ozone formation behind pulsed-laser-generated blast waves in oxygen

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Stricker, J.; Parker, J. G.

1984-12-01

The formation of ozone behind blast waves in oxygen generated by a pulsed laser has been investigated both experimentally and theoretically, over cell pressure range of 0.68-27 atm. Ozone buildup formed by successive pulses was monitored by recording UV absorption at 2540 Å. It was found that, as the number of pulses increase, the rate of ozone formation decreased until finally an equilibrium concentration was reached. This equilibrium magnitude was determined by the condition that the number of ozone molecules produced by the wave equals the number decomposed by the same wave. The decomposition and formation of O3 during a single pulse were monitored by time-resolved UV absorption measurements. In order to provide a fundamental basis for interpretation of the mechanism of ozone formation, a mathematical model was developed. Although qualitatively measurements and theory agree, the data, mainly on the number of O3 molecules produced per pulse, is in significant disagreement. Several possible explanations of this discrepancy are given.

Evolution of the frequency chirp of Gaussian pulses and beams when passing through a pulse compressor.

PubMed

Li, Derong; Lv, Xiaohua; Bowlan, Pamela; Du, Rui; Zeng, Shaoqun; Luo, Qingming

2009-09-14

The evolution of the frequency chirp of a laser pulse inside a classical pulse compressor is very different for plane waves and Gaussian beams, although after propagating through the last (4th) dispersive element, the two models give the same results. In this paper, we have analyzed the evolution of the frequency chirp of Gaussian pulses and beams using a method which directly obtains the spectral phase acquired by the compressor. We found the spatiotemporal couplings in the phase to be the fundamental reason for the difference in the frequency chirp acquired by a Gaussian beam and a plane wave. When the Gaussian beam propagates, an additional frequency chirp will be introduced if any spatiotemporal couplings (i.e. angular dispersion, spatial chirp or pulse front tilt) are present. However, if there are no couplings present, the chirp of the Gaussian beam is the same as that of a plane wave. When the Gaussian beam is well collimated, the introduced frequency chirp predicted by the plane wave and Gaussian beam models are in closer agreement. This work improves our understanding of pulse compressors and should be helpful for optimizing dispersion compensation schemes in many applications of femtosecond laser pulses.

Electroporation of cells using EM induction of ac fields by a magnetic stimulator

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Chen, C.; Evans, J. A.; Robinson, M. P.; Smye, S. W.; O'Toole, P.

2010-02-01

This paper describes a method of effectively electroporating mammalian cell membranes with pulsed alternating-current (ac) electric fields at field strengths of 30-160 kV m-1. Although many in vivo electroporation protocols entail applying square wave or monotonically decreasing pulses via needles or electrode plates, relatively few have explored the use of pulsed ac fields. Following our previous study, which established the effectiveness of ac fields for electroporating cell membranes, a primary/secondary coil system was constructed to produce sufficiently strong electric fields by electromagnetic induction. The primary coil was formed from the applicator of an established transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) system, while the secondary coil was a purpose-built device of a design which could eventually be implanted into tissue. The effects of field strength, pulse interval and cumulative exposure time were investigated using microscopy and flow cytometry. Results from experiments on concentrated cell suspensions showed an optimized electroporation efficiency of around 50%, demonstrating that electroporation can be practicably achieved by inducing such pulsed ac fields. This finding confirms the possibility of a wide range of in vivo applications based on magnetically coupled ac electroporation.

Ballistic pulse propagation in quantum wire waveguides: Toward localization and control of electron wave packets in space and time

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hayata, K.; Tsuji, Y.; Koshiba, M.

1992-10-01

A theoretical formulation of electron pulse propagation in quantum wire structures with mesoscopic scale cross sections is presented, assuming quantum ballistic transport of electron wave packets over a certain characteristic length. As typical mesoscopic structures for realizing coherent electron transmission, two traveling-wave configurations are considered: straight quantum wire waveguides and quantum wire bend structures (quantum whispering galleries). To estimate temporal features of the pulse during propagation, the walk off, the dispersion, and the pulse coherence lengths are defined as useful characteristic lengths. Numerical results are shown for ultrashort pulse propagation through rectangular wire waveguides. Effects due to an external electric field are discussed as well.

Bubble dynamics in viscoelastic soft tissue in high-intensity focal ultrasound thermal therapy.

PubMed

Zilonova, E; Solovchuk, M; Sheu, T W H

2018-01-01

The present study is aimed to investigate bubble dynamics in a soft tissue, to which HIFU's continuous harmonic pulse is applied by introducing a viscoelastic cavitation model. After a comparison of some existing cavitation models, we decided to employ Gilmore-Akulichev model. This chosen cavitation model should be coupled with the Zener viscoelastic model in order to be able to simulate soft tissue features such as elasticity and relaxation time. The proposed Gilmore-Akulichev-Zener model was investigated for exploring cavitation dynamics. The parametric study led us to the conclusion that the elasticity and viscosity both damp bubble oscillations, whereas the relaxation effect depends mainly on the period of the ultrasound wave. The similar influence of elasticity, viscosity and relaxation time on the temperature inside the bubble can be observed. Cavitation heat source terms (corresponding to viscous damping and pressure wave radiated by bubble collapse) were obtained based on the proposed model to examine the cavitation significance during the treatment process. Their maximum values both overdominate the acoustic ultrasound term in HIFU applications. Elasticity was revealed to damp a certain amount of deposited heat for both cavitation terms. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Soft-tissue injuries from sports activities and traffic accidents--treatment with low-level laser therapy: a multicenter double-blind placebo-controlled clinical study on 132 patients

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Simunovic, Zlatko; Trobonjaca, Tatjana

2000-06-01

The aim of current multicenter clinical study was to assess the efficacy of low energy-level laser therapy (LLLT) in the treatment of soft tissue injuries compared to the placebo and classical phyiotherapeutic procedures. This clinical study was conducted in two centers located in Locarno, Switzerland and Opatija, Croatia. Two types of irradiation techniques were used: (1) direct, skin contact technique for treatment of trigger points where IR diode laser 830 nm continuous wave was applied; and (2) scanning technique for irradiation of larger surface area with use of Helium Neon laser 632.8 nm combined with IR diode laser 904 nm pulsed wave. Results were evaluated according to clinical parameters like: hematoma, swelling, heat, pan and loss of function. The findings were statistically analyzed via chi- square test. Results have demonstrated that the recovery process was accelerated in 85 percent of patients treated with LLLT compared to the control group of patients. The results and advantages obtained proved once again the efficacy of LLLT as a new and successful way to treat soft tissue injuries.

Preliminary study of slow and fast ultrasonic waves using MR images of trabecular bone phantom

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Solis-Najera, S. E., E-mail: solisnajera@ciencias.unam.mx, E-mail: angel.perez@ciencias.unam.mx, E-mail: lucia.medina@ciencias.unam.mx; Neria-Pérez, J. A., E-mail: solisnajera@ciencias.unam.mx, E-mail: angel.perez@ciencias.unam.mx, E-mail: lucia.medina@ciencias.unam.mx; Medina, L., E-mail: solisnajera@ciencias.unam.mx, E-mail: angel.perez@ciencias.unam.mx, E-mail: lucia.medina@ciencias.unam.mx

Cancellous bone is a complex tissue that performs physiological and biomechanical functions in all vertebrates. It is made up of trabeculae that, from a simplified structural viewpoint, can be considered as plates and beams in a hyperstatic structure that change with time leading to osteoporosis. Several methods has been developed to study the trabecular bone microstructure among them is the Biot’s model which predicts the existence of two longitudinal waves in porous media; the slow and the fast waves, that can be related to porosity of the media. This paper is focused on the experimental detection of the two Biot’smore » waves of a trabecular bone phantom, consisting of a trabecular network of inorganic hydroxyapatite. Experimental measurements of both waves were performed using through transmission ultrasound. Results had shown clearly that the propagation of two waves propagation is transversal to the trabecular alignment. Otherwise the waves are overlapped and a single wave seems to be propagated. To validate these results, magnetic resonance images were acquired to assess the trabecular direction, and to assure that the pulses correspond to the slow and fast waves. This approach offers a methodology for non-invasive studies of trabecular bones.« less

Laboratory Model of the Cardiovascular System for Experimental Demonstration of Pulse Wave Propagation

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Stojadinovic, Bojana; Nestorovic, Zorica; Djuric, Biljana; Tenne, Tamar; Zikich, Dragoslav; Žikic, Dejan

2017-01-01

The velocity by which a disturbance moves through the medium is the wave velocity. Pulse wave velocity is among the key parameters in hemodynamics. Investigation of wave propagation through the fluid-filled elastic tube has a great importance for the proper biophysical understanding of the nature of blood flow through the cardiovascular system.…

Matrix-algebra-based calculations of the time evolution of the binary spin-bath model for magnetization transfer.

PubMed

Müller, Dirk K; Pampel, André; Möller, Harald E

2013-05-01

Quantification of magnetization-transfer (MT) experiments are typically based on the assumption of the binary spin-bath model. This model allows for the extraction of up to six parameters (relative pool sizes, relaxation times, and exchange rate constants) for the characterization of macromolecules, which are coupled via exchange processes to the water in tissues. Here, an approach is presented for estimating MT parameters acquired with arbitrary saturation schemes and imaging pulse sequences. It uses matrix algebra to solve the Bloch-McConnell equations without unwarranted simplifications, such as assuming steady-state conditions for pulsed saturation schemes or neglecting imaging pulses. The algorithm achieves sufficient efficiency for voxel-by-voxel MT parameter estimations by using a polynomial interpolation technique. Simulations, as well as experiments in agar gels with continuous-wave and pulsed MT preparation, were performed for validation and for assessing approximations in previous modeling approaches. In vivo experiments in the normal human brain yielded results that were consistent with published data. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Cross-sectional relations of arterial stiffness, pressure pulsatility, wave reflection, and arterial calcification.

PubMed

Tsao, Connie W; Pencina, Karol M; Massaro, Joseph M; Benjamin, Emelia J; Levy, Daniel; Vasan, Ramachandran S; Hoffmann, Udo; O'Donnell, Christopher J; Mitchell, Gary F

2014-11-01

Arterial hemodynamics and vascular calcification are associated with increased risk for cardiovascular disease, but their inter-relations remain unclear. We sought to examine the associations of arterial stiffness, pressure pulsatility, and wave reflection with arterial calcification in individuals free of prevalent cardiovascular disease. Framingham Heart Study Third Generation and Offspring Cohort participants free of cardiovascular disease underwent applanation tonometry to measure arterial stiffness, pressure pulsatility, and wave reflection, including carotid-femoral pulse wave velocity, central pulse pressure, forward wave amplitude, and augmentation index. Participants in each cohort (n=1905, 45±6 years and n=1015, 65±9 years, respectively) underwent multidetector computed tomography to assess the presence and quantity of thoracic aortic calcification, abdominal aortic calcification, and coronary artery calcification. In multivariable-adjusted models, both higher carotid-femoral pulse wave velocity and central pulse pressure were associated with greater thoracic aortic calcification and abdominal aortic calcification, whereas higher augmentation index was associated with abdominal aortic calcification. Among the tonometry measures, carotid-femoral pulse wave velocity was the strongest correlate of all calcification measures in multivariable-adjusted models (odds ratio per SD for thoracic aortic calcification, 2.69 [95% confidence interval, 2.17-3.35]; abdominal aortic calcification, 1.47 [95% confidence interval, 1.26-1.73]; and coronary artery calcification, 1.48 [95% confidence interval, 1.28-1.72]; all P<0.001, respectively). We observed stronger relations of carotid-femoral pulse wave velocity, central pulse pressure, and forward wave amplitude with nearly all continuous calcification measures in the younger Third Generation Cohort as compared with the Offspring Cohort. In community-dwelling individuals without prevalent cardiovascular disease, abnormal central arterial hemodynamics were positively associated with vascular calcification and were observed at younger ages than previously recognized. The mechanisms of these associations may be bidirectional and deserve further study. © 2014 American Heart Association, Inc.

Detection of Low-volume Blood Loss: Compensatory Reserve Versus Traditional Vital Signs

DTIC Science & Technology

2014-01-01

studies have demonstrated that photoplethysmogram (PPG) wave forms obtained with a pulse oximeter sensor significantly change with volume loss.5 With this...donation, including PPG wave forms (OEM III pulse oximeter , Nonin, Minneapolis, MN), and a noninvasive BPwave form (ccNexfin, Edwards Lifesciences, Irvine...a PPG wave form obtained with a pulse oximeter sensor. CRI is calculated after 30 heart beats and is recalculated beat-to-beat in a continuous

Electromagnetic or other directed energy pulse launcher

DOEpatents

Ziolkowski, Richard W.

1990-01-01

The physical realization of new solutions of wave propagation equations, such as Maxwell's equations and the scaler wave equation, produces localized pulses of wave energy such as electromagnetic or acoustic energy which propagate over long distances without divergence. The pulses are produced by driving each element of an array of radiating sources with a particular drive function so that the resultant localized packet of energy closely approximates the exact solutions and behaves the same.

Measurement of Aortic Pulse Wave Velocity With a Connected Bathroom Scale

PubMed Central

Campo, David; Khettab, Hakim; Yu, Roger; Genain, Nicolas; Edouard, Paul; Buard, Nadine

2017-01-01

Abstract BACKGROUND Measurement of arterial stiffness should be more available. Our aim was to show that aortic pulse wave velocity can be reliably measured with a bathroom scale combining the principles of ballistocardiography (BCG) and impedance plethysmography on a single foot. METHOD The calibration of the bathroom scale was conducted on a group of 106 individuals. The aortic pulse wave velocity was measured with the SphygmoCor in the supine position. Three consecutive measurements were then performed on the Withings scale in the standing position. This aorta-leg pulse transit time (alPTT) was then converted into a velocity with the additional input of the height of the person. Agreement between the SphygmoCor and the bathroom scale so calibrated is assessed on a separate group of 86 individuals, following the same protocol. RESULTS The bias is 0.25 m·s−1 and the SE 1.39 m·s−1. This agreement with Sphygmocor is “acceptable” according to the ARTERY classification. The alPTT correlated well with cfPTT with (Spearman) R = 0.73 in pooled population (cal 0.79, val 0.66). The aorta-leg pulse wave velocity correlated with carotid-femoral pulse wave velocity with R = 0.76 (cal 0.80, val 0.70). CONCLUSION Estimation of the aortic pulse wave velocity is feasible with a bathroom scale. Further investigations are needed to improve the repeatability of measurements and to test their accuracy in different populations and conditions. PMID:28520843

Dual-pulses and harmonic patterns of a square-wave soliton in passively mode-locked fiber laser

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ma, Wanzhuo; Wang, Tianshu; Su, Qingchao; Zhang, Jing; Jia, Qingsong; Jiang, Huilin

2018-06-01

We demonstrate a square-wave soliton pulse passively mode-locked fiber laser. The mode-locked pulses are achieved by using a nonlinear amplifying loop mirror. Single-pulse operation at a fundamental repetition rate of 3.2 MHz is obtained. The optical spectrum presents the soliton feature of several sidebands. The pulse duration expands with increasing pump power, but the amplitude hardly varies. Pulse breaking occurs and a stable dual-pulse is obtained with a fixed interval of 48 ns. Harmonic mode-locked states can be achieved when the total pump power is higher than 740 mW. The harmonic pulses can also operate in both single-pulse and dual-pulse states.

C-plane Reconstructions from Sheaf Acquisition for Ultrasound Electrode Vibration Elastography.

PubMed

Ingle, Atul; Varghese, Tomy

2014-09-03

This paper presents a novel algorithm for reconstructing and visualizing ablated volumes using radiofrequency ultrasound echo data acquired with the electrode vibration elastography approach. The ablation needle is vibrated using an actuator to generate shear wave pulses that are tracked in the ultrasound image plane at different locations away from the needle. This data is used for reconstructing shear wave velocity maps for each imaging plane. A C-plane reconstruction algorithm is proposed which estimates shear wave velocity values on a collection of transverse planes that are perpendicular to the imaging planes. The algorithm utilizes shear wave velocity maps from different imaging planes that share a common axis of intersection. These C-planes can be used to generate a 3D visualization of the ablated region. Experimental validation of this approach was carried out using data from a tissue mimicking phantom. The shear wave velocity estimates were within 20% of those obtained from a clinical scanner, and a contrast of over 4 dB was obtained between the stiff and soft regions of the phantom.

Resonant optical pulses on a continuous-wave background in two-level active media

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Li, Sitai; Biondini, Gino; Kovačič, Gregor; Gabitov, Ildar

2018-01-01

We present exact N-soliton optical pulses riding on a continuous-wave (c.w.) beam that propagate through and interact with a two-level active optical medium. Their representation is derived via an appropriate generalization of the inverse scattering transform for the corresponding Maxwell-Bloch equations. We describe the single-soliton solutions in detail and classify them into several distinct families. In addition to the analogues of traveling-wave soliton pulses that arise in the absence of a c.w. beam, we obtain breather-like structures, periodic pulse-trains and rogue-wave-type (i.e., rational) pulses, whose existence is directly due to the presence of the c.w. beam. These soliton solutions are the analogues for Maxwell-Bloch systems of the four classical solution types of the focusing nonlinear Schrödinger equation with non-zero background, although the physical behavior of the corresponding solutions is quite different.

Experimental study on the pressure and pulse wave propagation in viscoelastic vessel tubes-effects of liquid viscosity and tube stiffness.

PubMed

Ikenaga, Yuki; Nishi, Shohei; Komagata, Yuka; Saito, Masashi; Lagrée, Pierre-Yves; Asada, Takaaki; Matsukawa, Mami

2013-11-01

A pulse wave is the displacement wave which arises because of ejection of blood from the heart and reflection at vascular bed and distal point. The investigation of pressure waves leads to understanding the propagation characteristics of a pulse wave. To investigate the pulse wave behavior, an experimental study was performed using an artificial polymer tube and viscous liquid. A polyurethane tube and glycerin solution were used to simulate a blood vessel and blood, respectively. In the case of the 40 wt% glycerin solution, which corresponds to the viscosity of ordinary blood, the attenuation coefficient of a pressure wave in the tube decreased from 4.3 to 1.6 dB/m because of the tube stiffness (Young's modulus: 60 to 200 kPa). When the viscosity of liquid increased from approximately 4 to 10 mPa·s (the range of human blood viscosity) in the stiff tube, the attenuation coefficient of the pressure wave changed from 1.6 to 3.2 dB/m. The hardening of the blood vessel caused by aging and the increase of blood viscosity caused by illness possibly have opposite effects on the intravascular pressure wave. The effect of the viscosity of a liquid on the amplitude of a pressure wave was then considered using a phantom simulating human blood vessels. As a result, in the typical range of blood viscosity, the amplitude ratio of the waves obtained by the experiments with water and glycerin solution became 1:0.83. In comparison with clinical data, this value is much smaller than that seen from blood vessel hardening. Thus, it can be concluded that the blood viscosity seldom affects the attenuation of a pulse wave.

COMPARATIVE DISINFECTION EFFICIENCY OF PULSED AND CONTINUOUS-WAVE UV IRRADIATION TECHNOLOGIES

EPA Science Inventory

Pulsed UV (PUV) is novel UV irradiation system that is a non-mercury lamp based alternative to currently used continuous-wave systems for water disinfection. To compare the polychromatic PUV irradiation disinfection efficiency with that from continuous wave monochromatic low-pre...

Terahertz waves radiated from two noncollinear femtosecond plasma filaments

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Du, Hai-Wei; Hoshina, Hiromichi; Otani, Chiko, E-mail: otani@riken.jp

2015-11-23

Terahertz (THz) waves radiated from two noncollinear femtosecond plasma filaments with a crossing angle of 25° are investigated. The irradiated THz waves from the crossing filaments show a small THz pulse after the main THz pulse, which was not observed in those from single-filament scheme. Since the position of the small THz pulse changes with the time-delay of two filaments, this phenomenon can be explained by a model in which the small THz pulse is from the second filament. The denser plasma in the overlap region of the filaments changes the movement of space charges in the plasma, thereby changingmore » the angular distribution of THz radiation. As a result, this schematic induces some THz wave from the second filament to propagate along the path of the THz wave from the first filament. Thus, this schematic alters the direction of the THz radiation from the filamentation, which can be used in THz wave remote sensing.« less

Attosecond transient absorption of a bound wave packet coupled to a smooth continuum

DOE PAGES

Dahlström, Jan Marcus; Pabst, Stefan; Lindroth, Eva

2017-10-16

Here, we investigate the possibility of using transient absorption of a coherent bound electron wave packet in hydrogen as an attosecond pulse characterization technique. In a recent work, we have shown that photoionization of such a coherent bound electron wave packet opens up for pulse characterization with unprecedented temporal accuracy—independent of the atomic structure—with maximal photoemission at all kinetic energies given a wave packet with zero relative phase. Here, we perform numerical propagation of the time-dependent Schrödinger equation and analytical calculations based on perturbation theory to show that the energy-resolved maximal absorption of photons from the attosecond pulse does not uniquely occur at a zero relative phase of the initial wave packet. Instead, maximal absorption occurs at different relative wave packet phases, distributed as a non-monotonous function with a smoothmore » $$-\\pi /2$$ shift across the central photon energy (given a Fourier-limited Gaussian pulse). Similar results are also found in helium. Our finding is surprising, because it implies that the energy-resolved photoelectrons are not mapped one-to-one with the energy-resolved absorbed photons of the attosecond pulse.« less

Design of a Continuous Blood Pressure Measurement System Based on Pulse Wave and ECG Signals.

PubMed

Li, Jian-Qiang; Li, Rui; Chen, Zhuang-Zhuang; Deng, Gen-Qiang; Wang, Huihui; Mavromoustakis, Constandinos X; Song, Houbing; Ming, Zhong

2018-01-01

With increasingly fierce competition for jobs, the pressures on people have risen in recent years, leading to lifestyle and diet disorders that result in significantly higher risks of cardiovascular disease. Hypertension is one of the common chronic cardiovascular diseases; however, mainstream blood pressure measurement devices are relatively heavy. When multiple measurements are required, the user experience and the measurement results may be unsatisfactory. In this paper, we describe the design of a signal collection module that collects pulse waves and electrocardiograph (ECG) signals. The collected signals are input into a signal processing module to filter the noise and amplify the useful physiological signals. Then, we use a wavelet transform to eliminate baseline drift noise and detect the feature points of the pulse waves and ECG signals. We propose the concept of detecting the wave shape associated with an instance, an approach that minimizes the impact of atypical pulse waves on blood pressure measurements. Finally, we propose an improved method for measuring blood pressure based on pulse wave velocity that improves the accuracy of blood pressure measurements by 58%. Moreover, the results meet the american medical instrument promotion association standards, which demonstrate the feasibility of our measurement system.

Attosecond transient absorption of a bound wave packet coupled to a smooth continuum

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Dahlström, Jan Marcus; Pabst, Stefan; Lindroth, Eva

Here, we investigate the possibility of using transient absorption of a coherent bound electron wave packet in hydrogen as an attosecond pulse characterization technique. In a recent work, we have shown that photoionization of such a coherent bound electron wave packet opens up for pulse characterization with unprecedented temporal accuracy—independent of the atomic structure—with maximal photoemission at all kinetic energies given a wave packet with zero relative phase. Here, we perform numerical propagation of the time-dependent Schrödinger equation and analytical calculations based on perturbation theory to show that the energy-resolved maximal absorption of photons from the attosecond pulse does not uniquely occur at a zero relative phase of the initial wave packet. Instead, maximal absorption occurs at different relative wave packet phases, distributed as a non-monotonous function with a smoothmore » $$-\\pi /2$$ shift across the central photon energy (given a Fourier-limited Gaussian pulse). Similar results are also found in helium. Our finding is surprising, because it implies that the energy-resolved photoelectrons are not mapped one-to-one with the energy-resolved absorbed photons of the attosecond pulse.« less

Design of a Continuous Blood Pressure Measurement System Based on Pulse Wave and ECG Signals

PubMed Central

Li, Jian-Qiang; Li, Rui; Chen, Zhuang-Zhuang; Deng, Gen-Qiang; Wang, Huihui; Mavromoustakis, Constandinos X.; Ming, Zhong

2018-01-01

With increasingly fierce competition for jobs, the pressures on people have risen in recent years, leading to lifestyle and diet disorders that result in significantly higher risks of cardiovascular disease. Hypertension is one of the common chronic cardiovascular diseases; however, mainstream blood pressure measurement devices are relatively heavy. When multiple measurements are required, the user experience and the measurement results may be unsatisfactory. In this paper, we describe the design of a signal collection module that collects pulse waves and electrocardiograph (ECG) signals. The collected signals are input into a signal processing module to filter the noise and amplify the useful physiological signals. Then, we use a wavelet transform to eliminate baseline drift noise and detect the feature points of the pulse waves and ECG signals. We propose the concept of detecting the wave shape associated with an instance, an approach that minimizes the impact of atypical pulse waves on blood pressure measurements. Finally, we propose an improved method for measuring blood pressure based on pulse wave velocity that improves the accuracy of blood pressure measurements by 58%. Moreover, the results meet the american medical instrument promotion association standards, which demonstrate the feasibility of our measurement system. PMID:29541556

Pulse dynamics of dual-wavelength dissipative soliton resonances and domain wall solitons in a Tm fiber laser with fiber-based Lyot filter.

PubMed

Wang, Pan; Zhao, Kangjun; Xiao, Xiaosheng; Yang, Changxi

2017-11-27

We report on the first demonstration of dual-wavelength square-wave pulses in a thulium-doped fiber laser. Under appropriate cavity parameters, dual-wavelength dissipative soliton resonances (DSRs) and domain wall solitons (DWSs) are successively obtained. Meanwhile, dark pulses generation is achieved at the dual-wavelength DWSs region due to the overlap of the two domain wall pulses. The fiber-based Lyot filter, conducted by inserting PMF between an in-line PBS and a PD-ISO, facilitates the generation of dual-wavelength operation. The polarization-resolved investigation suggests that the cross coupling between two orthogonal polarization components in the high nonlinear fiber plays an important role in the square-wave pulses formation. The investigation may be helpful for further understanding the square-wave pulse formation and has potential in application filed of multi-wavelength pulsed fiber lasers.

Acousto-optic modulation and opto-acoustic gating in piezo-optomechanical circuits

PubMed Central

Balram, Krishna C.; Davanço, Marcelo I.; Ilic, B. Robert; Kyhm, Ji-Hoon; Song, Jin Dong; Srinivasan, Kartik

2017-01-01

Acoustic wave devices provide a promising chip-scale platform for efficiently coupling radio frequency (RF) and optical fields. Here, we use an integrated piezo-optomechanical circuit platform that exploits both the piezoelectric and photoelastic coupling mechanisms to link 2.4 GHz RF waves to 194 THz (1550 nm) optical waves, through coupling to propagating and localized 2.4 GHz acoustic waves. We demonstrate acousto-optic modulation, resonant in both the optical and mechanical domains, in which waveforms encoded on the RF carrier are mapped to the optical field. We also show opto-acoustic gating, in which the application of modulated optical pulses interferometrically gates the transmission of propagating acoustic pulses. The time-domain characteristics of this system under both pulsed RF and pulsed optical excitation are considered in the context of the different physical pathways involved in driving the acoustic waves, and modelled through the coupled mode equations of cavity optomechanics. PMID:28580373

Seismic excitation by the space shuttle Columbia

USGS Publications Warehouse

Kanamori, H.; Mori, J.; Anderson, D.L.; Heaton, T.H.

1991-01-01

SEISMIC stations in southern California recorded the atmospheric shock waves generated by the space shuttle Columbia on its return to the Edwards Air Force base on 13 August 1989 (Fig. 1). In addition to the shock wave, the broad-band IRIS-TERRAscope station at Pasadena recorded a distinct pulse with a period of ???2-3 seconds, which arrived 12.5 seconds before the shock wave (Fig. 2). This pulse was also recorded at the University of Southern California, near downtown Los Angeles, where it arrived 3 seconds after the shock wave. The origin of this pulse could not be readily identified. We show here that it was a seismic P wave excited by the motion of high-rise buildings in downtown Los Angeles, which were hit by the shock wave. The proximity of the natural period of the high-rise buildings to that of the Los Angeles basin enabled efficient energy transfer from shock wave to seismic wave.

Relationships between 24-h blood pressure variability and 24-h central arterial pressure, pulse wave velocity and augmentation index in hypertensive patients.

PubMed

Omboni, Stefano; Posokhov, Igor N; Rogoza, Anatoly N

2017-04-01

Twenty-four-h blood pressure variability (BPV) predicts cardiovascular complications in hypertension, but its association with pulse wave indices (central arterial pressure, pulse wave velocity (PWV) and augmentation index (AIx)) is poorly understood. In the present study, we assessed the degree of the effect of 24-h BPV on 24-h pulse wave indices. Brachial blood pressure was measured non-invasively over the 24 h with an electronic, oscillometric, automated device (BPLab) in 661 uncomplicated treated or untreated hypertensive patients. Digitalized oscillometric waveforms were analyzed with a validated algorithm to obtain pulse wave indices. Twenty-four-h BPV was calculated as the unweighted (SDu) or weighted s.d. (SDw) of the mean blood pressure or as the average real variability (ARV). Twenty-four-h systolic BPV showed a direct and significant relationship with the central arterial systolic pressure (r=0.28 SDu, r=0.40 SDw, r=0.34 ARV), PWV (r=0.10 SDu, r=0.21 SDw, r=0.19 ARV) and AIx (r=0.17 SDu, r=0.27 SDw, r=0.23 ARV). After adjustment for age, sex, body mass index, antihypertensive treatment and 24-h systolic blood pressure, the relationship lost some power but was still significant for all measures, except for the AIx. Pulse wave indices were higher in patients with high BPV than in those with low BPV: after adjustment, these differences were abolished for the AIx. The diastolic BPV showed a weak association with the pulse wave indices. In conclusion, in hypertensive patients, 24-h systolic BPV is moderately and independently associated with 24-h central arterial pressure and stiffness.

Arterial stiffness is associated to cardiorespiratory fitness and body mass index in young Swedish adults: The Lifestyle, Biomarkers, and Atherosclerosis study.

PubMed

Fernberg, Ulrika; Fernström, Maria; Hurtig-Wennlöf, Anita

2017-11-01

Background Early changes in the large muscular arteries are already associated with risk factors as hypertension and obesity in adolescence and young adulthood. The present study examines the association between arterial stiffness measurements, pulse wave velocity and augmentation index and lifestyle-related factors, body composition and cardiorespiratory fitness, in young, healthy, Swedish adults. Design This study used a population-based cross-sectional sample. Methods The 834 participants in the study were self-reported healthy, non-smoking, age 18-25 years. Augmentation index and pulse wave velocity were measured with applanation tonometry. Cardiorespiratory fitness was measured by ergometer bike test to estimate maximal oxygen uptake. Body mass index (kg/m 2 ) was calculated and categorised according to classification by the World Health Organisation. Results Young Swedish adults with obesity and low cardiorespiratory fitness have significantly higher pulse wave velocity and augmentation index than non-obese young adults with medium or high cardiorespiratory fitness. The observed U-shaped association between pulse wave velocity and body mass index categories in women indicates that it might be more beneficial to be normal weight than underweight when assessing the arterial stiffness with pulse wave velocity. The highest mean pulse wave velocity was found in overweight/obese individuals with low cardiorespiratory fitness. The lowest mean pulse wave velocity was found in normal weight individuals with high cardiorespiratory fitness. Cardiorespiratory fitness had a stronger effect than body mass index on arterial stiffness in multiple regression analyses. Conclusions The inverse association between cardiorespiratory fitness and arterial stiffness is observed already in young adults. The study result highlights the importance of high cardiorespiratory fitness, but also that underweight individuals may be a possible risk group that needs to be further studied.

Molecular dynamics study of lubricant depletion by pulsed laser heating

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Seo, Young Woo; Rosenkranz, Andreas; Talke, Frank E.

2018-05-01

In this study, molecular dynamics simulations were performed to numerically investigate the effect of pulsed laser heating on lubricant depletion. The maximum temperature, the lubricant depletion width, the number of evaporated lubricant beads and the number of fragmented lubricant chains were studied as a function of laser peak power, pulse duration and repetition rate. A continuous-wave laser and a square pulse laser were simulated and compared to a Gaussian pulse laser. With increasing repetition rate, pulsed laser heating was found to approach continuous-wave laser heating.

Three-wave interaction solitons in optical parametric amplification.

PubMed

Ibragimov, E; Struthers, A A; Kaup, D J; Khaydarov, J D; Singer, K D

1999-05-01

This paper applies three-wave interaction (TWI)-soliton theory to optical parametric amplification when the signal, idler, and pump wave can all contain TWI solitons. We use an analogy between two different velocity regimes to compare the theory with output from an experimental synchronously pumped optical parametric amplifier. The theory explains the observed inability to compress the intermediate group-velocity wave and 20-fold pulse compression in this experiment. The theory and supporting numerics show that one can effectively control the shape and energy of the optical pulses by shifting the TWI solitons in the pulses.

Patterns of Alloy Deformation by Pulsed Pressure

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Chebotnyagin, L. M.; Potapov, V. V.; Lopatin, V. V.

2015-06-01

Patterns of alloy deformation for optimization of a welding regime are studied by the method of modeling and deformation profiles providing high deformation quality are determined. A model of stepwise kinetics of the alloy deformation by pulsed pressure from the expanding plasma channel inside of a deformable cylinder is suggested. The model is based on the analogy between the acoustic and electromagnetic wave processes in long lines. The shock wave pattern of alloy deformation in the presence of multiple reflections of pulsed pressure waves in the gap plasma channel - cylinder wall and the influence of unloading waves from free surfaces are confirmed.

EFFECTS OF CONTINUOUS-WAVE, PULSED, AND SINUSOIDAL-AMPLITUDE-MODULATED MICROWAVES ON BRAIN ENERGY METABOLISM

EPA Science Inventory

A comparison of the effects of continuous wave, sinusoidal-amplitude modulated, and pulsed square-wave-modulated 591-MHz microwave exposures on brain energy metabolism was made in male Sprague Dawley rats (175-225g). Brain NADH fluorescence, adensine triphosphate (ATP) concentrat...

Electromagnetic pulse propagation in dispersive planar dielectrics.

PubMed

Moten, K; Durney, C H; Stockham, T G

1989-01-01

The responses of a plane-wave pulse train irradiating a lossy dispersive dielectric half-space are investigated. The incident pulse train is expressed as a Fourier series with summing done by the inverse fast Fourier transform. The Fourier series technique is adopted to avoid the many difficulties often encountered in finding the inverse Fourier transform when transform analyses are used. Calculations are made for propagation in pure water, and typical waveforms inside the dielectric half-space are presented. Higher harmonics are strongly attenuated, resulting in a single continuous sinusoidal waveform at the frequency of the fundamental depth in the material. The time-averaged specific absorption rate (SAR) for pulse-train propagation is shown to be the sum of the time-averaged SARs of the individual harmonic components of the pulse train. For the same average power, calculated SARs reveal that pulse trains generally penetrate deeper than carrier-frequency continuous waves but not deeper than continuous waves at frequencies approaching the fundamental of the pulse train. The effects of rise time on the propagating pulse train in the dielectrics are shown and explained. Since most practical pulsed systems are very limited in bandwidth, no pronounced differences between their response and continuous wave (CW) response would be expected. Typical results for pulse-train propagation in arrays of dispersive planar dielectric slabs are presented. Expressing the pulse train as a Fourier series provides a practical way of interpreting the dispersion characteristics from the spectral point of view.

Efficacy of low-intensity pulsed ultrasound in the prevention of osteoporosis following spinal cord injury.

PubMed

Warden, S J; Bennell, K L; Matthews, B; Brown, D J; McMeeken, J M; Wark, J D

2001-11-01

Ultrasound (US), a high-frequency acoustic energy traveling in the form of a mechanical wave, represents a potential site-specific intervention for osteoporosis. Bone is a dynamic tissue that remodels in response to applied mechanical stimuli. As a form of mechanical stimulation, US is anticipated to produce a similar remodeling response. This theory is supported by growing in vitro and in vivo evidence demonstrating an osteogenic effect of pulsed-wave US at low spatial-averaged temporal-averaged intensities. The aim of this study was to investigate whether low-intensity pulsed US could prevent calcaneal osteoporosis in individuals following spinal cord injury (SCI). Fifteen patients with a 1-6 month history of SCI were recruited. Active US was introduced to one heel for 20 min/day, 5 days/week, over 6 weeks. The contralateral heel was simultaneously treated with inactive US. Patients were blind to which heel was being actively treated. Active US pulsed with a 10 microsec burst of 1.0 MHz sine waves repeating at 3.3 kHz. The spatial-averaged temporal-averaged intensity was set at 30 mW/cm(2). Bone status was assessed at baseline and following the intervention period by dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry and quantitative US. SCI resulted in significant bone loss. Bone mineral content decreased by 7.5 +/- 3.0% in inactive US-treated calcanei (p < 0.001). Broadband US attenuation and speed of sound decreased by 8.5 +/- 6.9% (p < 0.001) and 1.5 +/- 1.3% (p < 0.001), respectively. There were no differences between active and inactive US-treated calcanei for any skeletal measure (p > 0.05). These findings confirm the negative skeletal impact of SCI, and demonstrate that US at the dose and mode administered was not a beneficial intervention for SCI-induced osteoporosis. This latter finding may primarily relate to the inability of US to effectively penetrate the outer cortex of bone due to its acoustic properties.

Assessing mental stress from the photoplethysmogram: a numerical study

PubMed Central

Charlton, Peter H; Celka, Patrick; Farukh, Bushra; Chowienczyk, Phil; Alastruey, Jordi

2018-01-01

Abstract Objective: Mental stress is detrimental to cardiovascular health, being a risk factor for coronary heart disease and a trigger for cardiac events. However, it is not currently routinely assessed. The aim of this study was to identify features of the photoplethysmogram (PPG) pulse wave which are indicative of mental stress. Approach: A numerical model of pulse wave propagation was used to simulate blood pressure signals, from which simulated PPG pulse waves were estimated using a transfer function. Pulse waves were simulated at six levels of stress by changing the model input parameters both simultaneously and individually, in accordance with haemodynamic changes associated with stress. Thirty-two feature measurements were extracted from pulse waves at three measurement sites: the brachial, radial and temporal arteries. Features which changed significantly with stress were identified using the Mann–Kendall monotonic trend test. Main results: Seventeen features exhibited significant trends with stress in measurements from at least one site. Three features showed significant trends at all three sites: the time from pulse onset to peak, the time from the dicrotic notch to pulse end, and the pulse rate. More features showed significant trends at the radial artery (15) than the brachial (8) or temporal (7) arteries. Most features were influenced by multiple input parameters. Significance: The features identified in this study could be used to monitor stress in healthcare and consumer devices. Measurements at the radial artery may provide superior performance than the brachial or temporal arteries. In vivo studies are required to confirm these observations. PMID:29658894

WE-DE-206-01: MRI Signal in Biological Tissues - Proton, Spin, T1, T2, T2*

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Gorny, K.

Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) has become an essential part of clinical imaging due to its ability to render high soft tissue contrast. Instead of ionizing radiation, MRI use strong magnetic field, radio frequency waves and field gradients to create diagnostic useful images. It can be used to image the anatomy and also functional and physiological activities within the human body. Knowledge of the basic physical principles underlying MRI acquisition is vitally important to successful image production and proper image interpretation. This lecture will give an overview of the spin physics, imaging principle of MRI, the hardware of the MRI scanner,more » and various pulse sequences and their applications. It aims to provide a conceptual foundation to understand the image formation process of a clinical MRI scanner. Learning Objectives: Understand the origin of the MR signal and contrast from the spin physics level. Understand the main hardware components of a MRI scanner and their purposes Understand steps for MR image formation including spatial encoding and image reconstruction Understand the main kinds of MR pulse sequences and their characteristics.« less

Influence trend of temperature distribution in skin tissue generated by different exposure dose pulse laser

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Shan, Ning; Wang, Zhijing; Liu, Xia

2014-11-01

Laser is widely applied in military and medicine fields because of its excellent capability. In order to effectively defend excess damage by laser, the thermal processing theory of skin tissue generated by laser should be carried out. The heating rate and thermal damage area should be studied. The mathematics model of bio-tissue heat transfer that is irradiated by laser is analyzed. And boundary conditions of bio-tissue are discussed. Three layer FEM grid model of bio-tissue is established. The temperature rising inducing by pulse laser in the tissue is modeled numerically by adopting ANSYS software. The changing trend of temperature in the tissue is imitated and studied under the conditions of different exposure dose pulse laser. The results show that temperature rising in the tissue depends on the parameters of pulse laser largely. In the same conditions, the pulse width of laser is smaller and its instant power is higher. And temperature rising effect in the tissue is very clear. On the contrary, temperature rising effect in the tissue is lower. The cooling time inducing by temperature rising effect in the tissue is longer along with pulse separation of laser is bigger. And the temperature difference is bigger in the pulse period.

High-gain thompson-scattering X-ray free-electron laser by time-synchronic laterally tilted optical wave

DOEpatents

Chang, Chao; Tang, Chuanxiang; Wu, Juhao

2017-05-09

An improved optical undulator for use in connection with free electron radiation sources is provided. A tilt is introduced between phase fronts of an optical pulse and the pulse front. Two such pulses in a counter-propagating geometry overlap to create a standing wave pattern. A line focus is used to increase the intensity of this standing wave pattern. An electron beam is aligned with the line focus. The relative angle between pulse front and phase fronts is adjusted such that there is a velocity match between the electron beam and the overlapping optical pulses along the line focus. This allows one to provide a long interaction length using short and intense optical pulses, thereby greatly increasing the radiation output from the electron beam as it passes through this optical undulator.

Apparatus for in-situ nondestructive measurement of Young's modulus of plate structures

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Huang, Jerry Qixin (Inventor); Perez, Robert J. (Inventor); DeLangis, Leo M. (Inventor)

2005-01-01

A method and apparatus for determining stiffness of a plate-like structure including a monolithic or composite laminate plate entails disposing a device for generating an acoustical pulse against a surface of the plate and disposing a detecting device against the same surface spaced a known distance from the pulse-generating device, and using the pulse-generating device to emit a pulse so as to create an extensional wave in the plate. The detecting device is used to determine a time of flight of the wave over the known distance, and the wave velocity is calculated. A Young's modulus of the plate is determined by a processor based on the wave velocity. Methods and apparatus for evaluating both isotropic plates and anisotropic laminates are disclosed.

FDTD computation of human eye exposure to ultra-wideband electromagnetic pulses.

PubMed

Simicevic, Neven

2008-03-21

With an increase in the application of ultra-wideband (UWB) electromagnetic pulses in the communications industry, radar, biotechnology and medicine, comes an interest in UWB exposure safety standards. Despite an increase of the scientific research on bioeffects of exposure to non-ionizing UWB pulses, characterization of those effects is far from complete. A numerical computational approach, such as a finite-difference time domain (FDTD) method, is required to visualize and understand the complexity of broadband electromagnetic interactions. The FDTD method has almost no limits in the description of the geometrical and dispersive properties of the simulated material, it is numerically robust and appropriate for current computer technology. In this paper, a complete calculation of exposure of the human eye to UWB electromagnetic pulses in the frequency range of 3.1-10.6, 22-29 and 57-64 GHz is performed. Computation in this frequency range required a geometrical resolution of the eye of 0.1 mm and an arbitrary precision in the description of its dielectric properties in terms of the Debye model. New results show that the interaction of UWB pulses with the eye tissues exhibits the same properties as the interaction of the continuous electromagnetic waves (CWs) with the frequencies from the pulse's frequency spectrum. It is also shown that under the same exposure conditions the exposure to UWB pulses is from one to many orders of magnitude safer than the exposure to CW.

Photonic textiles for pulse oximetry.

PubMed

Rothmaier, Markus; Selm, Bärbel; Spichtig, Sonja; Haensse, Daniel; Wolf, Martin

2008-08-18

Biomedical sensors, integrated into textiles would enable monitoring of many vitally important physiological parameters during our daily life. In this paper we demonstrate the design and performance of a textile based pulse oximeter, operating on the forefinger tip in transmission mode. The sensors consisted of plastic optical fibers integrated into common fabrics. To emit light to the human tissue and to collect transmitted light the fibers were either integrated into a textile substrate by embroidery (producing microbends with a nominal diameter of 0.5 to 2 mm) or the fibers inside woven patterns have been altered mechanically after fabric production. In our experiments we used a two-wavelength approach (690 and 830 nm) for pulse wave acquisition and arterial oxygen saturation calculation. We have fabricated different specimens to study signal yield and quality, and a cotton glove, equipped with textile based light emitter and detector, has been used to examine movement artifacts. Our results show that textile-based oximetry is feasible with sufficient data quality and its potential as a wearable health monitoring device is promising.

In vivo repeatability of the pulse wave inverse problem in human carotid arteries.

PubMed

McGarry, Matthew; Nauleau, Pierre; Apostolakis, Iason; Konofagou, Elisa

2017-11-07

Accurate arterial stiffness measurement would improve diagnosis and monitoring for many diseases. Atherosclerotic plaques and aneurysms are expected to involve focal changes in vessel wall properties; therefore, a method to image the stiffness variation would be a valuable clinical tool. The pulse wave inverse problem (PWIP) fits unknown parameters from a computational model of arterial pulse wave propagation to ultrasound-based measurements of vessel wall displacements by minimizing the difference between the model and measured displacements. The PWIP has been validated in phantoms, and this study presents the first in vivo demonstration. The common carotid arteries of five healthy volunteers were imaged five times in a single session with repositioning of the probe and subject between each scan. The 1D finite difference computational model used in the PWIP spanned from the start of the transducer to the carotid bifurcation, where a resistance outlet boundary condition was applied to approximately model the downstream reflection of the pulse wave. Unknown parameters that were estimated by the PWIP included a 10-segment linear piecewise compliance distribution and 16 discrete cosine transformation coefficients for each of the inlet boundary conditions. Input data was selected to include pulse waves resulting from the primary pulse and dicrotic notch. The recovered compliance maps indicate that the compliance increases close to the bifurcation, and the variability of the average pulse wave velocity estimated through the PWIP is on the order of 11%, which is similar to that of the conventional processing technique which tracks the wavefront arrival time (13%). Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Measurement of Aortic Pulse Wave Velocity With a Connected Bathroom Scale.

PubMed

Campo, David; Khettab, Hakim; Yu, Roger; Genain, Nicolas; Edouard, Paul; Buard, Nadine; Boutouyrie, Pierre

2017-09-01

Measurement of arterial stiffness should be more available. Our aim was to show that aortic pulse wave velocity can be reliably measured with a bathroom scale combining the principles of ballistocardiography (BCG) and impedance plethysmography on a single foot. The calibration of the bathroom scale was conducted on a group of 106 individuals. The aortic pulse wave velocity was measured with the SphygmoCor in the supine position. Three consecutive measurements were then performed on the Withings scale in the standing position. This aorta-leg pulse transit time (alPTT) was then converted into a velocity with the additional input of the height of the person. Agreement between the SphygmoCor and the bathroom scale so calibrated is assessed on a separate group of 86 individuals, following the same protocol. The bias is 0.25 m·s-1 and the SE 1.39 m·s-1. This agreement with Sphygmocor is "acceptable" according to the ARTERY classification. The alPTT correlated well with cfPTT with (Spearman) R = 0.73 in pooled population (cal 0.79, val 0.66). The aorta-leg pulse wave velocity correlated with carotid-femoral pulse wave velocity with R = 0.76 (cal 0.80, val 0.70). Estimation of the aortic pulse wave velocity is feasible with a bathroom scale. Further investigations are needed to improve the repeatability of measurements and to test their accuracy in different populations and conditions. © The Author 2017. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of American Journal of Hypertension.

A simplified measurement of pulse wave velocity is not inferior to standard measurement in young adults and children.

PubMed

Edgell, Heather; Stickland, Michael K; MacLean, Joanna E

2016-06-01

The standard measurement of pulse wave velocity (PWV) is restricted by the need for simultaneous tonometry measurements requiring two technicians and expensive equipment, limiting this technique to well-resourced settings. In this preliminary study, we compared a simplified method of pulse wave detection from the finger and toe to pulse wave detection from the carotid and radial arteries using applanation tonometry in children and young adults. We hypothesized that the simplified method of PWV measurement would strongly correlate with the standard measurement in different age groups and oxygen conditions. Participants included (a) boys and girls aged 8-12 years and (b) men and women aged 18-40 years. Participants rested supine while carotid and radial artery pulse waves were measured using applanation tonometry and finger and toe pulse waves were simultaneously collected using a Finometer Midi and a piezo-electric pulse transducer, respectively. These measurements were repeated under hypoxic conditions. Finger-toe PWV measurements were strongly correlated to carotid-radial PWV in adults (R=0.58; P=0.011), but not in children (R=0.056; P=0.610). Finger-toe PWV was sensitive enough to show increases in PWV with age (P<0.0001) and hypoxia in children (P<0.0001) and adults (P=0.003). These results indicate that the simplified measurement of finger-toe PWV strongly correlates with the standard measurement of carotid-radial PWV in adults, but not in children. However, finger-toe PWV can be used in either population to determine changes with hypoxia.

Repetitively Pulsed Backward-Wave Oscillator Investigations

DTIC Science & Technology

1994-03-31

Sinus-6 High Power BWO Experiments and Theory .................. 6 A . B W O physics .............................................................. 6...B. Experiments with high power output of BWO .............................. 8 Section III. Long Pulse Vacuum BWO Experiments...UNM) has completed its initial phase of research on repetitively pulsed high power backward-wave oscillators (BWOs). The aggressive program that we had

Histological and Finite Element Analysis of Cell Death due to Irreversible Electroporation

PubMed Central

Long, G.; Bakos, G.; Shires, P. K.; Gritter, L.; Crissman, J. W.; Harris, J. L.; Clymer, J. W.

2014-01-01

Irreversible electroporation (IRE) has been shown to be an effective method of killing cells locally. In contrast to radiofrequency ablation, the mechanism by which cells are thought to die via IRE is the creation of pores in cell membranes, without substantial increase in tissue temperature. To determine the degree to which cell death is non-thermal, we evaluated IRE in porcine hepatocytes in vivo. Using pulse widths of 10μs, bursts of 3 kV square-wave pulses were applied through a custom probe to the liver of an anesthetized pig. Affected tissue was evaluated histologically via stainings of hematoxylin & eosin (H&E), nitroblue tetrazolium (NBT) to monitor cell respiration and TUNEL to gauge apoptosis. Temperature was measured during the application of electroporation, and heat transfer was modeled via finite element analysis. Cell death was calculated via Arrhenius kinetics. Four distinct zones were observed within the ring return electrode; heat-fixed tissue, coagulation, necrotic, and viable. The Arrhenius damage integral estimated complete cell death only in the first zone, where the temperature exceeded 70°C, and partial or no cell death in the other zones, where maximum temperature was approximately 45°C. Except for a limited area near the electrode tip, cell death in IRE is predominantly due to a non-thermal mechanism. PMID:24000980

Feasibility of coded vibration in a vibro-ultrasound system for tissue elasticity measurement.

PubMed

Zhao, Jinxin; Wang, Yuanyuan; Yu, Jinhua; Li, Tianjie; Zheng, Yong-Ping

2016-07-01

The ability of various methods for elasticity measurement and imaging is hampered by the vibration amplitude on biological tissues. Based on the inference that coded excitation will improve the performance of the cross-correlation function of the tissue displacement waves, the idea of exerting encoded external vibration on tested samples for measuring its elasticity is proposed. It was implemented by integrating a programmable vibration generation function into a customized vibro-ultrasound system to generate Barker coded vibration for elasticity measurement. Experiments were conducted on silicone phantoms and porcine muscles. The results showed that coded excitation of the vibration enhanced the accuracy and robustness of the elasticity measurement especially in low signal-to-noise ratio scenarios. In the phantom study, the measured shear modulus values with coded vibration had an R(2 )= 0.993 linear correlation to that of referenced indentation, while for single-cycle pulse the R(2) decreased to 0.987. In porcine muscle study, the coded vibration also obtained a shear modulus value which is more accurate than the single-cycle pulse by 0.16 kPa and 0.33 kPa at two different depths. These results demonstrated the feasibility and potentiality of the coded vibration for enhancing the quality of elasticity measurement and imaging.

Complementary optical rogue waves in parametric three-wave mixing.

PubMed

Chen, Shihua; Cai, Xian-Ming; Grelu, Philippe; Soto-Crespo, J M; Wabnitz, Stefan; Baronio, Fabio

2016-03-21

We investigate the resonant interaction of two optical pulses of the same group velocity with a pump pulse of different velocity in a weakly dispersive quadratic medium and report on the complementary rogue wave dynamics which are unique to such a parametric three-wave mixing. Analytic rogue wave solutions up to the second order are explicitly presented and their robustness is confirmed by numerical simulations, in spite of the onset of modulation instability activated by quantum noise.

Comparison of pulse wave velocity and pulse pressure amplification in association with target organ damage in community-dwelling elderly: The Northern Shanghai Study.

PubMed

Bai, Bin; Teliewubai, Jiadela; Lu, Yuyan; Yu, Shikai; Xiong, Jing; Chi, Chen; Zhou, Yiwu; Ji, Hongwei; Fan, Ximin; Blacher, Jacques; Li, Jue; Zhang, Yi; Xu, Yawei

2018-05-01

This study aimed to investigate the discrepancy between pulse wave velocity (PWV) and pulse pressure amplification (PPA) in association with hypertensive target organ damage (TOD) in the elderly. From June 2014 to August 2015, 1599 participants aged >65 years old from communities located in northern Shanghai were recruited. Carotid-femoral pulse wave velocity (cfPWV), peripheral blood pressure (BP), central BP and other TOD indicators, including the ratio of the early ventricular filling velocity (E) to the peak velocity of the tissue Doppler velocity of septal mitral annulus (E/Ea), left ventricular mass index (LVMI), carotid intima-medium thickness (CIMT), estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR), and urinary albumin-creatinine ratio (ACR), were determined for each participant. PPA was defined as the peripheral-to-central pulse pressure ratio. In multivariable linear regression analysis, cfPWV was significantly associated with CIMT (β = 12.83 ± 4.28 μm per SD; P = 0.003) and eGFR (β = -1.85 ± 0.69 ml/min/1.73 m 2 per SD; P = 0.007), whereas PPA was significantly associated with E/Ea (β = -0.25 ± 0.10 per SD; P = 0.01) and LVMI (β = -3.00 ± 0.78 g/m 2 per SD; P < 0.001). Similarly, in multivariable logistic regression analysis, cfPWV was significantly associated with arterial plaque (odds ratio [OR], 1.21 [95% confidence interval [CI], 1.05-1.39]; P = 0.007), peripheral artery disease (OR, 1.22 [95% CI, 1.06-1.42]; P = 0.007), chronic kidney diseases (OR, 1.24 [95% CI, 1.01-1.54]; P = 0.04) and microalbuminuria (OR, 1.21 [95% CI, 1.07-1.37]; P = 0.002), while PPA was tightly associated with left ventricular hypertrophy (OR, 0.85 [95% CI, 0.72-0.99]; P = 0.04) and diastolic dysfunction (OR, 0.78 [95% CI, 0.64-0.96]; P = 0.02). In conclusion, cfPWV is a vessel-related and renal-related biomarker, while PPA is a cardiac-related biomarker in community-based elderly.

Wrinkle-like slip pulse on a fault between different materials

USGS Publications Warehouse

Andrews, D.J.; Ben-Zion, Y.

1997-01-01

Pulses of slip velocity can propagate on a planar interface governed by a constant coefficient of friction, where the interface separates different elastic materials. Such pulses have been found in two-dimensional plane strain finite difference calculations of slip on a fault between elastic media with wave speeds differing by 20%. The self-sustaining propagation of the slip pulse arises from interaction between normal and tangential deformation that exists only with a material contrast. These calculations confirm the prediction of Weertman [1980] that a dislocation propagating steadily along a material interface has a tensile change of normal traction with the same pulse shape as slip velocity. The self-sustaining pulse is associated with a rapid transition from a head wave traveling along the interface with the S wave speed of the faster material, to an opposite polarity body wave traveling with the slower S speed. Slip occurs during the reversal of normal particle velocity. The pulse can propagate in a region with constant coefficient of friction and an initial stress state below the frictional criterion. Propagation occurs in only one direction, the direction of slip in the more compliant medium, with rupture velocity near the slower S wave speed. Displacement is larger in the softer medium, which is displaced away from the fault during the passage of the slip pulse. Motion is analogous to a propagating wrinkle in a carpet. The amplitude of slip remains approximately constant during propagation, but the pulse width decreases and the amplitudes of slip velocity and stress change increase. The tensile change of normal traction increases until absolute normal traction reaches zero. The pulse can be generated as a secondary effect of a drop of shear stress in an asperity. The pulse shape is unstable, and the initial slip pulse can change during propagation into a collection of sharper pulses. Such a pulse enables slip to occur with little loss of energy to friction, while at the same time increasing irregularity of stress and slip at the source. Copyright 1997 by the American Geophysical Union.

The development of novel Ytterbium fiber lasers and their applications

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Nie, Bai

The aim of my Ph.D. research is to push the fundamental limits holding back the development of novel Yb fiber lasers with high pulse energy and short pulse duration. The purpose of developing these lasers is to use them for important applications such as multiphoton microscopy and laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy. My first project was to develop a short-pulse high-energy ultrafast fiber laser for multiphoton microscopy. To achieve high multiphoton efficiency and depth resolved tissue imaging, ultrashort pulse duration and high pulse energy are required. In order to achieve this, an all-normal dispersion cavity design was adopted. Output performances of the built lasers were investigated by varying several cavity parameters, such as pump laser power, fiber length and intra-cavity spectral filter bandwidth. It was found that the length of the fiber preceding the gain fiber is critical to the laser performance. Generally, the shorter the fiber is, the broader the output spectrum is. The more interesting parameter is the intra-cavity spectral filter bandwidth. Counter intuitively, laser cavities using narrower bandwidth spectral filters generated much broader spectra. It was also found that fiber lasers with very narrow spectral filters produced laser pulses with parabolic profile, which are referred to as self-similar pulses or similaritons. This type of pulse can avoid wave-breaking and is an optimal approach to generate pulses with high pulse energy and ultrashort pulse duration. With a 3nm intra-cavity spectral filter, output pulses with about 20 nJ pulse energy were produced and compressed to about 41 fs full-width-at-half-maximum (FWHM) pulse duration. Due to the loss in the compression device, the peak power of the compressed pulses is about 250 kW. It was the highest peak power generated from a fiber oscillator when this work was published. This laser was used for multiphoton microscopy on living tissues like Drosophila larva and fruit fly wings. Several imaging methods, such as two-photon-excited fluorescence, second harmonic generation, and third harmonic generation, were performed. Not only were single layers of thin tissue imaged, but also depth resolved imaging of thick samples was tested, and three-dimensional image reconstruction was demonstrated. The other project was to develop a simple fiber oscillator for laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy (LIBS). Laser pulses with high energy, high ablation efficiency and low ablation threshold are desirable for this application. We built a fiber laser using up to 200 m long fiber and scaled the output pulse energy up to 450 nJ. This laser was operated in an unusual mode-locking regime and produced noise-like pulses, which have a picosecond long pulse envelope containing multiple irregular femtosecond sub-pulses. This type of pulse was mostly ignored by many earlier researchers. Intra-cavity spectral filters did not affect the laser performance as much as in the similariton lasers and were removed from the laser cavity. Characteristics of our noise-like laser, such as MHz repetition rate, broad spectrum, and picosecond-long pulse envelope containing multiple femtosecond sub-pulses, were found to meet the requirement of an ideal laser source for LIBS. A simple LIBS setup using our laser was demonstrated and atomic emission spectra with very good signal-to-noise ratio were obtained. Composition detection, qualitative concentration determination, and trace detection were also tested. These tests show that our noise-like fiber laser is an ideal laser source for a low-cost and portable LIBS system.

A theoretical analysis of anatomical and functional intestinal slow wave re-entry.

PubMed

Du, Peng; O'Grady, Gregory; Cheng, Leo K

2017-07-21

Intestinal bioelectrical slow waves are a key regulator of intestinal motility. Peripheral pacemakers, ectopic initiations and sustained periods of re-entrant activities have all been experimentally observed to be important factors in setting the frequency of intestinal slow waves, but the tissue-level mechanisms underpinning these activities are unclear. This theoretical analysis aimed to define the initiation, maintenance, and termination criteria of two classes of intestinal re-entrant activities: anatomical re-entry and functional re-entry. Anatomical re-entry was modeled in a three-dimensional (3D) cylindrical model, and functional rotor was modeled in a 2D rectangle model. A single-pulse stimulus was used to invoke an anatomical re-entry and a prolonged refractory block was used to invoke the rotor. In both cases, the simulated re-entrant activities operated at frequencies above the baseline entrainment frequency. The anatomical re-entry simulation results demonstrated that a temporary functional refractory block would be required to initiate the re-entrant activity in a single direction around the cylindrical model. The rotor could be terminated by a single-pulse stimulus delivered around the core of the rotor. In conclusion, the simulation results provide the following new insights into the mechanisms of intestinal re-entry: (i) anatomical re-entry is only maintained within a specific range of velocities, outside of which the re-entrant activities become either an ectopic activity or simultaneous activations of the intestinal wall; (ii) a maintained rotor entrained slow waves faster in the antegrade direction than in the retrograde direction. Simulations are shown to be a valuable tool for achieving novel insights into the mechanisms of intestinal slow wave dysrhythmia. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Comparison between broadband Bessel beam launchers based on either Bessel or Hankel aperture distribution for millimeter wave short pulse generation.

PubMed

Pavone, Santi C; Mazzinghi, Agnese; Freni, Angelo; Albani, Matteo

2017-08-07

In this paper, a comparison is presented between Bessel beam launchers at millimeter waves based on either a cylindrical standing wave (CSW) or a cylindrical inward traveling wave (CITW) aperture distribution. It is theoretically shown that CITW launchers are better suited for the generation of electromagnetic short pulses because they maintain their performances over a larger bandwidth than those realizing a CSW aperture distribution. Moreover, the wavenumber dispersion of both the launchers is evaluated both theoretically and numerically. To this end, two planar Bessel beam launchers, one enforcing a CSW and the other enforcing a CITW aperture distribution, are designed at millimeter waves with a center operating frequency of f¯=60GHz and analyzed in the bandwidth 50 - 70 GHz by using an in-house developed numerical code to solve Maxwell's equations based on the method of moments. It is shown that a monochromatic Bessel beam can be efficiently generated by both the launchers over a wide fractional bandwidth. Finally, we investigate the generation of limited-diffractive electromagnetic pulses at millimeter waves, up to a certain non-diffractive range. Namely, it is shown that by feeding the launcher with a Gaussian short pulse, a spatially confined electromagnetic pulse can be efficiently generated in front of the launcher.

Imaging and control of interfering wave packets in a dissociating molecule.

PubMed

Skovsen, Esben; Machholm, Mette; Ejdrup, Tine; Thøgersen, Jan; Stapelfeldt, Henrik

2002-09-23

Using two identical 110 femtosecond (fs) optical pulses separated by 310 fs, we launch two dissociative wave packets in I2. We measure the square of the wave function as a function of both the internuclear separation, /Psi(R)/(2), and of the internuclear velocity, /Psi(v(R))/(2), by ionizing the dissociating molecule with an intense 20 fs probe pulse. Strong interference is observed in both /Psi(R)/(2) and in /Psi(v(R))/(2). The interference, and therefore the shape of the wave function, is controlled through the phase difference between the two dissociation pulses in good agreement with calculations.

Coherence rephasing combined with spin-wave storage using chirped control pulses

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Demeter, Gabor

2014-06-01

Photon-echo based optical quantum memory schemes often employ intermediate steps to transform optical coherences to spin coherences for longer storage times. We analyze a scheme that uses three identical chirped control pulses for coherence rephasing in an inhomogeneously broadened ensemble of three-level Λ systems. The pulses induce a cyclic permutation of the atomic populations in the adiabatic regime. Optical coherences created by a signal pulse are stored as spin coherences at an intermediate time interval, and are rephased for echo emission when the ensemble is returned to the initial state. Echo emission during a possible partial rephasing when the medium is inverted can be suppressed with an appropriate choice of control pulse wave vectors. We demonstrate that the scheme works in an optically dense ensemble, despite control pulse distortions during propagation. It integrates conveniently the spin-wave storage step into memory schemes based on a second rephasing of the atomic coherences.

Effect of percutaneous transvenous mitral commissurotomy on left atrial appendage function: an immediate and 6-month follow-up transesophageal Doppler study.

PubMed

Vijayvergiya, Rajesh; Sharma, Rajat; Shetty, Ranjan; Subramaniyan, Anand; Karna, Sunil; Chongtham, Dhanraj

2011-11-01

The left atrial appendage (LAA) is a common site of thrombus formation and is the source of systemic thromboembolism in patients with rheumatic mitral stenosis. LAA contractile dysfunction is a common finding in these patients. The aim of this study was to assess immediate and 6-month follow-up LAA function by transesophageal Doppler echocardiography in patients who underwent percutaneous transvenous mitral commissurotomy (PTMC). Forty-seven consecutive patients with symptomatic critical mitral stenosis who underwent PTMC were enrolled. All had underwent transthoracic and transesophageal echocardiography before, 24 hours after, and 6 months after PTMC. Pulse Doppler velocities of the LAA were measured, including peak early diastolic (E wave), peak late diastolic (A wave), and peak systolic (S wave). The corresponding tissue Doppler velocities of the LAA, including peak early diastolic (E(LAA)), peak late diastolic (A(LAA)), and peak systolic (S(LAA)), were also measured. LAA ejection fraction was measured using the modified Simpson's method. The mean age of the 47 enrolled patients was 31.7 ± 10.26 years. Thirty-eight patients were in sinus rhythm, and the remaining nine were in atrial fibrillation. PTMC was successful in all patients. The pulse Doppler velocities of the LAA at baseline, after PTMC, and at 6-month follow-up were as follows: for the E wave, 15.29 ± 2.26, 17.02 ± 2.25, and 17.97 ± 2.55 cm/sec, respectively (P < .001); for the A wave 22.45 ± 4.11, 24.19 ± 4.21, and 25.99 ± 4.51 cm/sec, respectively (P < .001); and for the S wave, 28.52 ± 4.37, 31.45 ± 5.37, and 33.06 ± 4.99 cm/sec, respectively (P < .001). The corresponding tissue Doppler velocities of LAA were as follows: for E(LAA), 4.65 ± 0.91, 5.28 ± 0.85, and 5.80 ± 0.84 cm/sec, respectively (P < .001); for A(LAA), 6.67 ± 1.12, 7.33 ± 1.17, and 7.88 ± 1.22 cm/sec, respectively (P < .001); and for S(LAA), 4.67 ± 1.12, 5.52 ± 1.18, 6.07 ± 1.11 cm/sec, respectively (P < .001). There was a nonsignificant increase in LAA ejection fraction (48.97 ± 8.14% vs 52.3 ± 13.76% vs 52.11 ± 16.3%, respectively, P = .052). On subgroup analysis between patients in sinus rhythm and those with atrial fibrillation, there was no significant difference for LAA ejection fraction and pulse and tissue Doppler velocities. Very good intraclass correlation of the LAA parameters was also observed for the reproducibility of the data. The present study shows contractile dysfunction of the LAA in patients with critical mitral stenosis, which significantly improved after PTMC, and a further improvement was observed at 6-month follow-up. Favorable 6-month improvements in LAA parameters suggest continuous structural remodeling of the LAA after PTMC, which is clinically attributed to the absence of thromboembolism. Although there was an improvement in LAA function, it was far below the normal range, suggesting a need for continuous long-term monitoring and management of thromboembolism in these patients. Copyright © 2011 American Society of Echocardiography. Published by Mosby, Inc. All rights reserved.

Distortion of ultrashort pulses caused by aberrations

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Horváth, Z. L.; Kovács, A. P.; Bor, Zs.

The effect of the primary wave aberrations (spherical aberration, astigmatism and coma) on ultrashort pulses is studied by the Nijboer-Zernike theory. The results of the geometrical and the wave optical treatments are compared.

Molecular isomerization induced by ultrashort infrared pulses. II. Pump-dump isomerization using pairs of time-delayed half-cycle pulses.

PubMed

Uiberacker, Christoph; Jakubetz, Werner

2004-06-22

We investigate population transfer across the barrier in a double-well potential, induced by a pair of time-delayed single-lobe half-cycle pulses. We apply this setup both to a one-dimensional (1D) quartic model potential and to a three-dimensional potential representing HCN-->HNC isomerization. Overall the results for the two systems are similar, although in the 3D system some additional features appear not seen in the 1D case. The generic mechanism of population transfer is the preparation by the pump pulse of a wave packet involving delocalized states above the barrier, followed by the essentially 1D motion of the delocalized part of wave packet across the barrier, and the eventual de-excitation by the dump pulse to localized states in the other well. The correct timing is given by the well-to-well passage time of the wave packet and its recurrence properties, and by the signs of the field lobes which determine the direction and acceleration or deceleration of the wave packet motion. In the 3D system an additional pump-pump-dump mechanism linked to wave packet motion in the reagent well can mediate isomerization. Since the transfer time and the pulse durations are of the same order of magnitude, there is also a marked dependence of the dynamics and the transfer yield on the pulse duration. Our analysis also sheds light on the pronounced carrier envelope phase dependence previously observed for isomerization and molecular dissociation with one-cycle and sub-one-cycle pulses. (c) 2004 American Institute of Physics.

Study on the Depth, Rate, Shape, and Strength of Pulse with Cardiovascular Simulator.

PubMed

Lee, Ju-Yeon; Jang, Min; Shin, Sang-Hoon

2017-01-01

Pulse diagnosis is important in oriental medicine. The purpose of this study is explaining the mechanisms of pulse with a cardiovascular simulator. The simulator is comprised of the pulse generating part, the vessel part, and the measurement part. The pulse generating part was composed of motor, slider-crank mechanism, and piston pump. The vessel part, which was composed with the aorta and a radial artery, was fabricated with silicon to implement pulse wave propagation. The pulse parameters, such as the depth, rate, shape, and strength, were simulated. With changing the mean pressure, the floating pulse and the sunken pulse were generated. The change of heart rate generated the slow pulse and the rapid pulse. The control of the superposition time of the reflected wave generated the string-like pulse and the slippery pulse. With changing the pulse pressure, the vacuous pulse and the replete pulse were generated. The generated pulses showed good agreements with the typical pulses.

Project Physics Programmed Instruction, Waves 1.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Harvard Univ., Cambridge, MA. Harvard Project Physics.

This programmed instruction booklet is an interim version of instructional materials being developed by Harvard Project Physics. It is the first of two booklets on the topic of waves and covers pulses, how pulses travel, and what happens when two pulses pass through the same region at the same time. For the second booklet in this series, see SE…

Tracking kidney stones with sound during shock wave lithotripsy

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kracht, Jonathan M.

The prevalence of kidney stones has increased significantly over the past decades. One of the primary treatments for kidney stones is shock wave lithotripsy which focuses acoustic shock waves onto the stone in order to fragment it into pieces that are small enough to pass naturally. This typically requires a few thousand shock waves delivered at a rate of about 2 Hz. Although lithotripsy is the only non-invasive treatment option for kidney stories, both acute and chronic complications have been identified which could be reduced if fewer shock waves were used. One factor that could be used to reduce the number of shock waves is accounting for the motion of the stone which causes a portion of the delivered shock waves to miss the stone, yielding no therapeutic benefit. Therefore identifying when the stone is not in focus would allow tissue to be spared without affecting fragmentation. The goal of this thesis is to investigate acoustic methods to track the stone in real-time during lithotripsy in order to minimize poorly-targeted shock waves. A relatively small number of low frequency ultrasound transducers were used in pulse-echo mode and a novel optimization routine based on time-of-flight triangulation is used to determine stone location. It was shown that the accuracy of the localization may be estimated without knowing the true stone location. This method performed well in preliminary experiments but the inclusion of tissue-like aberrating layers reduced the accuracy of the localization. Therefore a hybrid imaging technique employing DORT (Decomposition of the Time Reversal Operator) and the MUSIC (Multiple Signal Classification) algorithm was developed. This method was able to localize kidney stories to within a few millimeters even in the presence of an aberrating layer. This would be sufficient accuracy for targeting lithotripter shock waves. The conclusion of this work is that tracking kidney stones with low frequency ultrasound should be effective clinically.

High resolution wavenumber analysis for investigation of arterial pulse wave propagation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hasegawa, Hideyuki; Sato, Masakazu; Irie, Takasuke

2016-07-01

The propagation of the pulse wave along the artery is relatively fast (several m/s), and a high-temporal resolution is required to measure pulse wave velocity (PWV) in a regional segment of the artery. High-frame-rate ultrasound enables the measurement of the regional PWV. In analyses of wave propagation phenomena, the direction and propagation speed are generally identified in the frequency-wavenumber space using the two-dimensional Fourier transform. However, the wavelength of the pulse wave is very long (1 m at a propagation velocity of 10 m/s and a temporal frequency of 10 Hz) compared with a typical lateral field of view of 40 mm in ultrasound imaging. Therefore, PWV cannot be identified in the frequency-wavenumber space owing to the low resolution of the two-dimensional Fourier transform. In the present study, PWV was visualized in the wavenumber domain using phases of arterial wall acceleration waveforms measured by high-frame-rate ultrasound.

Doubly-excited pulse-waves on flowing liquid films: experiments and numerical simulations

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Adebayo, Idris; Xie, Zhihua; Che, Zhizhao; Wray, Alex; Matar, Omar

2016-11-01

The interaction patterns between doubly-excited pulse waves on a flowing liquid film are studied both experimentally and numerically. The flowing film is constituted on an inclined glass substrate while pulse-waves are excited on the film surface by means of a solenoid valve connected to a relay which receives signals from customised Matlab routines. The effect of varying the system parameters i.e. film flow rate, inter-pulse interval and substrate inclination angle on the pulse interaction patterns are then studied. Results show that different interaction patterns exist for these binary pulses; which include a singular behaviour, complete merger, partial merger and total non-coalescence. A regime map of these patterns is then plotted for each inclination angles examined, based on the film Re and the inter-pulse interval. Finally, the individual effect of the system parameters on the merging distance of these binary pulses in the merger mode is then studied and the results validated using both numerical simulations and mathematical modelling. Funding from the Nigerian Government (for Idris Adebayo), and the EPSRC through a programme Grant MEMPHIS (EP/K003976/1) gratefully acknowledged.

Dental hard tissue characterization using laser-based ultrasonics

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Blodgett, David W.; Massey, Ward L.

2003-07-01

Dental health care and research workers require a means of imaging the structures within teeth in vivo. One critical need is the detection of tooth decay in its early stages. If decay can be detected early enough, the process can be monitored and interventional procedures, such as fluoride washes and controlled diet, can be initiated to help re-mineralize the tooth. Currently employed x-ray imaging is limited in its ability to visualize interfaces and incapable of detecting decay at a stage early enough to avoid invasive cavity preparation followed by a restoration. To this end, non-destructive and non-contact in vitro measurements on extracted human molars using laser-based ultrasonics are presented. Broadband ultrasonic waves are excited in the extracted sections by using a pulsed carbon-dioxide (CO2) laser operating in a region of high optical absorption in the dental hard tissues. Optical interferometric detection of the ultrasonic wave surface displacements in accomplished with a path-stabilized Michelson-type interferometer. Results for bulk and surface in-vitro characterization of caries are presented on extracted molars with pre-existing caries.

A study on locating the sonic source of sinusoidal magneto-acoustic signals using a vector method.

PubMed

Zhang, Shunqi; Zhou, Xiaoqing; Ma, Ren; Yin, Tao; Liu, Zhipeng

2015-01-01

Methods based on the magnetic-acoustic effect are of great significance in studying the electrical imaging properties of biological tissues and currents. The continuous wave method, which is commonly used, can only detect the current amplitude without the sound source position. Although the pulse mode adopted in magneto-acoustic imaging can locate the sonic source, the low measuring accuracy and low SNR has limited its application. In this study, a vector method was used to solve and analyze the magnetic-acoustic signal based on the continuous sine wave mode. This study includes theory modeling of the vector method, simulations to the line model, and experiments with wire samples to analyze magneto-acoustic (MA) signal characteristics. The results showed that the amplitude and phase of the MA signal contained the location information of the sonic source. The amplitude and phase obeyed the vector theory in the complex plane. This study sets a foundation for a new technique to locate sonic sources for biomedical imaging of tissue conductivity. It also aids in studying biological current detecting and reconstruction based on the magneto-acoustic effect.

Microwave effects on isolated chick embryo hearts

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Caddemi, A.; Tamburello, C.C.; Zanforlin, L.

1986-01-01

This study was designed to examine the effects of microwaves on the electric activity of hearts as a means of elucidating interactive mechanisms of nonionizing radiation with cardiac tissue. Experiments were performed on isolated hearts of 9-12-day-old chick embryos placed in small petri dishes. Oxygenated isotonic Ringer's solution at 37 degrees C permitted heart survival. Samples were irradiated at 2.45 GHz with a power density of 3 mW/cm2. The heart signal was detected with a glass micropipet inserted into the sinoatrial node and examined by means of a Berg-Fourier analyzer. Pulsed microwaves caused the locking of the heartbeat to themore » modulation frequency, whereas continuous wave irradiation might have induced slight bradycardia. Pulsed fields induced stimulation or regularization of the heartbeat in arrhythmia, fibrillation, or arrest of the heart.« less

Creating Brain Lesions by Low Intensity Focused Ultrasound with Microbubbles: A Rat Study at Half MHz

PubMed Central

Huang, Yuexi; Vykhodtseva, Natalia I.; Hynynen, Kullervo

2014-01-01

Low intensity focused ultrasound was applied with microbubbles (Definity, 0.02 mL/kg) to produce brain lesions in 50 rats at 558 kHz. Burst sonications (burst length: 10 ms; pulse repetition frequency: 1 Hz; total exposure: 5 min; acoustic powers: 0.47-1.3W) generated ischemic or hemorrhagic lesions at the focal volume revealed by both MR imaging and histology. Shorter burst (2 ms) or shorter sonication time (1 min) reduced the probability of lesion production. Longer pulses (200ms, 500ms and continuous wave) caused significant near-field damages. Using microbubbles with focused ultrasound significantly reduced the acoustic power levels, therefore avoided skull heating issues and potentially can extend the treatable volume of transcranial focused ultrasound to the brain tissues close to the skull. PMID:23743099

Focusing of shock waves induced by optical breakdown in water

PubMed Central

Sankin, Georgy N.; Zhou, Yufeng; Zhong, Pei

2008-01-01

The focusing of laser-generated shock waves by a truncated ellipsoidal reflector was experimentally and numerically investigated. Pressure waveform and distribution around the first (F1) and second foci (F2) of the ellipsoidal reflector were measured. A neodymium doped yttrium aluminum garnet laser of 1046 nm wavelength and 5 ns pulse duration was used to create an optical breakdown at F1, which generates a spherically diverging shock wave with a peak pressure of 2.1–5.9 MPa at 1.1 mm stand-off distance and a pulse width at half maximum of 36–65 ns. Upon reflection, a converging shock wave is produced which, upon arriving at F2, has a leading compressive wave with a peak pressure of 26 MPa and a zero-crossing pulse duration of 0.1 μs, followed by a trailing tensile wave of −3.3 MPa peak pressure and 0.2 μs pulse duration. The −6 dB beam size of the focused shock wave field is 1.6×0.2 mm2 along and transverse to the shock wave propagation direction. Formation of elongated plasmas at high laser energy levels limits the increase in the peak pressure at F2. General features in the waveform profile of the converging shock wave are in qualitative agreement with numerical simulations based on the Hamilton model. PMID:18537359

Comparative study of two intraoral laser techniques for soft tissue surgery

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Swick, Michael D.; Richter, Alexander

2003-06-01

Historically, 810nm has been the predominant wavelength used for intraoral surgery, when diode lasers have been discussed, due to their large numbers in the market place. The techniques used intraorally with the 810nm diode have been relatively similar in most cases. Low powers, 1 or 2 watts, using continuous wave, are employed. The purpose of this study is to compare the thermal damage of the technique of using continuous wave at low powers, to using higher powers with a pulse mode and water for coolant, with the 980nm diode wavelength. During the study the laser fiber was held immobile eliminating surgical manipulation as an error. The resultant histology proves, while the volume of vaporization dramatically increases, thus giving the clinician the ability to reduce the time for destructive conduction of excess heat for a given procedure, the amount of coagulation actually decreases in width and depth. As an added benefit charring, which has been implicated in delayed healing is virtually eliminated. This evidence, coupled with excellent clinical results, lends validity to the use of pulsed higher powers and water coolant for the 980nm diode laser.

Nonlinear Interaction of the Beat-Photon Beams with the Brain Neurocenters: Laser Neurophysics

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Stefan, V. Alexander

2010-03-01

I propose a novel mechanism for laser-brain interaction: Nonlinear interaction of ultrashort pulses of beat-photon, (φ1-- φ2), or double-photon, (φ1+φ2), footnotetextMaria Goeppert-Mayer, "Uber Elementarakte mit zwei Quantenspr"ungen, Ann Phys 9, 273, 95. (1931). beams with the corrupted brain neurocenters, causing a particular neurological disease. The open-scull cerebral tissue can be irradiated with the beat-photon pulses in the range of several 100s fs, with the laser irradiances in the range of a few mW/cm^2, repetition rate of a few 100s Hz, and in the frequency range of 700-1300nm generated in the beat-wave driven free electron laser.footnotetextV. Alexander Stefan, The Interaction of Photon Beams with the DNA Molecules: Genomic Medical Physics. American Physical Society, 2009 APS March Meeting, March 16-20, 2009, abstract #K1.276; V. Stefan, B. I. Cohen, and C. Joshi, Nonlinear Mixing of Electromagnetic Waves in Plasmas Science 27 January 1989:Vol. 243. no. 4890, pp. 494 -- 500 (January 1989). This method may prove to be an effective mechanism in the treatment of neurological diseases: Parkinson's, Lou Gehrig's, and others.

Spiral-wave dynamics in ionically realistic mathematical models for human ventricular tissue: the effects of periodic deformation.

PubMed

Nayak, Alok R; Pandit, Rahul

2014-01-01

We carry out an extensive numerical study of the dynamics of spiral waves of electrical activation, in the presence of periodic deformation (PD) in two-dimensional simulation domains, in the biophysically realistic mathematical models of human ventricular tissue due to (a) ten-Tusscher and Panfilov (the TP06 model) and (b) ten-Tusscher, Noble, Noble, and Panfilov (the TNNP04 model). We first consider simulations in cable-type domains, in which we calculate the conduction velocity θ and the wavelength λ of a plane wave; we show that PD leads to a periodic, spatial modulation of θ and a temporally periodic modulation of λ; both these modulations depend on the amplitude and frequency of the PD. We then examine three types of initial conditions for both TP06 and TNNP04 models and show that the imposition of PD leads to a rich variety of spatiotemporal patterns in the transmembrane potential including states with a single rotating spiral (RS) wave, a spiral-turbulence (ST) state with a single meandering spiral, an ST state with multiple broken spirals, and a state SA in which all spirals are absorbed at the boundaries of our simulation domain. We find, for both TP06 and TNNP04 models, that spiral-wave dynamics depends sensitively on the amplitude and frequency of PD and the initial condition. We examine how these different types of spiral-wave states can be eliminated in the presence of PD by the application of low-amplitude pulses by square- and rectangular-mesh suppression techniques. We suggest specific experiments that can test the results of our simulations.

Spiral-wave dynamics in ionically realistic mathematical models for human ventricular tissue: the effects of periodic deformation

PubMed Central

Nayak, Alok R.; Pandit, Rahul

2014-01-01

We carry out an extensive numerical study of the dynamics of spiral waves of electrical activation, in the presence of periodic deformation (PD) in two-dimensional simulation domains, in the biophysically realistic mathematical models of human ventricular tissue due to (a) ten-Tusscher and Panfilov (the TP06 model) and (b) ten-Tusscher, Noble, Noble, and Panfilov (the TNNP04 model). We first consider simulations in cable-type domains, in which we calculate the conduction velocity θ and the wavelength λ of a plane wave; we show that PD leads to a periodic, spatial modulation of θ and a temporally periodic modulation of λ; both these modulations depend on the amplitude and frequency of the PD. We then examine three types of initial conditions for both TP06 and TNNP04 models and show that the imposition of PD leads to a rich variety of spatiotemporal patterns in the transmembrane potential including states with a single rotating spiral (RS) wave, a spiral-turbulence (ST) state with a single meandering spiral, an ST state with multiple broken spirals, and a state SA in which all spirals are absorbed at the boundaries of our simulation domain. We find, for both TP06 and TNNP04 models, that spiral-wave dynamics depends sensitively on the amplitude and frequency of PD and the initial condition. We examine how these different types of spiral-wave states can be eliminated in the presence of PD by the application of low-amplitude pulses by square- and rectangular-mesh suppression techniques. We suggest specific experiments that can test the results of our simulations. PMID:24959148

Shock-Wave Pulse Compression and Stretching of Dodecane and Mineral Oils

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bannikova, I. A.; Zubareva, A. N.; Utkin, A. V.

2018-04-01

The behavior of dodecane, vacuum, and transformer oils under shock-wave pulse compression and stretching are studied experimentally. The wave profiles are registered using a VISAR laser interferometer. The shock adiabats, the dependence of the sound velocity on the pressure, and the maximum negative pressures developed in the studied liquids are determined. It is shown that the negative pressure value does not depend on the deformation rate in the case of oils and is a strong function of the compression pulse amplitude in the case of dodecane.

Large-amplitude acoustic solitary waves in a Yukawa chain

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sheridan, T. E.; Gallagher, James C.

2017-06-01

We experimentally study the excitation and propagation of acoustic solitary waves in a one-dimensional dusty plasma (i.e. a Yukawa chain) with particles interacting through a screened Coulomb potential. The lattice constant mm. Waves are launched by applying a 100 mW laser pulse to one end of the chain for laser pulse durations from 0.10 to 2.0 s. We observe damped solitary waves which propagate for distances with an acoustic speed s=11.5\\pm 0.2~\\text{mm}~\\text{s}-1$ . The maximum velocity perturbation increases with laser pulse duration for durations s and then saturates at . The wave speed is found to be independent of the maximum amplitude, indicating that the formation of nonlinear solitons is prevented by neutral-gas damping.

Pulse Wave Velocity Predicts Response to Renal Denervation in Isolated Systolic Hypertension.

PubMed

Fengler, Karl; Rommel, Karl-Philipp; Hoellriegel, Robert; Blazek, Stephan; Besler, Christian; Desch, Steffen; Schuler, Gerhard; Linke, Axel; Lurz, Philipp

2017-05-17

Renal sympathetic denervation seems to be less effective as a treatment for hypertension in patients with isolated systolic hypertension, a condition associated with elevated central arterial stiffness. Because isolated systolic hypertension can also be caused by wave reflection or increased cardiac output, a more differentiated approach might improve patient preselection for renal sympathetic denervation. We sought to evaluate the additional predictive value of invasive pulse wave velocity for response to renal sympathetic denervation in patients with combined versus isolated systolic hypertension. Patients scheduled for renal sympathetic denervation underwent additional invasive measurement of pulse wave velocity and pulse pressure before denervation. Blood pressure was assessed via ambulatory measurement at baseline and after 3 months. In total 109 patients (40 patients with isolated systolic hypertension) were included in our analysis. After 3 months, blood pressure reduction was more pronounced among patients with combined hypertension compared with patients with isolated systolic hypertension (systolic 24-hour average 9.3±10.5 versus 5.0±11.5 mm Hg, P =0.046). However, when stratifying patients with isolated systolic hypertension by invasive pulse wave velocity, patients in the lowest tertile of pulse wave velocity had comparable blood pressure reduction (12.1±12.6 mm Hg, P =0.006) despite lower baseline blood pressure than patients with combined hypertension (systolic 24-hour average 154.8±12.5 mm Hg in combined hypertension versus 141.2±8.1, 148.4±10.9, and 150.5±12.7 mm Hg, respectively, by tertiles of pulse wave velocity, P =0.002). Extended assessment of arterial stiffness can help improve patient preselection for renal sympathetic denervation and identify a subgroup of isolated systolic hypertension patients who benefit from sympathetic modulation. © 2017 The Authors. Published on behalf of the American Heart Association, Inc., by Wiley.

The Use of Steady and Unsteady Detonation Waves for Propulsion Systems

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Adelman, Henry G.; Menees, Gene P.; Cambier, Jean-Luc; Bowles, Jeffrey V.; Cavolowsky, John A. (Technical Monitor)

1995-01-01

Detonation wave enhanced supersonic combustors such as the Oblique Detonation Wave Engine (ODWE) are attractive propulsion concepts for hypersonic flight. These engines utilize detonation waves to enhance fuel-air mixing and combustion. The benefits of wave combustion systems include shorter and lighter engines which require less cooling and generate lower internal drag. These features allow air-breathing operation at higher Mach numbers than the diffusive burning scramjet delaying the need for rocket engine augmentation. A comprehensive vehicle synthesis code has predicted the aerodynamic characteristics and structural size and weight of a typical single-stage-to-orbit vehicle using an ODWE. Other studies have focused on the use of unsteady or pulsed detonation waves. For low speed applications, pulsed detonation engines (PDE) have advantages in low weight and higher efficiency than turbojets. At hypersonic speeds, the pulsed detonations can be used in conjunction with a scramjet type engine to enhance mixing and provide thrust augmentation.

Pulsed optical fibre lasers: Self-pulsation, Q-switching and tissue interactions

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

El-Sherif, Ashraf Fathy

The experimental and theoretical aspects of self-pulsing and dynamics effects of a CW Tm3+-doped silica fibre laser operating near 2 mum are investigated and examined for the first time. Various self-pulsing regimes are observed for a range of pumping rates when the fibre is end-pumped with a high power Nd:YAG laser operating at 1.319 mum in a linear bidirectional cavity. A theoretical model based on pair induced quenching (PIQ) is considered. The quenching effect acts as a saturable absorber or an additional dynamical loss mechanism, this additional absorber then may make the laser system unstable depending on whether the obtained steady-state solution is stable or not. A comparison between measured self-pulsation frequency and calculated relaxation oscillation frequency as a function of pumping rate is presented and discussed. High performance operation of a mechanical shutter Q-switched Tm3+-doped silica fibre laser operating near 2 mum is observed and presented. A single Q-switched pulse with peak power of 18.5 W and pulse duration at full width half maximum (FWHM) of 300 ns at higher mechanical chopper frequencies of nearly 20 kHz is achieved. The pulse-to-pulse stability was measured and improved to be more less than 5 %. The development, optimisation of the performance and analysis of an acousto-optic modulator (AOM) Q-switched Tm3+-doped silica fibre laser operating near 2 mum are presented. The shortest pulse duration obtained was 150 ns, giving a highest peak power of 4.1 kW, and is the highest yet reported from any type of active Q-switched fibre laser operating in low order mode. The maximum peak power was obtained for an optimum cavity length of 1.15 meters made up of fibre length, Q-switch crystal and passive space. The pulse train with high pulse-to-pulse stability of 1 % occurred at a range of high repetition rates from 10 to 30 kHz. High energy, high brightness of an electro-optic modulator (EOM) Q-switched Tm3+-doped silica fibre laser operating near 2 mum is presented. Appropriate design precautions have been undertaken to ensure that prelasing does not occur. In this system, the main Q-switched pulse may be followed by one pulse of lower amplitude "postlasing" when an optimised quarter wave voltage of 750 V is applied. It was found that the laser produced 320 ns pulses with 2.5 mJ pulse energy and 3.3 kW peak power at low repetition rates of 50-70 Hz. This is the first time that such studies of electro-optic modulator (EOM) Q-switched Tm3+ fibre lasers have been reported. The maximum peak power was obtained for an optimum cavity length of 2.15 meters, made up of fibre length, broadband beamsplitter polarizer, Q-switch crystal and passive space. Computer simulation of Tm3+doped silica and Er2-doped fluorozirconate fibre lasers using general laser analysis and design (GLAD) software has been successfully investigated for the first time. Input files, which are very similar to language are created to model three designs of fibre lasers, two for Tm3+-doped silica fibre lasers, core pumped at 1.57 mum and cladding pumped at 790 nm, and one for a 2.7 mum Er3+-doped fluorozirconate fibre laser cladding pumped at 975 nm. Results are presented from a relatively comprehensive computer model, which simulates CW operation of the fibre lasers. The simulation suggests that to enhance the conversion energy we have to optimise between the absorption coefficient of the fibre and the diffraction algorithms. Comparison of soft and hard tissue ablation with high peak power Q-switched and CW Tm3+-silica fibre lasers are presented. The ablation of chicken breast and lamb liver tissues as a soft tissue and cartilage as a hard tissue have been investigated using a free running CW-Tm3+-doped fibre laser (wavelength 1.99 mum, with self-pulsation duration ranging over 1 to few tens of microseconds) and for Q-switched operation of the same laser (pulse duration ranging from 150 ns to 900 ns and pulse repetition rates from 100 Hz to 17 kHz). Residual damage and affected zones using the CW laser were nearly 6 times greater than using the Q-switched fibre laser for about 50 s of exposure time, and increased with pulse repetition rate. The energy required to ablate tissues with the CW-fibre laser ranged from 153 to 334 kJ/cm3 and was significantly smaller from 0.2 to 0.6 kJ/cm3 for the Q-switched fibre laser. This study is the first direct comparison of tissue interaction of CW and Q- switched Tm3+-doped silica fibre lasers on crater depth, heat of ablation and collateral damage. The Q-switched Tm3+-doped silica fibre laser effectively ablates tissue with little secondary damage.

Pulse wave velocity in patients with severe head injury a pilot study.

PubMed

Shahsavari, S; McKelvey, T; Rydenhag, B; Ritzén, C Eriksson

2010-01-01

The study aimed to determine the potential of pulse wave velocity measurements to reflect changes in compliant cerebral arteries/arterioles in head injured patients. The approach utilizes the electrocardiogram and intracranial pressure signals to measure the wave transit time between heart and cranial cavity. Thirty five clinical records of nineteen head injured patients, with different levels of cerebrovascular pressure-reactivity response, were investigated through the study. Results were compared with magnitude of normalized transfer function at the fundamental cardiac frequency. In patients with intact cerebrovascular pressure-reactivity, magnitude of normalized transfer function at the fundamental cardiac component was found to be highly correlated with pulse wave transit time.

Whistler mode plasma waves observed on Electron Echo 2

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Monson, S. J.; Kellogg, P. J.; Cartwright, D. G.

1976-01-01

Observations of whistler-mode waves associated with beams of electrons injected into the ionosphere are reported. The measurements are from the plasma-wave experiments carried on the Electron Echo 2 sounding rocket launched on September 24, 1972. Over 2000 electron injections were made with durations of 8 ms and 64 ms and pitch angles from 0 to 180 deg. The electric field receivers carried on the ejected nose cone observed strong whistler waves in the range from less than 100 kHz up to the electron cyclotron frequency of 1400 kHz. The whistler characteristics fall into four distinct types depending on pitch angle and gun energy. Both frequency and amplitude showed strong dependence on time from the start of the pulse and pitch angle. Cases of enhancement at the leading edge of a gun pulse, growth during a pulse, and echoes after the end of a pulse were all observed.

A differential optical interferometer for measuring short pulses of surface acoustic waves.

PubMed

Shaw, Anurupa; Teyssieux, Damien; Laude, Vincent

2017-09-01

The measurement of the displacements caused by the propagation of a short pulse of surface acoustic waves on a solid substrate is investigated. A stabilized time-domain differential interferometer is proposed, with the surface acoustic wave (SAW) sample placed outside the interferometer. Experiments are conducted with surface acoustic waves excited by a chirped interdigital transducer on a piezoelectric lithium niobate substrate having an operational bandwidth covering the 200-400MHz frequency range and producing 10-ns pulses with 36nm maximum out-of-plane displacement. The interferometric response is compared with a direct electrical measurement obtained with a receiving wide bandwidth interdigital transducer and good correspondence is observed. The effects of varying the path difference of the interferometer and the measurement position on the surface are discussed. Pulse compression along the chirped interdigital transducer is observed experimentally. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Local pulse wave velocity estimated from small vibrations measured ultrasonically at multiple points on the arterial wall

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ito, Mika; Arakawa, Mototaka; Kanai, Hiroshi

2018-07-01

Pulse wave velocity (PWV) is used as a diagnostic criterion for arteriosclerosis, a major cause of heart disease and cerebrovascular disease. However, there are several problems with conventional PWV measurement techniques. One is that a pulse wave is assumed to only have an incident component propagating at a constant speed from the heart to the femoral artery, and another is that PWV is only determined from a characteristic time such as the rise time of the blood pressure waveform. In this study, we noninvasively measured the velocity waveform of small vibrations at multiple points on the carotid arterial wall using ultrasound. Local PWV was determined by analyzing the phase component of the velocity waveform by the least squares method. This method allowed measurement of the time change of the PWV at approximately the arrival time of the pulse wave, which discriminates the period when the reflected component is not contaminated.

High resolution data acquisition

DOEpatents

Thornton, G.W.; Fuller, K.R.

1993-04-06

A high resolution event interval timing system measures short time intervals such as occur in high energy physics or laser ranging. Timing is provided from a clock, pulse train, and analog circuitry for generating a triangular wave synchronously with the pulse train (as seen in diagram on patent). The triangular wave has an amplitude and slope functionally related to the time elapsed during each clock pulse in the train. A converter forms a first digital value of the amplitude and slope of the triangle wave at the start of the event interval and a second digital value of the amplitude and slope of the triangle wave at the end of the event interval. A counter counts the clock pulse train during the interval to form a gross event interval time. A computer then combines the gross event interval time and the first and second digital values to output a high resolution value for the event interval.

High resolution data acquisition

DOEpatents

Thornton, Glenn W.; Fuller, Kenneth R.

1993-01-01

A high resolution event interval timing system measures short time intervals such as occur in high energy physics or laser ranging. Timing is provided from a clock (38) pulse train (37) and analog circuitry (44) for generating a triangular wave (46) synchronously with the pulse train (37). The triangular wave (46) has an amplitude and slope functionally related to the time elapsed during each clock pulse in the train. A converter (18, 32) forms a first digital value of the amplitude and slope of the triangle wave at the start of the event interval and a second digital value of the amplitude and slope of the triangle wave at the end of the event interval. A counter (26) counts the clock pulse train (37) during the interval to form a gross event interval time. A computer (52) then combines the gross event interval time and the first and second digital values to output a high resolution value for the event interval.

Optical coherence tomography-guided laser microsurgery for blood coagulation with continuous-wave laser diode.

PubMed

Chang, Feng-Yu; Tsai, Meng-Tsan; Wang, Zu-Yi; Chi, Chun-Kai; Lee, Cheng-Kuang; Yang, Chih-Hsun; Chan, Ming-Che; Lee, Ya-Ju

2015-11-16

Blood coagulation is the clotting and subsequent dissolution of the clot following repair to the damaged tissue. However, inducing blood coagulation is difficult for some patients with homeostasis dysfunction or during surgery. In this study, we proposed a method to develop an integrated system that combines optical coherence tomography (OCT) and laser microsurgery for blood coagulation. Also, an algorithm for positioning of the treatment location from OCT images was developed. With OCT scanning, 2D/3D OCT images and angiography of tissue can be obtained simultaneously, enabling to noninvasively reconstruct the morphological and microvascular structures for real-time monitoring of changes in biological tissues during laser microsurgery. Instead of high-cost pulsed lasers, continuous-wave laser diodes (CW-LDs) with the central wavelengths of 450 nm and 532 nm are used for blood coagulation, corresponding to higher absorption coefficients of oxyhemoglobin and deoxyhemoglobin. Experimental results showed that the location of laser exposure can be accurately controlled with the proposed approach of imaging-based feedback positioning. Moreover, blood coagulation can be efficiently induced by CW-LDs and the coagulation process can be monitored in real-time with OCT. This technology enables to potentially provide accurate positioning for laser microsurgery and control the laser exposure to avoid extra damage by real-time OCT imaging.

Magneto-acoustic imaging by continuous-wave excitation.

PubMed

Shunqi, Zhang; Zhou, Xiaoqing; Tao, Yin; Zhipeng, Liu

2017-04-01

The electrical characteristics of tissue yield valuable information for early diagnosis of pathological changes. Magneto-acoustic imaging is a functional approach for imaging of electrical conductivity. This study proposes a continuous-wave magneto-acoustic imaging method. A kHz-range continuous signal with an amplitude range of several volts is used to excite the magneto-acoustic signal and improve the signal-to-noise ratio. The magneto-acoustic signal amplitude and phase are measured to locate the acoustic source via lock-in technology. An optimisation algorithm incorporating nonlinear equations is used to reconstruct the magneto-acoustic source distribution based on the measured amplitude and phase at various frequencies. Validation simulations and experiments were performed in pork samples. The experimental and simulation results agreed well. While the excitation current was reduced to 10 mA, the acoustic signal magnitude increased up to 10 -7  Pa. Experimental reconstruction of the pork tissue showed that the image resolution reached mm levels when the excitation signal was in the kHz range. The signal-to-noise ratio of the detected magneto-acoustic signal was improved by more than 25 dB at 5 kHz when compared to classical 1 MHz pulse excitation. The results reported here will aid further research into magneto-acoustic generation mechanisms and internal tissue conductivity imaging.

Optical coherence tomography-guided laser microsurgery for blood coagulation with continuous-wave laser diode

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Chang, Feng-Yu; Tsai, Meng-Tsan; Wang, Zu-Yi; Chi, Chun-Kai; Lee, Cheng-Kuang; Yang, Chih-Hsun; Chan, Ming-Che; Lee, Ya-Ju

2015-11-01

Blood coagulation is the clotting and subsequent dissolution of the clot following repair to the damaged tissue. However, inducing blood coagulation is difficult for some patients with homeostasis dysfunction or during surgery. In this study, we proposed a method to develop an integrated system that combines optical coherence tomography (OCT) and laser microsurgery for blood coagulation. Also, an algorithm for positioning of the treatment location from OCT images was developed. With OCT scanning, 2D/3D OCT images and angiography of tissue can be obtained simultaneously, enabling to noninvasively reconstruct the morphological and microvascular structures for real-time monitoring of changes in biological tissues during laser microsurgery. Instead of high-cost pulsed lasers, continuous-wave laser diodes (CW-LDs) with the central wavelengths of 450 nm and 532 nm are used for blood coagulation, corresponding to higher absorption coefficients of oxyhemoglobin and deoxyhemoglobin. Experimental results showed that the location of laser exposure can be accurately controlled with the proposed approach of imaging-based feedback positioning. Moreover, blood coagulation can be efficiently induced by CW-LDs and the coagulation process can be monitored in real-time with OCT. This technology enables to potentially provide accurate positioning for laser microsurgery and control the laser exposure to avoid extra damage by real-time OCT imaging.

Pulse-Inversion Subharmonic Ultrafast Active Cavitation Imaging in Tissue Using Fast Eigenspace-Based Adaptive Beamforming and Cavitation Deconvolution.

PubMed

Bai, Chen; Xu, Shanshan; Duan, Junbo; Jing, Bowen; Yang, Miao; Wan, Mingxi

2017-08-01

Pulse-inversion subharmonic (PISH) imaging can display information relating to pure cavitation bubbles while excluding that of tissue. Although plane-wave-based ultrafast active cavitation imaging (UACI) can monitor the transient activities of cavitation bubbles, its resolution and cavitation-to-tissue ratio (CTR) are barely satisfactory but can be significantly improved by introducing eigenspace-based (ESB) adaptive beamforming. PISH and UACI are a natural combination for imaging of pure cavitation activity in tissue; however, it raises two problems: 1) the ESB beamforming is hard to implement in real time due to the enormous amount of computation associated with the covariance matrix inversion and eigendecomposition and 2) the narrowband characteristic of the subharmonic filter will incur a drastic degradation in resolution. Thus, in order to jointly address these two problems, we propose a new PISH-UACI method using novel fast ESB (F-ESB) beamforming and cavitation deconvolution for nonlinear signals. This method greatly reduces the computational complexity by using F-ESB beamforming through dimensionality reduction based on principal component analysis, while maintaining the high quality of ESB beamforming. The degraded resolution is recovered using cavitation deconvolution through a modified convolution model and compressive deconvolution. Both simulations and in vitro experiments were performed to verify the effectiveness of the proposed method. Compared with the ESB-based PISH-UACI, the entire computation of our proposed approach was reduced by 99%, while the axial resolution gain and CTR were increased by 3 times and 2 dB, respectively, confirming that satisfactory performance can be obtained for monitoring pure cavitation bubbles in tissue erosion.

Electromagnetic pulses bone healing booster

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sintea, S. R.; Pomazan, V. M.; Bica, D.; Grebenisan, D.; Bordea, N.

2015-11-01

Posttraumatic bone restoration triggered by the need to assist and stimulate compensatory bone growth in periodontal condition. Recent studies state that specific electromagnetic stimulation can boost the bone restoration, reaching up to 30% decrease in recovery time. Based on the existing data on the electromagnetic parameters, a digital electronic device is proposed for intra oral mounting and bone restoration stimulation in periodontal condition. The electrical signal is applied to an inductive mark that will create and impregnate magnetic field in diseased tissue. The device also monitors the status of the electromagnetic field. Controlled wave forms and pulse frequency signal at programmable intervals are obtained with optimized number of components and miniaturized using surface mounting devices (SMD) circuits and surface mounting technology (SMT), with enhanced protection against abnormal current growth, given the intra-oral environment. The system is powered by an autonomous power supply (battery), to limit the problems caused by powering medical equipment from the main power supply. Currently the device is used in clinical testing, in cycles of six up to twelve months. Basic principles for the electrical scheme and algorithms for pulse generation, pulse control, electromagnetic field control and automation of current monitoring are presented, together with the friendly user interface, suitable for medical data and patient monitoring.

Acoustic experimental investigation of interaction femtosecond laser pulses with gas-aerosol media and biological tissues

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bochkarev, N. N.; Kabanov, A. M.; Stepanov, A. N.

2008-02-01

Using two optical acoustic approaches we experimentally investigated spatial location of filament zone of propagation channel of focused laser radiation. For femtosecond pulses passing in air it was shown that nonlinear focus length had spatial scale of 1/P at initial power P moderate for self-focusing and at optical system focus distance significantly lower than Rayleigh beam length. The results of experimental optical acoustic investigation of femto- and nanosecond pulses attenuation by some biological tissues (muscular tissue, adipose tissue, cutaneous covering, milk) and optical breakdown thresholds on these one are presented. It was shown that penetration depth of short laser pulse radiation into biological tissues is the same as for longer one. However, amplitude of acoustic response to a process of interaction of femtosecond laser pulse with biological tissue is larger in several times than that to interaction with nanosecond pulses of the same power and spectral distribution. The obtained of threshold values can be interesting for tabulation of limit allowable levels of irradiation at work with laser radiation. Such values are unknown for femtosecond laser pulses today.

Applications of Shock Wave Research to Developments of Therapeutic Devices.

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Takayama, Kazuyoshi

2007-06-01

Underwater shock wave research applied to medicine started in 1980 by exploding micro lead azide pellets in water. Collaboration with urologists in the School of Medicine, Tohoku University at the same time was directed to disintegration of kidney stones by controlling shock waves. We initially proposed a miniature truncated ellipsoidal cavity for generating high-pressures enough to disintegrate the stone but gave up the idea, when encountering the Dornie Systems' invention of an extracorporeal shock wave lithotripter (ESWL). Then we confirmed its effectiveness by using 10 mg silver azide pellets and constructed our own lithotripter, which was officially approved for a clinical use in 1987. Tissue damage during ESWL was attributable to bubble collapse and we convinced it could be done in a controlled fashion. In 1996, we used 160 mJ pulsed Ho:YAG laser beam focusing inside a catheter for shock generation and applied it to the revascularization of cerebral embolism, which is recently expanded to the treatment of pulmonary infarction. Micro water jets discharged in air were so effective to dissect soft tissues preserving small blood vessels. Animal experiments are successfully performed with high frequency water jets driven by an actuator-assisted micro-pump. A metal foil is deformed at high speed by a Q-switched Nd:YAG laser beam loading. We used this technique to project micro-particles or dry drugs attached on its reverse side and extended it to a laser ablation assisted dry drug delivery or DNA introductory system.

A distributed parameter model of transmission line transformer for high voltage nanosecond pulse generation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Li, Jiangtao; Zhao, Zheng; Li, Longjie; He, Jiaxin; Li, Chenjie; Wang, Yifeng; Su, Can

2017-09-01

A transmission line transformer has potential advantages for nanosecond pulse generation including excellent frequency response and no leakage inductance. The wave propagation process in a secondary mode line is indispensable due to an obvious inside transient electromagnetic transition in this scenario. The equivalent model of the transmission line transformer is crucial for predicting the output waveform and evaluating the effects of magnetic cores on output performance. However, traditional lumped parameter models are not sufficient for nanosecond pulse generation due to the natural neglect of wave propagations in secondary mode lines based on a lumped parameter assumption. In this paper, a distributed parameter model of transmission line transformer was established to investigate wave propagation in the secondary mode line and its influential factors through theoretical analysis and experimental verification. The wave propagation discontinuity in the secondary mode line induced by magnetic cores is emphasized. Characteristics of the magnetic core under a nanosecond pulse were obtained by experiments. Distribution and formation of the secondary mode current were determined for revealing essential wave propagation processes in secondary mode lines. The output waveform and efficiency were found to be affected dramatically by wave propagation discontinuity in secondary mode lines induced by magnetic cores. The proposed distributed parameter model was proved more suitable for nanosecond pulse generation in aspects of secondary mode current, output efficiency, and output waveform. In depth, comprehension of underlying mechanisms and a broader view of the working principle of the transmission line transformer for nanosecond pulse generation can be obtained through this research.

Type 2 diabetes is associated with increased pulse wave velocity measured at different sites of the arterial system but not augmentation index in a Chinese population.

PubMed

Zhang, Minghua; Bai, Yongyi; Ye, Ping; Luo, Leiming; Xiao, Wenkai; Wu, Hongmei; Liu, Dejun

2011-10-01

Patients with type 2 diabetes have increased stiffness of central elastic arteries. However, whether peripheral muscular artery stiffness is equally affected by the disease remains sparsely examined. Moreover, the association between pulse wave velocity (PWV) and augmentation index (AIx) in diabetes is poorly understood. Type 2 diabetes is associated with the alterations in arterial stiffness (PWV and AIx) in a community-based population. A total of 79 Chinese patients with type 2 diabetes and 79 sex-, age- (±3 years), and body mass index- (±2 kg/m(2) ) matched healthy controls were studied. Carotid-femoral pulse wave velocity (CF-PWV), carotid-radial pulse wave velocity (CR-PWV), and carotid-ankle pulse wave velocity (CA-PWV) were calculated from tonometry waveforms and body surface measurements, whereas AIx was assessed using pulse wave analyses. In univariate analysis, patients with type 2 diabetes showed increased CF-PWV (P < 0.001), CR-PWV (P = 0.012), and CA-PWV (P = 0.016), and lower AIx (P = 0.017) than the control group. In multiple linear regression models adjusting for covariates, type 2 diabetes remained a significant determinant of CF-PWV. Fasting glucose was associated with CR-PWV but was not related to CA-PWV or AIx. Our findings suggest that patients with type 2 diabetes have increased central and peripheral artery stiffness, but preserved AIx compared to controls. Diabetes was a predictor of central artery stiffness, and glucose was a determinant of peripheral artery stiffness. © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

A comparison between the pathophysiology of multiple sclerosis and normal pressure hydrocephalus: is pulse wave encephalopathy a component of MS?

PubMed

Bateman, Grant A; Lechner-Scott, Jeannette; Lea, Rodney A

2016-09-22

It has been suggested there is a chronic neurodegenerative disorder, underlying the pathophysiology of multiple sclerosis (MS), which is distinct from the more obvious immune-mediated attack on the white matter. Limited data exists indicating there is an alteration in pulse wave propagation within the craniospinal cavity in MS, similar to the findings in normal pressure hydrocephalus (NPH). It is hypothesized MS may harbor pulse wave encephalopathy. The purpose of this study is to compare blood flow and pulse wave measurements in MS patients with a cohort of NPH patients and control subjects, to test this hypothesis. Twenty patients with MS underwent magnetic resonance (MR) flow quantification techniques. Mean blood flow and stroke volume were measured in the arterial inflow and venous out flow from the sagittal (SSS) and straight sinus (ST). The arteriovenous delay (AVD) was defined. The results were compared with both age-matched controls and NPH patients. In MS there was a 35 % reduction in arteriovenous delay and a 5 % reduction in the percentage of the arterial inflow returning via the sagittal sinus compared to age matched controls. There was an alteration in pulse wave propagation, with a 26 % increase in arterial stroke volume but 30 % reduction in SSS and ST stroke volume. The AVD and blood flow changes were in the same direction to those of NPH patients. There are blood flow and pulsation propagation changes in MS patients which are similar to those of NPH patients. The findings would be consistent with an underlying pulse wave encephalopathy component in MS.

A distributed parameter model of transmission line transformer for high voltage nanosecond pulse generation.

PubMed

Li, Jiangtao; Zhao, Zheng; Li, Longjie; He, Jiaxin; Li, Chenjie; Wang, Yifeng; Su, Can

2017-09-01

A transmission line transformer has potential advantages for nanosecond pulse generation including excellent frequency response and no leakage inductance. The wave propagation process in a secondary mode line is indispensable due to an obvious inside transient electromagnetic transition in this scenario. The equivalent model of the transmission line transformer is crucial for predicting the output waveform and evaluating the effects of magnetic cores on output performance. However, traditional lumped parameter models are not sufficient for nanosecond pulse generation due to the natural neglect of wave propagations in secondary mode lines based on a lumped parameter assumption. In this paper, a distributed parameter model of transmission line transformer was established to investigate wave propagation in the secondary mode line and its influential factors through theoretical analysis and experimental verification. The wave propagation discontinuity in the secondary mode line induced by magnetic cores is emphasized. Characteristics of the magnetic core under a nanosecond pulse were obtained by experiments. Distribution and formation of the secondary mode current were determined for revealing essential wave propagation processes in secondary mode lines. The output waveform and efficiency were found to be affected dramatically by wave propagation discontinuity in secondary mode lines induced by magnetic cores. The proposed distributed parameter model was proved more suitable for nanosecond pulse generation in aspects of secondary mode current, output efficiency, and output waveform. In depth, comprehension of underlying mechanisms and a broader view of the working principle of the transmission line transformer for nanosecond pulse generation can be obtained through this research.

The impact of intraocular pressure on elastic wave velocity estimates in the crystalline lens.

PubMed

Park, Suhyun; Yoon, Heechul; Larin, Kirill V; Emelianov, Stanislav Y; Aglyamov, Salavat R

2016-12-20

Intraocular pressure (IOP) is believed to influence the mechanical properties of ocular tissues including cornea and sclera. The elastic properties of the crystalline lens have been mainly investigated with regard to presbyopia, the age-related loss of accommodation power of the eye. However, the relationship between the elastic properties of the lens and IOP remains to be established. The objective of this study is to measure the elastic wave velocity, which represents the mechanical properties of tissue, in the crystalline lens ex vivo in response to changes in IOP. The elastic wave velocities in the cornea and lens from seven enucleated bovine globe samples were estimated using ultrasound shear wave elasticity imaging. To generate and then image the elastic wave propagation, an ultrasound imaging system was used to transmit a 600 µs pushing pulse at 4.5 MHz center frequency and to acquire ultrasound tracking frames at 6 kHz frame rate. The pushing beams were separately applied to the cornea and lens. IOP in the eyeballs was varied from 5 to 50 mmHg. The results indicate that while the elastic wave velocity in the cornea increased from 0.96  ±  0.30 m s -1 to 6.27  ±  0.75 m s -1 as IOP was elevated from 5 to 50 mmHg, there were insignificant changes in the elastic wave velocity in the crystalline lens with the minimum and the maximum speeds of 1.44  ±  0.27 m s -1 and 2.03  ±  0.46 m s -1 , respectively. This study shows that ultrasound shear wave elasticity imaging can be used to assess the biomechanical properties of the crystalline lens noninvasively. Also, it was observed that the dependency of the crystalline lens stiffness on the IOP was significantly lower in comparison with that of cornea.

Cavitation-based hydro-fracturing simulator

DOEpatents

Wang, Jy-An John; Wang, Hong; Ren, Fei; Cox, Thomas S.

2016-11-22

An apparatus 300 for simulating a pulsed pressure induced cavitation technique (PPCT) from a pressurized working fluid (F) provides laboratory research and development for enhanced geothermal systems (EGS), oil, and gas wells. A pump 304 is configured to deliver a pressurized working fluid (F) to a control valve 306, which produces a pulsed pressure wave in a test chamber 308. The pulsed pressure wave parameters are defined by the pump 304 pressure and control valve 306 cycle rate. When a working fluid (F) and a rock specimen 312 are included in the apparatus, the pulsed pressure wave causes cavitation to occur at the surface of the specimen 312, thus initiating an extensive network of fracturing surfaces and micro fissures, which are examined by researchers.

Single-cycle high-intensity electromagnetic pulse generation in the interaction of a plasma wakefield with regular nonlinear structures.

PubMed

Bulanov, S S; Esirkepov, T Zh; Kamenets, F F; Pegoraro, F

2006-03-01

The interaction of regular nonlinear structures (such as subcycle solitons, electron vortices, and wake Langmuir waves) with a strong wake wave in a collisionless plasma can be exploited in order to produce ultrashort electromagnetic pulses. The electromagnetic field of the nonlinear structure is partially reflected by the electron density modulations of the incident wake wave and a single-cycle high-intensity electromagnetic pulse is formed. Due to the Doppler effect the length of this pulse is much shorter than that of the nonlinear structure. This process is illustrated with two-dimensional particle-in-cell simulations. The considered laser-plasma interaction regimes can be achieved in present day experiments and can be used for plasma diagnostics.

Coherent control of ultrafast optical four-wave mixing with two-color {omega}-3{omega} laser pulses

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Serrat, Carles

2005-08-15

A theoretical investigation on the coherent control of optical transient four-wave mixing interactions in two-level systems with two intense few-cycle propagating laser pulses of central angular frequencies {omega} and 3{omega} is reported. By numerically solving the full Maxwell-Bloch equations beyond the slowly varying envelope and rotating-wave approximations in the time domain, the nonlinear coupling to the optical field at frequency 5{omega} is found to depend critically on the initial relative phase {phi} of the propagating pulses: the coupling is enhanced when the pulses interfere constructively in the center ({phi}=0), while it is nearly suppressed when they are out of phasemore » ({phi}={pi})« less

A program to calculate pulse transmission responses through transversely isotropic media

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Li, Wei; Schmitt, Douglas R.; Zou, Changchun; Chen, Xiwei

2018-05-01

We provide a program (AOTI2D) to model responses of ultrasonic pulse transmission measurements through arbitrarily oriented transversely isotropic rocks. The program is built with the distributed point source method that treats the transducers as a series of point sources. The response of each point source is calculated according to the ray-tracing theory of elastic plane waves. The program could offer basic wave parameters including phase and group velocities, polarization, anisotropic reflection coefficients and directivity patterns, and model the wave fields, static wave beam, and the observed signals for pulse transmission measurements considering the material's elastic stiffnesses and orientations, sample dimensions, and the size and positions of the transmitters and the receivers. The program could be applied to exhibit the ultrasonic beam behaviors in anisotropic media, such as the skew and diffraction of ultrasonic beams, and analyze its effect on pulse transmission measurements. The program would be a useful tool to help design the experimental configuration and interpret the results of ultrasonic pulse transmission measurements through either isotropic or transversely isotropic rock samples.

Mechanisms of amplification of ultrashort electromagnetic pulses in gyrotron traveling wave tube with helically corrugated waveguide

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Ginzburg, N. S., E-mail: ginzburg@appl.sci-nnov.ru; Zaslavsky, V. Yu.; Nizhny Novgorod State University, 23 Gagarin Ave., 603950 Nizhny Novgorod

A time-domain self consistent theory of a gyrotron traveling wave tube with a helically corrugated operating waveguide has been developed. Based on this model, the process of short pulse amplification was studied in regimes of grazing and intersection of the dispersion curves of the electromagnetic wave and the electron beam. In the first case, the possibility of amplification without pulse form distortion was demonstrated for the pulse spectrum width of the order of the gain bandwidth. In the second case, when the electrons' axial velocity was smaller than the wave's group velocity, it was shown that the slippage of themore » incident signal with respect to the electron beam provides feeding of the signal by “fresh” electrons without initial modulation. As a result, the amplitude of the output pulse can exceed the amplitude of its saturated value for the case of the grazing regime, and, for optimal parameters, the peak output power can be even larger than the kinetic power of the electron beam.« less

Narrow bandwidth detection of vibration signature using fiber lasers

DOEpatents

Moore, Sean; Soh, Daniel B.S.

2018-05-08

The various technologies presented herein relate to extracting a portion of each pulse in a series of pulses reflected from a target to facilitate determination of a Doppler-shifted frequency for each pulse and, subsequently, a vibration frequency for the series of pulses. Each pulse can have a square-wave configuration, whereby each pulse can be time-gated to facilitate discarding the leading edge and the trailing edge (and associated non-linear effects) of each pulse and accordingly, capture of the central portion of the pulse from which the Doppler-shifted frequency, and ultimately, the vibration frequency of the target can be determined. Determination of the vibration velocity facilitates identification of the target being in a state of motion. The plurality of pulses can be formed from a laser beam (e.g., a continuous wave), the laser beam having a narrow bandwidth.

Intrastromal corneal reshaping using a high-intensity femtosecond laser: A novel method of vision correction

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Han, Taehee

A new technology to perform a minimally invasive cornea reshaping procedure has been developed. This can eliminate the incidence of the flap-related complications of the conventional eye refractive procedures by multiphoton processes using a very high-intensity (I ≥ 1013 W/cm 2), but low energy (Ep ˜ 100-200 microJ) femtosecond laser pulses. Due to much lower energy than that of the nanosecond laser pulses for the thermal photoablation, the multiphoton processes cause almost no collateral damage by heat and shock wave generation. In this method, a series of femtosecond laser pulses is used to create very narrow (< 30 microm) and sufficiently long (≥ 2.5 mm) micro-channels in the cornea. The micro-channels are oriented almost perpendicular to the eye's optical axis. Once the micro-channel reaches a desired length, another series of femtosecond pulses with higher intensity is efficiently delivered through the micro-channel to the endpoint where a certain amount of the stromal tissue is disintegrated by the multiphoton processes. The disintegrated fragments are ejected out of the cornea via the same micro-channel, allowing the corneal surface to collapse, and changing its refractive power. This new corneal reshaping method obviates any process of damaging the corneal surface layer, while retaining the advantages of the conventional refractive procedures such as Laser in situ keratomileusis (LASIK) and Photorefractive keratectomy (PRK). In order to demonstrate the flapless cornea reshaping procedure, we have conducted ex-vivo experiments on fresh porcine eyes. The reshaped corneas were evaluated by using optical coherence tomography (OCT). The test results have shown that this flapless intrastromal procedure can reshape the cornea as intended with almost no surface damage. We have also performed a series of experiments to demonstrate the multiphoton processes in the corneal tissue by very high-intensity femtosecond laser pulses. Through the optical emission spectroscopy, we investigated the spectral lines of calcium atom and ions from the femtosecond laser-induced plasma from the porcine corneal tissue. The experimental results have shown the intensity-dependence of ablation rate, which qualitatively verifies the characteristics of the multiphoton processes.

Erectile dysfunction and target organ damage in the early stages of hypertension.

PubMed

Kakkavas, Apostolos; Tsioufis, Costas; Tsiachris, Dimitris; Thomopoulos, Costas; Dimitriadis, Kyriakos; Milkas, Anastasios; Alexopoulos, Dimitrios; Kallikazaros, Ioannis; Stefanadis, Christodoulos

2013-09-01

The authors investigated whether erectile dysfunction (ED) in the early stages of hypertension is associated with heightened end-organ damage. A total of 174 consecutive men with untreated, newly diagnosed essential hypertension (aged 50.3 years, office blood pressure [BP] 150/98 mm Hg) were studied. All participants underwent 24-hour ambulatory BP monitoring, blood examination, albumin-creatinine ratio, carotid-femoral pulse-wave velocity assessment, and echocardiography for estimation of left ventricular mass index and diastolic function. Hypertensive men with ED (n=43, 24.7%) compared with those without ED were older (by 6.4 years, P<.05), had greater 24-hour pulse pressure (by 4.3 mm Hg, P=.011) and a greater prevalence of nondipping status (72.2% vs 46.7%, P=.008), while the two groups did not differ in plasma glucose, lipid, creatinine, and albumin/creatinine ratio levels. Regarding cardiac adaptations, hypertensive men with ED exhibited only significantly lower tissue Doppler imaging-derived Em (by 1.6 cm/s, adjusted P=.035), while no difference in left ventricular mass index or pulse wave velocity were detected. ED in the setting of untreated newly diagnosed essential hypertension does not have an unfavorable impact on traditional markers of target organ damage. This finding suggests that ED assessment might not refine the traditional risk stratification procedure at least in the early stages of hypertensive disease. ©2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Chirped self-similar optical pulses in tapered centrosymmetric nonlinear waveguides doped with resonant impurities

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

He, J. R.; Xu, S. L.; Xue, L.

2017-11-01

Exact chirped self-similar optical pulses propagating in tapered centrosymmetric nonlinear waveguides doped with resonant impurities are reported. The propagation behaviors of the pulses are studied by tailoring of the tapering function. Numerical simulations and stability analysis reveal that the tapering can be used to postpone the wave dispersion and the addition of a small cubic self-focusing term to the governing equation could stabilize the chirped bright pulses. An example of possible experimental protocol that may generate the pulses in realistic waveguides is given. The obtained chirped self-similar optical pulses are particularly useful in the design of amplifying or attenuating pulse compressors for chirped solitary waves in tapered centrosymmetric nonlinear waveguides doped with resonant impurities.

Pulsed voltage electrospray ion source and method for preventing analyte electrolysis

DOEpatents

Kertesz, Vilmos [Knoxville, TN; Van Berkel, Gary [Clinton, TN

2011-12-27

An electrospray ion source and method of operation includes the application of pulsed voltage to prevent electrolysis of analytes with a low electrochemical potential. The electrospray ion source can include an emitter, a counter electrode, and a power supply. The emitter can include a liquid conduit, a primary working electrode having a liquid contacting surface, and a spray tip, where the liquid conduit and the working electrode are in liquid communication. The counter electrode can be proximate to, but separated from, the spray tip. The power system can supply voltage to the working electrode in the form of a pulse wave, where the pulse wave oscillates between at least an energized voltage and a relaxation voltage. The relaxation duration of the relaxation voltage can range from 1 millisecond to 35 milliseconds. The pulse duration of the energized voltage can be less than 1 millisecond and the frequency of the pulse wave can range from 30 to 800 Hz.

Multi-operational tuneable Q-switched mode-locking Er fibre laser

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Qamar, F. Z.

2018-01-01

A wavelength-spacing tuneable, Q-switched mode-locking (QML) erbium-doped fibre laser based on non-linear polarization rotation controlled by four waveplates and a cube polarizer is proposed. A mode-locked pulse train using two quarter-wave plates and a half-wave plate (HWP) is obtained first, and then an extra HWP is inserted into the cavity to produce different operation regimes. The evolutions of temporal and spectral dynamics with different orientation angles of the extra HWP are investigated. A fully modulated stable QML pulse train is observed experimentally. This is, to the author’s best knowledge, the first experimental work reporting QML operation without adding an extra saturable absorber inside the laser cavity. Multi-wavelength pulse laser operation, multi-pulse train continuous-wave mode-locking operation and pulse-splitting operations are also reported at certain HWP angles. The observed operational dynamics are interpreted as a mutual interaction of dispersion, non-linear effect and insertion loss. This work provides a new mechanism for fabricating cheap tuneable multi-wavelength lasers with QML pulses.

Imaging monitored loosening of dense fibrous tissues using high-intensity pulsed ultrasound

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yeh, Chia-Lun; Li, Pai-Chi; Shih, Wen-Pin; Huang, Pei-Shin; Kuo, Po-Ling

2013-10-01

Pulsed high-intensity focused ultrasound (HIFU) is proposed as a new alternative treatment for contracture of dense fibrous tissue. It is hypothesized that the pulsed-HIFU can release the contracted tissues by attenuating tensile stiffness along the fiber axis, and that the stiffness reduction can be quantitatively monitored by change of B-mode images. Fresh porcine tendons and ligaments were adapted to an ex vivo model and insonated with pulsed-HIFU for durations ranging from 5 to 30 min. The pulse length was 91 µs with a repetition frequency of 500 Hz, and the peak rarefactional pressure was 6.36 MPa. The corresponding average intensities were kept around 1606 W cm-2 for ISPPA and 72.3 W cm-2 for ISPTA. B-mode images of the tissues were acquired before and after pulsed-HIFU exposure, and the changes in speckle intensity and organization were analyzed. The tensile stiffness of the HIFU-exposed tissues along the longitudinal axis was examined using a stretching machine. Histology examinations were performed by optical and transmission electron microscopy. Pulsed-HIFU exposure significantly decreased the tensile stiffness of the ligaments and tendons. The intensity and organization of tissue speckles in the exposed region were also decreased. The speckle changes correlated well with the degree of stiffness alteration. Histology examinations revealed that pulsed-HIFU exposure probably damages tissues via a cavitation-mediated mechanism. Our results suggest that pulsed-HIFU with a low duty factor is a promising tool for developing new treatment strategies for orthopedic disorders.

Laser-tissue interaction studies using a modified alexandrite laser

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Paterson, Lorna Menzies

This thesis forms a detailed study of the alexandrite laser and its potential in the medical field. Applications suggested include dermatological and dental procedures. This body of work encompasses these areas and touches on wider potential applications. A theoretical model has been developed to explain and predict the reaction of tissue to laser light with the wavelength and temporal profile of the alexandrite laser. The interaction of the fundamental 755 nm radiation with a variety of human tissues was initially studied and further studies carried out on porcine liver with long pulse and Q-switched laser pulses. The results were then compared to an analytical theoretical model and also to the standard de Beer's model of an exponential dependence of the light intensity on the attenuation coefficient of the tissue. The presence of a plume of debris was also taken into account. The interaction of the alexandrite laser output with hard dental material was studied. It was observed that 755 and 378 nm (second harmonic) laser light does not significantly affect healthy enamel or dentine. The selective ablation of carious material at 378 nm was observed. A system to photograph a plume of debris leaving an interaction site, with a known time delay from the moment of irradiation, was developed using a frequency doubled, Q-switched Nd:YAG laser. This system could be used to measure plume velocities and also to observe the different stages of fast interactions, e.g. the different thresholds for water evaporation and tissue removal in infrared irradiation of water rich tissue. The removal of tattoo pigment by the alexandrite laser light was investigated using excised human tattoo sections. The limited number of samples available showed a clearing of the intradermal pigment and professionally tattooed pig skin was then used as a replacement for excised human tattoo samples. Professional tattoo pigment embedded in agar was used to look at the acoustic waves induced by laser irradiation at 755 nm with a pulselength of 180 ns. The acoustic waves produced were detected using a PVDF membrane hydrophone (GEC Marconi) and compared to theoretical results. Pressures of up to 1.4 MPa were produced with irradiances of up to 10.6 MWcm-2 which were comparable to the irradiances used to clear the pigment embedded in human skin. The pressure gradient at these pressures is approximately 1.09x1010 Pam-1 giving a pressure difference of 1.09+/-0.17 MPa over a 100 ?m particle. This is not enough to damage human skin which has a tensile strength of 7.3 MPa. A theoretical model was developed, using the accepted theory of pressure waves in a fluid medium, to predict the amplitude of the pressure waves produced in the samples. The experimental results compared well with the ideal theoretical case. The distribution of the laser energy throughout the samples was modelled with the velocity of the debris plume ejected from the sample surface predicted. This velocity was measured and found to be comparable to the velocity previously calculated theoretically.

A New Strategy to Enhance Cavitational Tissue Erosion Using a High-Intensity, Initiating Sequence

PubMed Central

Xu, Zhen; Fowlkes, J. Brian; Cain, Charles A.

2009-01-01

Our previous studies have shown that pulsed ultrasound can physically remove soft tissue through cavitation. A new strategy to enhance the cavitation-induced erosion is proposed wherein tissue erosion is initiated by a short, high-intensity sequence of pulses and sustained by lower intensity pulses. We investigated effects of the initiating sequence on erosion and cavitation sustained by lower intensity pulses. Multiple three-cycle pulses at a pulse repetition frequency of 20 kHz delivered by a 788-kHz focused transducer were used for tissue erosion. Fixing the initiating sequence at ISPPA of 9000 W/cm2, 16 combinations of different numbers of pulses within the initiating sequence and different sustaining pulse intensities were tested. Results showed: the initiating sequence increases the probability of erosion occurrence and the erosion rate with only slight overall increases in propagated energy; the initiating sequence containing more pulses does not increase the sustained cavitation period; and if extinguished and reinitiated, the sustained cavitation period becomes shorter after each initiation, although the waiting time between adjacent cavitation periods is random. The high-intensity, initiating sequence enhances cavitational tissue erosion and enables erosion at intensities significantly lower than what is required to initiate erosion. PMID:16921893

The wave-field from an array of periodic emitters driven simultaneously by a broadband pulse.

PubMed

Dixon, Steve; Hill, Samuel; Fan, Yichao; Rowlands, George

2013-06-01

The use of phased array methods are commonplace in ultrasonic applications, where controlling the variation of the phase between the narrowband emitters in an array facilitates beam steering and focusing of ultrasonic waves. An approach is presented here whereby emitters of alternating polarity arranged in a one-dimensional array are pulsed simultaneously, and have sufficiently wide, controlled bandwidth to emit a two-dimensional wave. This pulsed approach provides a rapid means of simultaneously covering a region of space with a wave-front, whereby any wave that scatters or reflects off a body to a detector will have a distinct arrival time and frequency. This is a general wave phenomenon with a potential application in radar, sonar, and ultrasound. The key result is that one can obtain a smooth, continuous wave-front emitted from the array, over a large solid angle, whose frequency varies as a function of angle to the array. Analytic and finite element models created to describe this phenomenon have been validated with experimental results using ultrasonic waves in metal samples.

On the elimination of pulse wave velocity in stroke volume determination from the ultralow-frequency displacement ballistocardiogram.

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

1964-03-01

A hydrodynamic model of the systemic circulatory system was mounted on an ultralow-frequency ballistocardiograph (ULF-BCG). The relationship between stroke volume and ballistocardiographic amplitude was investigated for different pulse wave velocitie...

Frequency modulation and compression of optical pulses in an optical fibre with a travelling refractive-index wave

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Zolotovskii, I O; Lapin, V A; Sementsov, D I

2016-01-31

We have studied the conditions for spectral broadening, frequency modulation and compression (both temporal and spectral) of Gaussian pulses propagating in a fibre with a travelling refractive-index wave. Analytical expressions have been derived for the dependences of pulse duration, chirp and spectral width on the distance travelled through the fibre, parameters of the fibre and radiation launched into it. Based on the numerical analysis we have studied the behaviour of these characteristics by changing the coefficient of the refractive-index modulation and other parameters of the travelling refractive-index wave. (nonlinear optical phenomena)

Information hiding and retrieval in Rydberg wave packets using half-cycle pulses

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Murray, J. M.; Pisharody, S. N.; Wen, H.

We demonstrate an information hiding and retrieval scheme with the relative phases between states in a Rydberg wave packet acting as the bits of a data register. We use a terahertz half-cycle pulse (HCP) to transfer phase-encoded information from an optically accessible angular momentum manifold to another manifold which is not directly accessed by our laser pulses, effectively hiding the information from our optical interferometric measurement techniques. A subsequent HCP acting on these wave packets reintroduces the information back into the optically accessible data register manifold which can then be read out.

Verification of Non-Invasive Blood Glucose Measurement Method Based on Pulse Wave Signal Detected by FBG Sensor System.

PubMed

Kurasawa, Shintaro; Koyama, Shouhei; Ishizawa, Hiroaki; Fujimoto, Keisaku; Chino, Shun

2017-11-23

This paper describes and verifies a non-invasive blood glucose measurement method using a fiber Bragg grating (FBG) sensor system. The FBG sensor is installed on the radial artery, and the strain (pulse wave) that is propagated from the heartbeat is measured. The measured pulse wave signal was used as a collection of feature vectors for multivariate analysis aiming to determine the blood glucose level. The time axis of the pulse wave signal was normalized by two signal processing methods: the shortest-time-cut process and 1-s-normalization process. The measurement accuracy of the calculated blood glucose level was compared with the accuracy of these signal processing methods. It was impossible to calculate a blood glucose level exceeding 200 mg/dL in the calibration curve that was constructed by the shortest-time-cut process. In the 1-s-normalization process, the measurement accuracy of the blood glucose level was improved, and a blood glucose level exceeding 200 mg/dL could be calculated. By verifying the loading vector of each calibration curve to calculate the blood glucose level with a high measurement accuracy, we found the gradient of the peak of the pulse wave at the acceleration plethysmogram greatly affected.

Pulse wave analysis in a 180-degree curved artery model: Implications under physiological and non-physiological inflows

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bulusu, Kartik V.; Plesniak, Michael W.

2013-11-01

Systolic and diastolic blood pressures, pulse pressures, and left ventricular hypertrophy contribute to cardiovascular risks. Increase of arterial stiffness due to aging and hypertension is an important factor in cardiovascular, chronic kidney and end-stage-renal-diseases. Pulse wave analysis (PWA) based on arterial pressure wave characteristics, is well established in clinical practice for evaluation of arterial distensibility and hypertension. The objective of our exploratory study in a rigid 180-degree curved artery model was to evaluate arterial pressure waveforms. Bend upstream conditions were measured using a two-component, two-dimensional, particle image velocimeter (2C-2D PIV). An ultrasonic transit-time flow meter and a catheter with a MEMS-based solid state pressure sensor, capable of measuring up to 20 harmonics of the observed pressure waveform, monitored flow conditions downstream of the bend. Our novel continuous wavelet transform algorithm (PIVlet 1.2), in addition to detecting coherent secondary flow structures is used to evaluate arterial pulse wave characteristics subjected to physiological and non-physiological inflows. Results of this study will elucidate the utility of wavelet transforms in arterial function evaluation and pulse wave speed. Supported by NSF Grant No. CBET- 0828903 and GW Center for Biomimetics and Bioinspired Engineering.

Algal Cell Response to Pulsed Waved Stimulation and Its Application to Increase Algal Lipid Production

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Savchenko, Oleksandra; Xing, Jida; Yang, Xiaoyan; Gu, Quanrong; Shaheen, Mohamed; Huang, Min; Yu, Xiaojian; Burrell, Robert; Patra, Prabir; Chen, Jie

2017-02-01

Generating renewable energy while sequestering CO2 using algae has recently attracted significant research attention, mostly directing towards biological methods such as systems biology, genetic engineering and bio-refining for optimizing algae strains. Other approaches focus on chemical screening to adjust culture conditions or culture media. We report for the first time the physiological changes of algal cells in response to a novel form of mechanical stimulation, or a pulsed wave at the frequency of 1.5 MHz and the duty cycle of 20%. We studied how the pulsed wave can further increase algal lipid production on top of existing biological and chemical methods. Two commonly used algal strains, fresh-water Chlorella vulgaris and seawater Tetraselmis chuii, were selected. We have performed the tests in shake flasks and 1 L spinner-flask bioreactors. Conventional Gravimetric measurements show that up to 20% increase for algal lipid could be achieved after 8 days of stimulation. The total electricity cost needed for the stimulations in a one-liter bioreactor is only one-tenth of a US penny. Gas liquid chromatography shows that the fatty acid composition remains unchanged after pulsed-wave stimulation. Scanning electron microscope results also suggest that pulsed wave stimulation induces shear stress and thus increases algal lipid production.

Traveling waves in a spatially-distributed Wilson-Cowan model of cortex: From fronts to pulses

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Harris, Jeremy D.; Ermentrout, Bard

2018-04-01

Wave propagation in excitable media has been studied in various biological, chemical, and physical systems. Waves are among the most common evoked and spontaneous organized activity seen in cortical networks. In this paper, we study traveling fronts and pulses in a spatially-extended version of the Wilson-Cowan equations, a neural firing rate model of sensory cortex having two population types: Excitatory and inhibitory. We are primarily interested in the case when the local or space-clamped dynamics has three fixed points: (1) a stable down state; (2) a saddle point with stable manifold that acts as a threshold for firing; (3) an up state having stability that depends on the time scale of the inhibition. In the case when the up state is stable, we look for wave fronts, which transition the media from a down to up state, and when the up state is unstable, we are interested in pulses, a transient increase in firing that returns to the down state. We explore the behavior of these waves as the time and space scales of the inhibitory population vary. Some interesting findings include bistability between a traveling front and pulse, fronts that join the down state to an oscillation or spatiotemporal pattern, and pulses which go through an oscillatory instability.

Diffraction and quantum control of wave functions in nonresonant two-photon absorption

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Li, Baihong; Pang, Huafeng; Wang, Doudou; Zhang, Tao; Dong, Ruifang; Li, Yongfang

2018-03-01

In this study, the nonresonant two-photon absorption process in a two-level atom, induced by a weak chirped pulse, is theoretically investigated in the frequency domain. An analytical expression of the wave function expressed by Fresnel functions is obtained, and the two-photon transition probability (TPTP) versus the integral bandwidth, spectral width, and chirp parameter is analyzed. The results indicate that the oscillation evolution of the TPTP result from quantum diffraction of the wave function, which can be explained by analogy with Fresnel diffraction from a wide slit in the spatial domain. Moreover, the ratio between the real and imaginary parts of the excited state wave function and, hence, the atomic polarization, can be controlled by the initial phase of the excitation pulse. In some special initial phase of the excitation pulse, the wave functions with purely real or imaginary parts can be obtained by measuring the population probability. This work provides a novel perspective for understanding the physical details of the interactions between atoms and chirped light pulses in the multiphoton process.

Energy scaling of terahertz-wave parametric sources.

PubMed

Tang, Guanqi; Cong, Zhenhua; Qin, Zengguang; Zhang, Xingyu; Wang, Weitao; Wu, Dong; Li, Ning; Fu, Qiang; Lu, Qingming; Zhang, Shaojun

2015-02-23

Terahertz-wave parametric oscillators (TPOs) have advantages of room temperature operation, wide tunable range, narrow line-width, good coherence. They have also disadvantage of small pulse energy. In this paper, several factors preventing TPOs from generating high-energy THz pulses and the corresponding solutions are analyzed. A scheme to generate high-energy THz pulses by using the combination of a TPO and a Stokes-pulse-injected terahertz-wave parametric generator (spi-TPG) is proposed and demonstrated. A TPO is used as a source to generate a seed pulse for the surface-emitted spi-TPG. The time delay between the pump and Stokes pulses is adjusted to guarantee they have good temporal overlap. The pump pulses have a large pulse energy and a large beam size. The Stokes beam is enlarged to make its size be larger than the pump beam size to have a large effective interaction volume. The experimental results show that the generated THz pulse energy from the spi-TPG is 1.8 times as large as that obtained from the TPO for the same pumping pulse energy density of 0.90 J/cm(2) and the same pumping beam size of 3.0 mm. When the pumping beam sizes are 5.0 and 7.0 mm, the enhancement times are 3.7 and 7.5, respectively. The spi-TPG here is similar to a difference frequency generator; it can also be used as a Stokes pulse amplifier.

Characteristics of light reflected from a dense ionization wave with a tunable velocity.

PubMed

Zhidkov, A; Esirkepov, T; Fujii, T; Nemoto, K; Koga, J; Bulanov, S V

2009-11-20

An optically dense ionization wave (IW) produced by two femtosecond (approximately 10/30 fs) laser pulses focused cylindrically and crossing each other may become an efficient coherent x-ray converter in accordance with the Semenova-Lampe theory. The resulting velocity of a quasiplane IW in the vicinity of pulse intersection changes with the angle between the pulses from the group velocity of ionizing pulses to infinity allowing a tuning of the wavelength of x rays and their bunching. The x-ray spectra after scattering of a lower frequency and long coherent light pulse change from the monochromatic to high order harmoniclike with the duration of the ionizing pulses.

Shock wave acceleration of protons in inhomogeneous plasma interacting with ultrashort intense laser pulses

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Lecz, Zs.; Andreev, A.; Max-Born Institute, Berlin

The acceleration of protons, triggered by solitary waves in expanded solid targets is investigated using particle-in-cell simulations. The near-critical density plasma is irradiated by ultrashort high power laser pulses, which generate the solitary wave. The transformation of this soliton into a shock wave during propagation in plasma with exponentially decreasing density profile is described analytically, which allows to obtain a scaling law for the proton energy. The high quality proton bunch with small energy spread is produced by reflection from the shock-front. According to the 2D simulations, the mechanism is stable only if the laser pulse duration is shorter thanmore » the characteristic development time of the parasitic Weibel instability.« less

Multiphase Oscillator Using Traveling Pulses Developed in a System of Transmission Lines with Regularly Spaced Resonant-tunneling Diodes

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Narahara, Koichi

2017-06-01

A scheme is proposed for generating multiphase oscillatory signals in millimeter-wave frequencies based on the dynamics of a traveling pulse developed in a closed transmission line periodically loaded with resonant-tunneling diodes (RTDs) that is coupled with several straight RTD lines. When supplied with an appropriate voltage at the end of an RTD line, a pulse edge is shown to exhibit a spatially extended limit-cycle oscillation on the line. We consider the case where several RTD lines are connected halfway to a closed one at even intervals. In this case, the oscillatory edge developed in each straight RTD line is mutually synchronized such that a pulse-shaped rotary traveling wave develops on the closed RTD line. The oscillating edge on each straight line is also synchronized with the traveling pulse on the closed line, such that the leading edge of the traveling pulse on the closed line and the forward edge on the straight line pass the cross point simultaneously. As a result, when N L straight lines are connected to the closed line, the phase difference between two adjacent oscillatory edges becomes 2 π/ N L . On the other hand, the trailing edge of the traveling pulse at the cross point breaks the voltage wave on the straight line into two pieces, one of which travels forward to form a solitary wave and the other of which travels backward to reach the input end, where it is reflected and starts to travel forward and this forward moving edge is supposed to be synchronized with the leading edge of the traveling pulse. It means that a back-and-forth edge and a forward-moving solitary wave develop periodically on each straight line. Because the time required for the traveling pulse to go around the closed line must be coincident with the period of the edge oscillation on each straight line, a unique traveling pulse cannot synchronize with each oscillating edge when the cell size of the closed line becomes large, resulting in the development of multiple traveling pulses on the closed line. In this paper, the design criteria are discussed concerning the connecting point between the straight and closed lines, the number of straight lines, and the size of the closed line. In addition, we describe several measurement results that validate the essential properties of the traveling pulse and then show several results of full-wave analysis of a monolithically integrated RTD line.

Rapid ultrasonic stimulation of inflamed tissue with diagnostic intent

PubMed Central

McClintic, Abbi M.; Dickey, Trevor C.; Gofeld, Michael; Ray Illian, P.; Kliot, Michel; Kucewicz, John C.; Loeser, John D.; Richebe, Philippe G.; Mourad, Pierre D.

2013-01-01

Previous studies have observed that individual pulses of intense focused ultrasound (iFU) applied to inflamed and normal tissue can generate sensations, where inflamed tissue responds at a lower intensity than normal tissue. It was hypothesized that successively applied iFU pulses will generate sensation in inflamed tissue at a lower intensity and dose than application of a single iFU pulse. This hypothesis was tested using an animal model of chronic inflammatory pain, created by injecting an irritant into the rat hind paw. Ultrasound pulses were applied in rapid succession or individually to rats' rear paws beginning at low peak intensities and progressing to higher peak intensities, until the rats withdrew their paws immediately after iFU application. Focused ultrasound protocols consisting of successively and rapidly applied pulses elicited inflamed paw withdrawal at lower intensity and estimated tissue displacement values than single pulse protocols. However, both successively applied pulses and single pulses produced comparable threshold acoustic dose values and estimates of temperature increases. This raises the possibility that temperature increase contributed to paw withdrawal after rapid iFU stimulation. While iFU-induction of temporal summation may also play a role, electrophysiological studies are necessary to tease out these potential contributors to iFU stimulation. PMID:23927192

Influence of Individual Differences on the Calculation Method for FBG-Type Blood Pressure Sensors

PubMed Central

Koyama, Shouhei; Ishizawa, Hiroaki; Fujimoto, Keisaku; Chino, Shun; Kobayashi, Yuka

2016-01-01

In this paper, we propose a blood pressure calculation and associated measurement method that by using a fiber Bragg grating (FBG) sensor. There are several points at which the pulse can be measured on the surface of the human body, and when a FBG sensor located at any of these points, the pulse wave signal can be measured. The measured waveform is similar to the acceleration pulse wave. The pulse wave signal changes depending on several factors, including whether or not the individual is healthy and/or elderly. The measured pulse wave signal can be used to calculate the blood pressure using a calibration curve, which is constructed by a partial least squares (PLS) regression analysis using a reference blood pressure and the pulse wave signal. In this paper, we focus on the influence of individual differences from calculated blood pressure based on each calibration curve. In our study, the calculated blood pressure from both the individual and overall calibration curves were compared, and our results show that the calculated blood pressure based on the overall calibration curve had a lower measurement accuracy than that based on an individual calibration curve. We also found that the influence of the individual differences on the calculated blood pressure when using the FBG sensor method were very low. Therefore, the FBG sensor method that we developed for measuring the blood pressure was found to be suitable for use by many people. PMID:28036015

Influence of Individual Differences on the Calculation Method for FBG-Type Blood Pressure Sensors.

PubMed

Koyama, Shouhei; Ishizawa, Hiroaki; Fujimoto, Keisaku; Chino, Shun; Kobayashi, Yuka

2016-12-28

In this paper, we propose a blood pressure calculation and associated measurement method that by using a fiber Bragg grating (FBG) sensor. There are several points at which the pulse can be measured on the surface of the human body, and when a FBG sensor located at any of these points, the pulse wave signal can be measured. The measured waveform is similar to the acceleration pulse wave. The pulse wave signal changes depending on several factors, including whether or not the individual is healthy and/or elderly. The measured pulse wave signal can be used to calculate the blood pressure using a calibration curve, which is constructed by a partial least squares (PLS) regression analysis using a reference blood pressure and the pulse wave signal. In this paper, we focus on the influence of individual differences from calculated blood pressure based on each calibration curve. In our study, the calculated blood pressure from both the individual and overall calibration curves were compared, and our results show that the calculated blood pressure based on the overall calibration curve had a lower measurement accuracy than that based on an individual calibration curve. We also found that the influence of the individual differences on the calculated blood pressure when using the FBG sensor method were very low. Therefore, the FBG sensor method that we developed for measuring the blood pressure was found to be suitable for use by many people.

Venus Lightning: What We Have Learned from the Venus Express Fluxgate Magnetometer

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Russell, C. T.; Strangeway, R. J.; Wei, H. Y.; Zhang, T. L.

2010-03-01

The Venus Express magnetometer sees short (tens of milliseconds) pulses of EM waves in the Venus ionosphere as predicted by the lightning model for the PVO electric pulses. These waves are stronger than similar terrestrial signals produced by lightning.

Morphological studies of laser-induced photoacoustic damage

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Flotte, Thomas J.; Yashima, Yutaka; Watanabe, Shinichi; McAuliffe, Daniel J., Sr.; Jacques, Steven L.

1990-06-01

Argon-fluoride excimer laser ablation of stratum comeum causes deeper tissue damage than expected for thermal or photochemical mechanisms, suggesting thatphotoacoustic waves have arole in tissue damage. Laserirradiation (193 nm, 14 ns pulses, 1-2 Hz) attworadiantexposures, 60 and 160 mJ/cm2perpulse was usedto ablate the stratumcomeumofskin. Light and electron microscopy ofimmediate biopsies demonstrated damage to fibroblasts as deep as 88 and 220 jun, respectively, below the ablation site. Ablation throughwaterwas usedtoinertially confine the ablation zone. Partial ablationofs.c. through airproducedno damage, whereas partial ablation through water damaged skin to amean depth of 1 14.5 8.8( Full thickness ablation of s.c. through air and water produced damage zones measuring 192.2 16.2 and 293.0 71.6 rim, respectively (p <0.05). The increased depth ofdamage in the presence ofinertial confinementprovided by the layer of water strongly supports a photoacoustic mechanism ofdamage. The depths ofdamage for thelarge spot, line, and small spots were 43 1 164 urn, 269 96xni, andno damage. The spot size dependence ofthedepthofdamage is consistentwiththe geometric attenuation one would expect to be present from a pressure wave related phenomena. Sequential biopsies were taken over a 7 day period for light and transmission electron microscopy. At 24 hours, there was necrosis of the epidermis and papillary dermis subjacent to the ablation site, with neutrophils surrounding and demarcating the affected area. The necrotic zone sloughedby48 hours. Thereepithelializationwas completeby7 days. The sequenceofrepairis similartoknife wound healing which we have previously studied, and is analogous to other wound healing processes. We have used an experimental model of ArF excimer laser ablation of stratum corneum to investigate laser-induced photoacoustic damage. The evidence for the injury being due to pressure transients is indirectbutcompelling. Whether these pressuretransients are acoustic transients orshockwaves has notbeendetermined, although itis ourprejudicethatshockwaves are the predominant force under these conditions. It is important to consider the possible effects of pressure transients in evaluating laser-tissue interactions, particularly when using short pulse, high peak power lasers.

Terahertz wave electro-optic measurements with optical spectral filtering

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Ilyakov, I. E., E-mail: igor-ilyakov@mail.ru; Shishkin, B. V.; Kitaeva, G. Kh.

We propose electro-optic detection techniques based on variations of the laser pulse spectrum induced during pulse co-propagation with terahertz wave radiation in a nonlinear crystal. Quantitative comparison with two other detection methods is made. Substantial improvement of the sensitivity compared to the standard electro-optic detection technique (at high frequencies) and to the previously shown technique based on laser pulse energy changes is demonstrated in experiment.

Wave Mode Discrimination of Coded Ultrasonic Guided Waves Using Two-Dimensional Compressed Pulse Analysis.

PubMed

Malo, Sergio; Fateri, Sina; Livadas, Makis; Mares, Cristinel; Gan, Tat-Hean

2017-07-01

Ultrasonic guided waves testing is a technique successfully used in many industrial scenarios worldwide. For many complex applications, the dispersive nature and multimode behavior of the technique still poses a challenge for correct defect detection capabilities. In order to improve the performance of the guided waves, a 2-D compressed pulse analysis is presented in this paper. This novel technique combines the use of pulse compression and dispersion compensation in order to improve the signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) and temporal-spatial resolution of the signals. The ability of the technique to discriminate different wave modes is also highlighted. In addition, an iterative algorithm is developed to identify the wave modes of interest using adaptive peak detection to enable automatic wave mode discrimination. The employed algorithm is developed in order to pave the way for further in situ applications. The performance of Barker-coded and chirp waveforms is studied in a multimodal scenario where longitudinal and flexural wave packets are superposed. The technique is tested in both synthetic and experimental conditions. The enhancements in SNR and temporal resolution are quantified as well as their ability to accurately calculate the propagation distance for different wave modes.

Ultrasonographic vascular mechanics to assess arterial stiffness: a review.

PubMed

Teixeira, Rogério; Vieira, Maria João; Gonçalves, Alexandra; Cardim, Nuno; Gonçalves, Lino

2016-03-01

In recent years, the role of arterial stiffness in the development of cardiovascular diseases has been explored more extensively. Local arterial stiffness may be gauged via ultrasound, measuring pulse transit time relative to changing vessel diameters and distending pressures. Recently, direct vessel-wall tracking systems have been devised based on new ultrasonographic methodologies, such as tissue Doppler imaging and speckle-tracking analysis--vascular mechanics. These advances have been evaluated in varying arterial distributions, are proved surrogates of pulse wave velocity, and are ascending in clinical importance. In the course of this review, we describe fundamental concepts and methodologies involved in ultrasound assessment of vascular mechanics. We also present relevant clinical studies and discuss the potential clinical utility of such diagnostic pursuits. Published on behalf of the European Society of Cardiology. All rights reserved. © The Author 2015. For permissions please email: journals.permissions@oup.com.

Echocardiographic Evaluation of Left Atrial Mechanics: Function, History, Novel Techniques, Advantages, and Pitfalls.

PubMed

Leischik, Roman; Littwitz, Henning; Dworrak, Birgit; Garg, Pankaj; Zhu, Meihua; Sahn, David J; Horlitz, Marc

2015-01-01

Left atrial (LA) functional analysis has an established role in assessing left ventricular diastolic function. The current standard echocardiographic parameters used to study left ventricular diastolic function include pulsed-wave Doppler mitral inflow analysis, tissue Doppler imaging measurements, and LA dimension estimation. However, the above-mentioned parameters do not directly quantify LA performance. Deformation studies using strain and strain-rate imaging to assess LA function were validated in previous research, but this technique is not currently used in routine clinical practice. This review discusses the history, importance, and pitfalls of strain technology for the analysis of LA mechanics.

Improving the lens design and performance of a contemporary electromagnetic shock wave lithotripter

PubMed Central

Neisius, Andreas; Smith, Nathan B.; Sankin, Georgy; Kuntz, Nicholas John; Madden, John Francis; Fovargue, Daniel E.; Mitran, Sorin; Lipkin, Michael Eric; Simmons, Walter Neal; Preminger, Glenn M.; Zhong, Pei

2014-01-01

The efficiency of shock wave lithotripsy (SWL), a noninvasive first-line therapy for millions of nephrolithiasis patients, has not improved substantially in the past two decades, especially in regard to stone clearance. Here, we report a new acoustic lens design for a contemporary electromagnetic (EM) shock wave lithotripter, based on recently acquired knowledge of the key lithotripter field characteristics that correlate with efficient and safe SWL. The new lens design addresses concomitantly three fundamental drawbacks in EM lithotripters, namely, narrow focal width, nonidealized pulse profile, and significant misalignment in acoustic focus and cavitation activities with the target stone at high output settings. Key design features and performance of the new lens were evaluated using model calculations and experimental measurements against the original lens under comparable acoustic pulse energy (E+) of 40 mJ. The −6-dB focal width of the new lens was enhanced from 7.4 to 11 mm at this energy level, and peak pressure (41 MPa) and maximum cavitation activity were both realigned to be within 5 mm of the lithotripter focus. Stone comminution produced by the new lens was either statistically improved or similar to that of the original lens under various in vitro test conditions and was significantly improved in vivo in a swine model (89% vs. 54%, P = 0.01), and tissue injury was minimal using a clinical treatment protocol. The general principle and associated techniques described in this work can be applied to design improvement of all EM lithotripters. PMID:24639497

Improving the lens design and performance of a contemporary electromagnetic shock wave lithotripter.

PubMed

Neisius, Andreas; Smith, Nathan B; Sankin, Georgy; Kuntz, Nicholas John; Madden, John Francis; Fovargue, Daniel E; Mitran, Sorin; Lipkin, Michael Eric; Simmons, Walter Neal; Preminger, Glenn M; Zhong, Pei

2014-04-01

The efficiency of shock wave lithotripsy (SWL), a noninvasive first-line therapy for millions of nephrolithiasis patients, has not improved substantially in the past two decades, especially in regard to stone clearance. Here, we report a new acoustic lens design for a contemporary electromagnetic (EM) shock wave lithotripter, based on recently acquired knowledge of the key lithotripter field characteristics that correlate with efficient and safe SWL. The new lens design addresses concomitantly three fundamental drawbacks in EM lithotripters, namely, narrow focal width, nonidealized pulse profile, and significant misalignment in acoustic focus and cavitation activities with the target stone at high output settings. Key design features and performance of the new lens were evaluated using model calculations and experimental measurements against the original lens under comparable acoustic pulse energy (E+) of 40 mJ. The -6-dB focal width of the new lens was enhanced from 7.4 to 11 mm at this energy level, and peak pressure (41 MPa) and maximum cavitation activity were both realigned to be within 5 mm of the lithotripter focus. Stone comminution produced by the new lens was either statistically improved or similar to that of the original lens under various in vitro test conditions and was significantly improved in vivo in a swine model (89% vs. 54%, P = 0.01), and tissue injury was minimal using a clinical treatment protocol. The general principle and associated techniques described in this work can be applied to design improvement of all EM lithotripters.

Investigations of primary blast-induced traumatic brain injury

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sawyer, T. W.; Josey, T.; Wang, Y.; Villanueva, M.; Ritzel, D. V.; Nelson, P.; Lee, J. J.

2018-01-01

The development of an advanced blast simulator (ABS) has enabled the reproducible generation of single-pulse shock waves that simulate free-field blast with high fidelity. Studies with rodents in the ABS demonstrated the necessity of head restraint during head-only exposures. When the head was not restrained, violent global head motion was induced by pressures that would not produce similar movement of a target the size and mass of a human head. This scaling artefact produced changes in brain function that were reminiscent of traumatic brain injury (TBI) due to impact-acceleration effects. Restraint of the rodent head eliminated these, but still produced subtle changes in brain biochemistry, showing that blast-induced pressure waves do cause brain deficits. Further experiments were carried out with rat brain cell aggregate cultures that enabled the conduct of studies without the gross movement encountered when using rodents. The suspension nature of this model was also exploited to minimize the boundary effects that complicate the interpretation of primary blast studies using surface cultures. Using this system, brain tissue was found not only to be sensitive to pressure changes, but also able to discriminate between the highly defined single-pulse shock waves produced by underwater blast and the complex pressure history exposures experienced by aggregates encased within a sphere and subjected to simulated air blast. The nature of blast-induced primary TBI requires a multidisciplinary research approach that addresses the fidelity of the blast insult, its accurate measurement and characterization, as well as the limitations of the biological models used.

Uric Acid Level Has a J-Shaped Association with Arterial Stiffness in Korean Postmenopausal Women.

PubMed

Lee, Hyungbin; Jung, Young-Hyo; Kwon, Yu-Jin; Park, Byoungjin

2017-11-01

Uric acid has been reported to function both as an oxidant or antioxidant depending on the context. A previous study in the Korean population reported a positive linear association between serum uric acid level and arterial stiffness in men, but little is known about how serum uric acid level is related to the risk of increased arterial stiffness in Korean postmenopausal women. We performed a cross-sectional study of 293 subjects who participated in a health examination program run by the health promotion center of Gangnam Severance Hospital between October 2007 and July 2010. High brachial-ankle pulse wave velocity was defined as a brachial-ankle pulse wave velocity of more than 1,450 cm/s. The odds ratios (ORs) for high brachial-ankle pulse wave velocity were calculated using multivariate logistic regression analysis across uric acid quartiles after adjusting for other indicators of cardiovascular risk. The 293 postmenopausal women were divided into quartiles according to uric acid level. The mean brachial-ankle pulse wave velocity values of each quartile were as follows: Q1, 1,474 cm/s; Q2, 1,375 cm/s; Q3, 1,422 cm/s; Q4, 1,528 cm/s. The second quartile was designated as the control group based on mean brachial-ankle pulse wave velocity value. Multivariate adjusted ORs (95% confidence intervals) for brachial-ankle pulse wave velocity across the uric acid quartiles were 2.642 (Q1, 1.095-6.3373), 1.00, 4.305 (Q3, 1.798-10.307), and 4.375 (Q4, 1.923-9.949), after adjusting for confounding variables. Serum uric acid level has a J-shaped association with arterial stiffness in Korean postmenopausal women.

Observation of sum-frequency-generation-induced cascaded four-wave mixing using two crossing femtosecond laser pulses in a 0.1 mm beta-barium-borate crystal.

PubMed

Liu, Weimin; Zhu, Liangdong; Fang, Chong

2012-09-15

We demonstrate the simultaneous generation of multicolor femtosecond laser pulses spanning the wavelength range from UV to near IR in a 0.1 mm Type I beta-barium borate crystal from 800 nm fundamental and weak IR super-continuum white light (SCWL) pulses. The multicolor broadband laser pulses observed are attributed to two concomitant cascaded four-wave mixing (CFWM) processes as corroborated by calculation: (1) directly from the two incident laser pulses; (2) by the sum-frequency generation (SFG) induced CFWM process (SFGFWM). The latter signal arises from the interaction between the frequency-doubled fundamental pulse (400 nm) and the SFG pulse generated in between the fundamental and IR-SCWL pulses. The versatility and simplicity of this spatially dispersed multicolor self-compressed laser pulse generation offer compact and attractive methods to conduct femtosecond stimulated Raman spectroscopy and time-resolved multicolor spectroscopy.

On the Theory of High-Power Ultrashort Pulse Propagation in Raman-Active Media

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Belenov, E. M.; Isakov, V. A.; Kanavin, A. P.; Smetanin, I. V.

1996-01-01

The propagation of an intense femtosecond pulse in a Raman-active medium is analyzed. An analytic solution which describes in explicit form the evolution of the light pulse is derived. The field of an intense light wave undergoes a substantial transformation as the wave propagates through the medium. The nature of this transformation can change over time scales comparable to the period of the optical oscillations. As a result, the pulse of sufficiently high energy divides into stretched and compressed domains where the field decreases and increases respectively.

RARE/Turbo Spin Echo Imaging with Simultaneous MultiSlice Wave-CAIPI

PubMed Central

Eichner, Cornelius; Bhat, Himanshu; Grant, P. Ellen; Wald, Lawrence L.; Setsompop, Kawin

2014-01-01

Purpose To enable highly accelerated RARE/Turbo Spin Echo (TSE) imaging using Simultaneous MultiSlice (SMS) Wave-CAIPI acquisition with reduced g-factor penalty. Methods SMS Wave-CAIPI incurs slice shifts across simultaneously excited slices while playing sinusoidal gradient waveforms during the readout of each encoding line. This results in an efficient k-space coverage that spreads aliasing in all three dimensions to fully harness the encoding power of coil sensitivities. The novel MultiPINS radiofrequency (RF) pulses dramatically reduce the power deposition of multiband (MB) refocusing pulse, thus allowing high MB factors within the Specific Absorption Rate (SAR) limit. Results Wave-CAIPI acquisition with MultiPINS permits whole brain coverage with 1 mm isotropic resolution in 70 seconds at effective MB factor 13, with maximum and average g-factor penalties of gmax=1.34 and gavg=1.12, and without √R penalty. With blipped-CAIPI, the g-factor performance was degraded to gmax=3.24 and gavg=1.42; a 2.4-fold increase in gmax relative to Wave-CAIPI. At this MB factor, the SAR of the MultiBand and PINS pulses are 4.2 and 1.9 times that of the MultiPINS pulse, while the peak RF power are 19.4 and 3.9 times higher. Conclusion Combination of the two technologies, Wave-CAIPI and MultiPINS pulse, enables highly accelerated RARE/TSE imaging with low SNR penalty at reduced SAR. PMID:25640187

WE-DE-206-04: MRI Pulse Sequences - Spin Echo, Gradient Echo, EPI, Non-Cartesia

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Pooley, R.

Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) has become an essential part of clinical imaging due to its ability to render high soft tissue contrast. Instead of ionizing radiation, MRI use strong magnetic field, radio frequency waves and field gradients to create diagnostic useful images. It can be used to image the anatomy and also functional and physiological activities within the human body. Knowledge of the basic physical principles underlying MRI acquisition is vitally important to successful image production and proper image interpretation. This lecture will give an overview of the spin physics, imaging principle of MRI, the hardware of the MRI scanner,more » and various pulse sequences and their applications. It aims to provide a conceptual foundation to understand the image formation process of a clinical MRI scanner. Learning Objectives: Understand the origin of the MR signal and contrast from the spin physics level. Understand the main hardware components of a MRI scanner and their purposes Understand steps for MR image formation including spatial encoding and image reconstruction Understand the main kinds of MR pulse sequences and their characteristics.« less

Mode-locked laser with pulse interleavers in a monolithic photonic integrated circuit for millimeter wave and terahertz carrier generation.

PubMed

Lo, Mu-Chieh; Guzmán, Robinson; Gordón, Carlos; Carpintero, Guillermo

2017-04-15

This Letter presents a photonics-based millimeter wave and terahertz frequency synthesizer using a monolithic InP photonic integrated circuit composed of a mode-locked laser (MLL) and two pulse interleaver stages to multiply the repetition rate frequency. The MLL is a multiple colliding pulse MLL producing an 80 GHz repetition rate pulse train. Through two consecutive monolithic pulse interleaver structures, each doubling the repetition rate, we demonstrate the achievement of 160 and 320 GHz. The fabrication was done on a multi-project wafer run of a generic InP photonic technology platform.

Non-Gaussian statistics and optical rogue waves in stimulated Raman scattering.

PubMed

Monfared, Yashar E; Ponomarenko, Sergey A

2017-03-20

We explore theoretically and numerically optical rogue wave formation in stimulated Raman scattering inside a hydrogen filled hollow core photonic crystal fiber. We assume a weak noisy Stokes pulse input and explicitly construct the input Stokes pulse ensemble using the coherent mode representation of optical coherence theory, thereby providing a link between optical coherence and rogue wave theories. We show that the Stokes pulse peak power probability distribution function (PDF) acquires a long tail in the limit of nearly incoherent input Stokes pulses. We demonstrate a clear link between the PDF tail magnitude and the source coherence time. Thus, the latter can serve as a convenient parameter to control the former. We explain our findings qualitatively using the concepts of statistical granularity and global degree of coherence.

Pulse Phase Dynamic Thermal Tomography Investigation on the Defects of the Solid-Propellant Missile Engine Cladding Layer

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Peng, Wei; Wang, Fei; Liu, Jun-yan; Xiao, Peng; Wang, Yang; Dai, Jing-min

2018-04-01

Pulse phase dynamic thermal tomography (PP-DTT) was introduced as a nondestructive inspection technique to detect the defects of the solid-propellant missile engine cladding layer. One-dimensional thermal wave mathematical model stimulated by pulse signal was developed and employed to investigate the thermal wave transmission characteristics. The pulse phase algorithm was used to extract the thermal wave characteristic of thermal radiation. Depth calibration curve was obtained by fuzzy c-means algorithm. Moreover, PP-DTT, a depth-resolved photothermal imaging modality, was employed to enable three-dimensional (3D) visualization of cladding layer defects. The comparison experiment between PP-DTT and classical dynamic thermal tomography was investigated. The results showed that PP-DTT can reconstruct the 3D topography of defects in a high quality.

Non-contact measurement of pulse wave velocity using RGB cameras

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Nakano, Kazuya; Aoki, Yuta; Satoh, Ryota; Hoshi, Akira; Suzuki, Hiroyuki; Nishidate, Izumi

2016-03-01

Non-contact measurement of pulse wave velocity (PWV) using red, green, and blue (RGB) digital color images is proposed. Generally, PWV is used as the index of arteriosclerosis. In our method, changes in blood volume are calculated based on changes in the color information, and is estimated by combining multiple regression analysis (MRA) with a Monte Carlo simulation (MCS) model of the transit of light in human skin. After two pulse waves of human skins were measured using RGB cameras, and the PWV was calculated from the difference of the pulse transit time and the distance between two measurement points. The measured forehead-finger PWV (ffPWV) was on the order of m/s and became faster as the values of vital signs raised. These results demonstrated the feasibility of this method.

Discharge conditions for CW and pulse-modulated surface-wave plasmas in low-temperature sterilization

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Xu, L.; Terashita, F.; Nonaka, H.; Ogino, A.; Nagata, T.; Koide, Y.; Nanko, S.; Kurawaki, I.; Nagatsu, M.

2006-01-01

The discharge conditions required for low-temperature plasma sterilization were investigated using low-pressure surface-wave plasma (SWP). The discharge conditions for both continuous wave (CW) and pulse-modulated SWPs in low-temperature sterilization of Geobacillus stearothermophilus with a population of 1.5 × 106 and 3.0 × 106 were studied by varying the microwave input power from 500 W to 3 kW, and the effective plasma treatment time from 40 to 300 s. Results showed that sterilization was possible in a shorter treatment time using a higher microwave power for both CW and pulse-modulated SWPs. Pulse-modulated SWPs gave effective sterilization at a temperature roughly 10 to 20 °C below that of CW SWPs under the same average microwave power.

Generalization of helicoidal beams for short pulses.

PubMed

Thomas, Jean-Louis; Brunet, Thomas; Coulouvrat, François

2010-01-01

A generalization to the transient regime is developed for waves with a phase singularity of the screw type. These singular waves are commonly called vortices for all kind of waves as, for instance, optical vortex or acoustical vortex. We generalize the definition of vortices to get an azimuthal velocity invariant for all the frequency components contained in the broad spectrum of a short pulse. This generalization leads to a modification of the orbital angular momentum definition. Another generalization is introduced by considering helicoidal waves with a finite number of turns. We demonstrate that, in this last case, the topological charge is no longer an integer. This provides a physical interpretation to vortices of fractional charge that are involved here to take into account the diffraction occurring at both tips of the now finite helical wave front. We show that shortening the pulse implies an angular localization of the wave energy and, as a consequence, a spreading of the angular momentum amplitude due to the uncertainty principle.

Two-dimensional and 3-D images of thick tissue using time-constrained times-of-flight and absorbance spectrophotometry

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Benaron, David A.; Lennox, M.; Stevenson, David K.

1992-05-01

Reconstructing deep-tissue images in real time using spectrophotometric data from optically diffusing thick tissues has been problematic. Continuous wave applications (e.g., pulse oximetry, regional cerebral saturation) ignore both the multiple paths traveled by the photons through the tissue and the effects of scattering, allowing scalar measurements but only under limited conditions; interferometry works poorly in thick, highly-scattering media; frequency- modulated approaches may not allow full deconvolution of scattering and absorbance; and pulsed-light techniques allow for preservation of information regarding the multiple paths taken by light through the tissue, but reconstruction is both computation intensive and limited by the relative surface area available for detection of photons. We have developed a picosecond times-of-flight and absorbance (TOFA) optical system, time-constrained to measure only photons with a narrow range of path lengths and arriving within a narrow angel of the emitter-detector axis. The delay until arrival of the earliest arriving photons is a function of both the scattering and absorbance of the tissues in a direct line between the emitter and detector, reducing the influence of surrounding tissues. Measurement using a variety of emitter and detector locations produces spatial information which can be analyzed in a standard 2-D grid, or subject to computer reconstruction to produce tomographic images representing 3-D structure. Using such a technique, we have been able to demonstrate the principles of tc-TOFA, detect and localize diffusive and/or absorptive objects suspended in highly scattering media (such as blood admixed with yeast), and perform simple 3-D reconstructions using phantom objects. We are now attempting to obtain images in vivo. Potential future applications include use as a research tool, and as a continuous, noninvasive, nondestructive monitor in diagnostic imaging, fetal monitoring, neurologic and cardiac assessment. The technique may lead to real-time optical imaging and quantitation of tissues oxygen delivery.

Physical exercise, fitness and dietary pattern and their relationship with circadian blood pressure pattern, augmentation index and endothelial dysfunction biological markers: EVIDENT study protocol

PubMed Central

2010-01-01

Background Healthy lifestyles may help to delay arterial aging. The purpose of this study is to analyze the relationship of physical activity and dietary pattern to the circadian pattern of blood pressure, central and peripheral blood pressure, pulse wave velocity, carotid intima-media thickness and biological markers of endothelial dysfunction in active and sedentary individuals without arteriosclerotic disease. Methods/Design Design: A cross-sectional multicenter study with six research groups. Subjects: From subjects of the PEPAF project cohort, in which 1,163 who were sedentary became active, 1,942 were sedentary and 2,346 were active. By stratified random sampling, 1,500 subjects will be included, 250 in each group. Primary measurements: We will evaluate height, weight, abdominal circumference, clinical and ambulatory blood pressure with the Radial Pulse Wave Acquisition Device (BPro), central blood pressure and augmentation index with Pulse Wave Application Software (A-Pulse) and SphymgoCor System Px (Pulse Wave Analysis), pulse wave velocity (PWV) with SphymgoCor System Px (Pulse Wave Velocity), nutritional pattern with a food intake frequency questionnaire, physical activity with the 7-day PAR questionnaire and accelerometer (Actigraph GT3X), physical fitness with the cycle ergometer (PWC-170), carotid intima-media thickness by ultrasound (Micromax), and endothelial dysfunction biological markers (endoglin and osteoprotegerin). Discussion Determining that sustained physical activity and the change from sedentary to active as well as a healthy diet improve circadian pattern, arterial elasticity and carotid intima-media thickness may help to propose lifestyle intervention programs. These interventions could improve the cardiovascular risk profile in some parameters not routinely assessed with traditional risk scales. From the results of this study, interventional approaches could be obtained to delay vascular aging that combine physical exercise and diet. Trial Registration Clinical Trials.gov Identifier: NCT01083082 PMID:20459634

Logic circuit detects both present and missing negative pulses in superimposed wave trains

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Rice, R. E.

1967-01-01

Pulse divide and determination network provides a logical determination of pulse presence within a data train. The network uses digital logic circuitry to divide positive and negative pulses, to shape the separated pulses, and to determine, by means of coincidence logic, if negative pulses are missing from the pulse train.

Medical ultrasound: imaging of soft tissue strain and elasticity

PubMed Central

Wells, Peter N. T.; Liang, Hai-Dong

2011-01-01

After X-radiography, ultrasound is now the most common of all the medical imaging technologies. For millennia, manual palpation has been used to assist in diagnosis, but it is subjective and restricted to larger and more superficial structures. Following an introduction to the subject of elasticity, the elasticity of biological soft tissues is discussed and published data are presented. The basic physical principles of pulse-echo and Doppler ultrasonic techniques are explained. The history of ultrasonic imaging of soft tissue strain and elasticity is summarized, together with a brief critique of previously published reviews. The relevant techniques—low-frequency vibration, step, freehand and physiological displacement, and radiation force (displacement, impulse, shear wave and acoustic emission)—are described. Tissue-mimicking materials are indispensible for the assessment of these techniques and their characteristics are reported. Emerging clinical applications in breast disease, cardiology, dermatology, gastroenterology, gynaecology, minimally invasive surgery, musculoskeletal studies, radiotherapy, tissue engineering, urology and vascular disease are critically discussed. It is concluded that ultrasonic imaging of soft tissue strain and elasticity is now sufficiently well developed to have clinical utility. The potential for further research is examined and it is anticipated that the technology will become a powerful mainstream investigative tool. PMID:21680780

Quantitative ultrasound backscatter for pulsed cavitational ultrasound therapy- histotripsy.

PubMed

Wang, Tzu-yin; Xu, Zhen; Winterroth, Frank; Hall, Timothy L; Fowlkes, J Brian; Rothman, Edward D; Roberts, William W; Cain, Charles A

2009-05-01

Histotripsy is a well-controlled ultrasonic tissue ablation technology that mechanically and progressively fractionates tissue structures using cavitation. The fractionated tissue volume can be monitored with ultrasound imaging because a significant ultrasound backscatter reduction occurs.This paper correlates the ultrasound backscatter reduction with the degree of tissue fractionation characterized by the percentage of remaining normal-appearing cell nuclei on histology.Different degrees of tissue fractionation were generated in vitro in freshly excised porcine kidneys by varying the number of therapeutic ultrasound pulses from 100 to 2000 pulses per treatment location. All ultrasound pulses were 15 cycles at 1 MHz delivered at 100 Hz pulse repetition frequency and 19 MPa peak negative pressure. The results showed that the normalized backscatter intensity decreased exponentially with increasing number of pulses. Correspondingly, the percentage of normal appearing nuclei in the treated area decreased exponentially as well. A linear correlation existed between the normalized backscatter intensity and the percentage of normal appearing cell nuclei in the treated region. This suggests that the normalized backscatter intensity may be a potential quantitative real-time feedback parameter for histotripsy-induced tissue fractionation. This quantitative feedback may allow the prediction of local clinical outcomes, i.e., when a tissue volume has been sufficiently treated.

Experimental characterization and numerical modeling of tissue electrical conductivity during pulsed electric fields for irreversible electroporation treatment planning.

PubMed

Neal, Robert E; Garcia, Paulo A; Robertson, John L; Davalos, Rafael V

2012-04-01

Irreversible electroporation is a new technique to kill cells in targeted tissue, such as tumors, through a nonthermal mechanism using electric pulses to irrecoverably disrupt the cell membrane. Treatment effects relate to the tissue electric field distribution, which can be predicted with numerical modeling for therapy planning. Pulse effects will change the cell and tissue properties through thermal and electroporation (EP)-based processes. This investigation characterizes these changes by measuring the electrical conductivity and temperature of ex vivo renal porcine tissue within a single pulse and for a 200 pulse protocol. These changes are incorporated into an equivalent circuit model for cells and tissue with a variable EP-based resistance, providing a potential method to estimate conductivity as a function of electric field and pulse length for other tissues. Finally, a numerical model using a human kidney volumetric mesh evaluated how treatment predictions vary when EP- and temperature-based electrical conductivity changes are incorporated. We conclude that significant changes in predicted outcomes will occur when the experimental results are applied to the numerical model, where the direction and degree of change varies with the electric field considered.

Childhood Obesity Associates Haemodynamic and Vascular Changes That Result in Increased Central Aortic Pressure with Augmented Incident and Reflected Wave Components, without Changes in Peripheral Amplification

PubMed Central

Castro, Juan M.; García-Espinosa, Victoria; Curcio, Santiago; Arana, Maite; Chiesa, Pedro; Giachetto, Gustavo; Zócalo, Yanina; Bia, Daniel

2016-01-01

The aims were to determine if childhood obesity is associated with increased central aortic blood pressure (BP) and to characterize haemodynamic and vascular changes associated with BP changes in obese children and adolescents by means of analyzing changes in cardiac output (stroke volume, SV), arterial stiffness (aortic pulse wave velocity, PWV), peripheral vascular resistances (PVR), and net and relative contributions of reflected waves to the aortic pulse wave amplitude. We included 117 subjects (mean/range age: 10 (5–15) years, 49 females), who were obese (OB) or had normal weight (NW). Peripheral and central aortic BP, PWV, and pulse wave-derived parameters (augmentation index, amplitude of forward and backward components) were measured with tonometry (SphygmoCor) and oscillometry (Mobil-O-Graph). With independence of the presence of dyslipidemia, hypertension, or sedentarism, the aortic systolic and pulse BP were higher in OB than in NW subjects. The increase in central BP could not be explained by the elevation in the relative contribution of reflections to the aortic pressure wave and higher PVR or by an augmented peripheral reflection coefficient. Instead, the rise in central BP could be explained by an increase in the amplitude of both incident and reflect wave components associated to augmented SV and/or PWV. PMID:26881081

Bipolar-pulses observed by the LRS/WFC-L onboard KAGUYA - Plausible evidence of lunar dust impact -

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kasahara, Yoshiya; Horie, Hiroki; Hashimoto, Kozo; Omura, Yoshiharu; Goto, Yoshitaka; Kumamoto, Atsushi; Ono, Takayuki; Tsunakawa, Hideo; Lrs/Wfc Team; Map/Lmag Team

2010-05-01

Introduction: The waveform capture (WFC) [1] is one of the subsystems of the Lunar Radar Sounder (LRS) [2] on board the KAGUYA spacecraft. By taking advantage of a moon orbiter, the WFC measures plasma waves and radio emis-sions around the moon. The WFC measures two components of electric wave signals detected by the two orthogonal 30 m tip-to-tip antennas from 100Hz to 1MHz. The WFC consists of the WFC-L which meas-ures electric waveform from 100Hz to 100kHz, and the WFC-H which is a fast sweep frequency analyz-er covering from 1kHz up to 1MHz. The WFC-L has two operation modes: DIFF and MONO. In DIFF mode, signals from two pairs of 30m tip-to-tip dipole antennas are obtained. MONO mode is namely an interferometry mode and we separately measure the signals from a pair of monopole antennas. This mode is dedicated to measure the phase velocities and wave numbers of plasma waves. Bipolar-pulses with their time scales of a few ms upto several tens ms were often observed by the WFC-L. Some of them are classified into elec-trostatic solitary waves (ESW) [3], while another type of bipolar pulses which are supposed to be caused by lunar dust impacts are also observed. In the present paper, we introduce the latter type of bipolar-pulses. Observation: In general, ESWs are caused by electron-holes in the nonlinear evolution of electron beam instability. Therefore waveform of ESW is basically symmetric and its propagation direction is parallel to the am-bient magnetic field. On the other hand, another type of bipolar pulses are characterized by their asymmetric waveforms, that is, the latter half of pulse is longer than the first half. It is also noted that detection probability of such asymmetric bipolar pulses in MONO mode is much higher than that in DIFF mode. This is because bipolar pulses detected by a pair of monopole antennas in MONO mode are almost identical (pulses are simultaneously detected with both monopole anten-nas and the polarities of these pulses are also same) and thus most of bipolar-pulses which can be detected in MONO mode are cancelled in DIFF mode. This fact suggests that these bipolar pulses are not a kind of natural wave but these are caused by instantaneous potential changes of the KAGUYA spacecraft. Discussion: Similar type of bipolar-pulses has been observed by the monopole antenna measurements using Radio and Plasma Wave Science (RPWS) instruments on-board Cassini around Saturn [4]. They demonstrated that these bipolar pulses are caused by impacts of dusts floating around the Saturn. It is well-known that lunar dusts are widely dis-tributed in higher altitude range around the moon and it is plausible that these bipolar pulses are caused by the lunar dust impacts. In the presentation, we show the detailed charac-teristics of bipolar pulses detected by the WFC-L onboard KAGUYA. References: [1] Y. Kasahara et al., Earth, Planets and Space, 60(4), 341-351, 2008. [2] T. Ono et al., Earth, Planets and Space, 60(4), 321-332, 2008. [3] K. Hashimoto et al., The 4th SELENE (KAGUYA) Science Working Team Meeting, (this issue), 2010. [4] W.S. Kurth et al, Planetary and Space Science, 54(9-10), 988-998, 2006.

Ionoacoustic characterization of the proton Bragg peak with submillimeter accuracy

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Assmann, W., E-mail: walter.assmann@lmu.de; Reinhardt, S.; Lehrack, S.

2015-02-15

Purpose: Range verification in ion beam therapy relies to date on nuclear imaging techniques which require complex and costly detector systems. A different approach is the detection of thermoacoustic signals that are generated due to localized energy loss of ion beams in tissue (ionoacoustics). Aim of this work was to study experimentally the achievable position resolution of ionoacoustics under idealized conditions using high frequency ultrasonic transducers and a specifically selected probing beam. Methods: A water phantom was irradiated by a pulsed 20 MeV proton beam with varying pulse intensity and length. The acoustic signal of single proton pulses was measuredmore » by different PZT-based ultrasound detectors (3.5 and 10 MHz central frequencies). The proton dose distribution in water was calculated by Geant4 and used as input for simulation of the generated acoustic wave by the matlab toolbox k-WAVE. Results: In measurements from this study, a clear signal of the Bragg peak was observed for an energy deposition as low as 10{sup 12} eV. The signal amplitude showed a linear increase with particle number per pulse and thus, dose. Bragg peak position measurements were reproducible within ±30 μm and agreed with Geant4 simulations to better than 100 μm. The ionoacoustic signal pattern allowed for a detailed analysis of the Bragg peak and could be well reproduced by k-WAVE simulations. Conclusions: The authors have studied the ionoacoustic signal of the Bragg peak in experiments using a 20 MeV proton beam with its correspondingly localized energy deposition, demonstrating submillimeter position resolution and providing a deep insight in the correlation between the acoustic signal and Bragg peak shape. These results, together with earlier experiments and new simulations (including the results in this study) at higher energies, suggest ionoacoustics as a technique for range verification in particle therapy at locations, where the tumor can be localized by ultrasound imaging. This acoustic range verification approach could offer the possibility of combining anatomical ultrasound and Bragg peak imaging, but further studies are required for translation of these findings to clinical application.« less

Innovations in shock wave lithotripsy technology: updates in experimental studies.

PubMed

Zhou, Yufeng; Cocks, Franklin H; Preminger, Glenn M; Zhong, Pei

2004-11-01

We developed innovations in shock wave lithotripsy (SWL) technology. Two technical upgrades were implemented in an original unmodified HM-3 lithotriptor (Dornier Medical Systems, Inc., Kennesaw, Georgia). First, a single unit ellipsoidal reflector insert was used to modify the profile of lithotriptor shock wave (LSW) to decrease the propensity of tissue injury in SWL. Second, a piezoelectric annular array (PEAA) generator (f = 230 kHz and F = 150 mm) was used to produce an auxiliary shock wave of approximately 13 MPa in peak pressure (at 4 kV output voltage) to intensify the collapse of LSW induced bubbles near the target stone for improved comminution efficiency. Consistent rupture of a vessel phantom made of single cellulose hollow fiber (i.d. = 0.2 mm) was produced after 30 shocks by the original HM-3 reflector at 20 kV. In comparison no vessel rupture could be produced after 200 shocks using the upgraded reflector at 22 kV or the PEAA generator at 4 kV. Using cylindrical BegoStone phantoms (Bego USA, Smithfield, Rhode Island) stone comminution efficiencies (mean +/- sd) after 1,500 shocks produced by the original and upgraded HM-3 reflectors, and the combined PEAA/upgraded HM-3 system, were 81.3% +/- 3.5%, 90.1% +/- 4.3% and 95.2% +/- 3.3%, respectively (p<0.05). Optimization of the pulse profile and sequence of LSW can significantly improve stone comminution while simultaneously decreasing the propensity of tissue injury during in vitro SWL. This novel concept and associated technologies may be used to upgrade other existing lithotriptors and to design new shock wave lithotriptors for improved performance and safety.

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Vogel, A.; Scammon, R.J.; Godwin, R.P.

Biological tissue is more susceptible to damage from tensile stress than to compressive stress. Tensile stress may arise through the thermoelastic response of laser-irradiated media. Optical breakdown, however, has to date been exclusively associated with compressive stress. The authors show that this is appropriate for water, but not for tissues for which the elastic-plastic material response needs to be considered. The acoustic transients following optical breakdown in water and cornea were measured with a fast hydrophone and the cavitation bubble dynamics, which is closely linked to the stress wave generation, was documented by flash photography. Breakdown in water produced amore » monopolar acoustic signal and a bubble oscillation in which the expansion and collapse phases were symmetric. Breakdown in cornea produced a bipolar acoustic signal coupled with a pronounced shortening of the bubble expansion phase and a considerable prolongation of its collapse phase. The tensile stress wave is related to the abrupt end of the bubble expansion. Numerical simulations using the MESA-2D code were performed assuming elastic-plastic material behavior in a wide range of values for the shear modulus and yield strength. The calculations revealed that consideration of the elastic-plastic material response is essential to reproduce the experimentally observed bipolar stress waves. The tensile stress evolves during the outward propagation of the acoustic transient and reaches an amplitude of 30--40% of the compressive pulse.« less

Nd:YAG Pulsed Laser based flaw imaging techniques for noncontact NDE of an aluminum plate

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Park, Woong-Ki; Lee, Changgil; Park, Seunghee

2012-04-01

Recently, the longitudinal, shear and surface waves have been very widely used as a kind of ultrasonic wave exploration methods to identify internal defects of metallic structures. The ultrasonic wave-based non-destructive testing (NDT) is one of main non-destructive inspection techniques for a health assessment about nuclear power plant, aircraft, ships, and/or automobile manufacturing. In this study, a noncontact pulsed laser-based flaw imaging NDT technique is implemented to detect the damage of a plate-like structure and to identify the location of the damage. To achieve this goal, the Nd:YAG pulsed laser equipment is used to generate a guided wave and scans a specific area to find damage location. The Nd: YAG pulsed laser is used to generate Lamb wave and piezoelectric sensors are installed to measure structural responses. Ann aluminum plate is investigated to verify the effectiveness and the robustness of the proposed NDT approach. A notch is a target to detect, which is inflicted on the surface of an aluminum plate. The damagesensitive features are extracted by comparing the time of flight of the guided wave obtained from an acoustic emission (AE) sensor and make use of the flaw imaging techniques of the aluminum plate.

Exciting Alfven Waves using Modulated Electron Heating by High Power Microwaves

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wang, Yuhou; Gekelman, Walter; Pribyl, Patrick; van Compernolle, Bart; Papadopoulos, Konstantinos

2014-10-01

Experiments exploring the physics of ionospheric modification with intense perpendicular propagating waves (k-> ⊥B->0) on the Large Plasma Device (LaPD) at UCLA have been upgraded with the addition of a high power rapidly pulsed microwave source. The plasma is irradiated with ten pulses (250 kW X-band) near the upper-hybrid frequency. The pulses are modulated at a frequency of a fraction (0.1-1.0) of fci (ion cyclotron frequency). Based on a previous single-pulse experiment, the modulated electron heating may drive a large amplitude shear Alfvén wave (f

Pump-dump iterative squeezing of vibrational wave packets.

PubMed

Chang, Bo Y; Sola, Ignacio R

2005-12-22

The free motion of a nonstationary vibrational wave packet in an electronic potential is a source of interesting quantum properties. In this work we propose an iterative scheme that allows continuous stretching and squeezing of a wave packet in the ground or in an excited electronic state, by switching the wave function between both potentials with pi pulses at certain times. Using a simple model of displaced harmonic oscillators and delta pulses, we derive the analytical solution and the conditions for its possible implementation and optimization in different molecules and electronic states. We show that the main constraining parameter is the pulse bandwidth. Although in principle the degree of squeezing (or stretching) is not bounded, the physical resources increase quadratically with the number of iterations, while the achieved squeezing only increases linearly.

Laser control of electronic transitions of wave packet by using quadratically chirped pulses.

PubMed

Zou, Shiyang; Kondorskiy, Alexey; Mil'nikov, Gennady; Nakamura, Hiroki

2005-02-22

An effective scheme is proposed for the laser control of wave packet dynamics. It is demonstrated that by using specially designed quadratically chirped pulses, fast and nearly complete excitation of wave packet can be achieved without significant distortion of its shape. The parameters of the laser pulse can be estimated analytically from the Zhu-Nakamura theory of nonadiabatic transition. If the wave packet is not too narrow or not too broad, then the scheme is expected to be utilizable for multidimensional systems. The scheme is applicable to various processes such as simple electronic excitation, pump-dump, and selective bond breaking, and it is actually numerically demonstrated to work well by taking diatomic and triatomic molecules (LiH, NaK, H(2)O) as examples.

Laser control of electronic transitions of wave packet by using quadratically chirped pulses

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zou, Shiyang; Kondorskiy, Alexey; Mil'nikov, Gennady; Nakamura, Hiroki

2005-02-01

An effective scheme is proposed for the laser control of wave packet dynamics. It is demonstrated that by using specially designed quadratically chirped pulses, fast and nearly complete excitation of wave packet can be achieved without significant distortion of its shape. The parameters of the laser pulse can be estimated analytically from the Zhu-Nakamura theory of nonadiabatic transition. If the wave packet is not too narrow or not too broad, then the scheme is expected to be utilizable for multidimensional systems. The scheme is applicable to various processes such as simple electronic excitation, pump-dump, and selective bond breaking, and it is actually numerically demonstrated to work well by taking diatomic and triatomic molecules (LiH, NaK, H2O) as examples.

Novel wave intensity analysis of arterial pulse wave propagation accounting for peripheral reflections

PubMed Central

Alastruey, Jordi; Hunt, Anthony A E; Weinberg, Peter D

2014-01-01

We present a novel analysis of arterial pulse wave propagation that combines traditional wave intensity analysis with identification of Windkessel pressures to account for the effect on the pressure waveform of peripheral wave reflections. Using haemodynamic data measured in vivo in the rabbit or generated numerically in models of human compliant vessels, we show that traditional wave intensity analysis identifies the timing, direction and magnitude of the predominant waves that shape aortic pressure and flow waveforms in systole, but fails to identify the effect of peripheral reflections. These reflections persist for several cardiac cycles and make up most of the pressure waveform, especially in diastole and early systole. Ignoring peripheral reflections leads to an erroneous indication of a reflection-free period in early systole and additional error in the estimates of (i) pulse wave velocity at the ascending aorta given by the PU–loop method (9.5% error) and (ii) transit time to a dominant reflection site calculated from the wave intensity profile (27% error). These errors decreased to 1.3% and 10%, respectively, when accounting for peripheral reflections. Using our new analysis, we investigate the effect of vessel compliance and peripheral resistance on wave intensity, peripheral reflections and reflections originating in previous cardiac cycles. PMID:24132888

Improved Pulse Transit Time Estimation by System Identification Analysis of Proximal and Distal Arterial Waveforms

DTIC Science & Technology

2011-10-01

response; pulse wave velocity ACCORDING TO THE MOENS-KORTEWEG equation, pulse wave ve- locity ( PWV ) increases as the arteries stiffen. Indeed, PWV is the...and mortality in hypertensive patients (2, 4, 12, 14). In addition, because arterial stiffness increases with arterial blood pressure (ABP), PWV and...ABP often show positive correlation, suggesting that PWV could provide a means to achieve continuous, noninvasive, and cuffless ABP monitoring (18

Visualization of liquid-assisted hard tissue ablation with a pulsed CO2 laser

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Li, X. W.; Chen, C. G.; Zhang, X. Z.; Zhan, Z. L.; Xie, S. S.

2015-01-01

To investigate the characteristics of liquid-mediated hard tissue ablation induced by a pulsed CO2 laser with a wavelength of 10.6 μm, a high speed camera was used to monitor the interaction between water, tissue and laser irradiation. The results showed that laser irradiation can directly impact on tissue through a vapor channel formed by the leading part of the laser pulse. The ablation debris plays a key role in liquid-assisted laser ablation, having the ability to keep the vapor channel open to extend actuation time. The runoff effect induced by vortex convection liquid flow can remove the tissue that obstructs the effect of the next laser pulse.

Interstitial Photoacoustic Sensor for the Measurement of Tissue Temperature during Interstitial Laser Phototherapy

PubMed Central

Li, Zhifang; Chen, Haiyu; Zhou, Feifan; Li, Hui; Chen, Wei R.

2015-01-01

Photothermal therapy is an effective means to induce tumor cell death, since tumor tissue is more sensitive to temperature increases than normal tissue. Biological responses depend on tissue temperature; target tissue temperature needs to be precisely measured and controlled to achieve desired thermal effects. In this work, a unique photoacoustic (PA) sensor is proposed for temperature measurement during interstitial laser phototherapy. A continuous-wave laser light and a pulsed laser light, for photothermal irradiation and photoacoustic temperature measurement, respectively, were delivered to the target tissue through a fiber coupler. During laser irradiation, the PA amplitude was measured. The Grüneisen parameter and the bioheat equation were used to determine the temperature in strategic positions in the target tissue. Our results demonstrate that the interstitial PA amplitude is a linear function of temperature in the range of 22 to 55 °C, as confirmed by thermocouple measurement. Furthermore, by choosing appropriate laser parameters, the maximum temperature surrounding the active diffuse fiber tip in tissue can be controlled in the range of 41 to 55 °C. Thus, this sensor could potentially be used for fast, accurate, and convenient three-dimensional temperature measurement, and for real-time feedback and control of interstitial laser phototherapy in cancer treatment. PMID:25756865

In vivo studies of ultrafast near-infrared laser tissue bonding and wound healing

PubMed Central

Sriramoju, Vidyasagar; Alfano, Robert R.

2015-01-01

Abstract. Femtosecond (fs) pulse lasers in the near-infrared (NIR) range exhibit very distinct properties upon their interaction with biomolecules compared to the corresponding continuous wave (CW) lasers. Ultrafast NIR laser tissue bonding (LTB) was used to fuse edges of two opposing animal tissue segments in vivo using fs laser photoexcitation of the native vibrations of chomophores. The fusion of the incised tissues was achieved in vivo at the molecular level as the result of the energy–matter interactions of NIR laser radiation with water and the structural proteins like collagen in the target tissues. Nonthermal vibrational excitation from the fs laser absorption by water and collagen induced the formation of cross-links between tissue proteins on either sides of the weld line resulting in tissue bonding. No extrinsic agents were used to facilitate tissue bonding in the fs LTB. These studies were pursued for the understanding and evaluation of the role of ultrafast NIR fs laser radiation in the LTB and consequent wound healing. The fs LTB can be used for difficult to suture structures such as blood vessels, nerves, gallbladder, liver, intestines, and other viscera. Ultrafast NIR LTB yields promising outcomes and benefits in terms of wound closure and wound healing under optimal conditions. PMID:26465615

In vivo studies of ultrafast near-infrared laser tissue bonding and wound healing

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sriramoju, Vidyasagar; Alfano, Robert R.

2015-10-01

Femtosecond (fs) pulse lasers in the near-infrared (NIR) range exhibit very distinct properties upon their interaction with biomolecules compared to the corresponding continuous wave (CW) lasers. Ultrafast NIR laser tissue bonding (LTB) was used to fuse edges of two opposing animal tissue segments in vivo using fs laser photoexcitation of the native vibrations of chomophores. The fusion of the incised tissues was achieved in vivo at the molecular level as the result of the energy-matter interactions of NIR laser radiation with water and the structural proteins like collagen in the target tissues. Nonthermal vibrational excitation from the fs laser absorption by water and collagen induced the formation of cross-links between tissue proteins on either sides of the weld line resulting in tissue bonding. No extrinsic agents were used to facilitate tissue bonding in the fs LTB. These studies were pursued for the understanding and evaluation of the role of ultrafast NIR fs laser radiation in the LTB and consequent wound healing. The fs LTB can be used for difficult to suture structures such as blood vessels, nerves, gallbladder, liver, intestines, and other viscera. Ultrafast NIR LTB yields promising outcomes and benefits in terms of wound closure and wound healing under optimal conditions.

LIDAR pulse coding for high resolution range imaging at improved refresh rate.

PubMed

Kim, Gunzung; Park, Yongwan

2016-10-17

In this study, a light detection and ranging system (LIDAR) was designed that codes pixel location information in its laser pulses using the direct- sequence optical code division multiple access (DS-OCDMA) method in conjunction with a scanning-based microelectromechanical system (MEMS) mirror. This LIDAR can constantly measure the distance without idle listening time for the return of reflected waves because its laser pulses include pixel location information encoded by applying the DS-OCDMA. Therefore, this emits in each bearing direction without waiting for the reflected wave to return. The MEMS mirror is used to deflect and steer the coded laser pulses in the desired bearing direction. The receiver digitizes the received reflected pulses using a low-temperature-grown (LTG) indium gallium arsenide (InGaAs) based photoconductive antenna (PCA) and the time-to-digital converter (TDC) and demodulates them using the DS-OCDMA. When all of the reflected waves corresponding to the pixels forming a range image are received, the proposed LIDAR generates a point cloud based on the time-of-flight (ToF) of each reflected wave. The results of simulations performed on the proposed LIDAR are compared with simulations of existing LIDARs.

Evaluation of arterial propagation velocity based on the automated analysis of the Pulse Wave Shape

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Clara, F. M.; Scandurra, A. G.; Meschino, G. J.; Passoni, L. I.

2011-12-01

This paper proposes the automatic estimation of the arterial propagation velocity from the pulse wave raw records measured in the region of the radial artery. A fully automatic process is proposed to select and analyze typical pulse cycles from the raw data. An adaptive neuro-fuzzy inference system, together with a heuristic search is used to find a functional approximation of the pulse wave. The estimation of the propagation velocity is carried out via the analysis of the functional approximation obtained with the fuzzy model. The analysis of the pulse wave records with the proposed methodology showed small differences compared with the method used so far, based on a strong interaction with the user. To evaluate the proposed methodology, we estimated the propagation velocity in a population of healthy men from a wide range of ages. It has been found in these studies that propagation velocity increases linearly with age and it presents a considerable dispersion of values in healthy individuals. We conclude that this process could be used to evaluate indirectly the propagation velocity of the aorta, which is related to physiological age in healthy individuals and with the expectation of life in cardiovascular patients.

Simultaneous manipulation and observation of multiple ro-vibrational eigenstates in solid para-hydrogen.

PubMed

Katsuki, Hiroyuki; Ohmori, Kenji

2016-09-28

We have experimentally performed the coherent control of delocalized ro-vibrational wave packets (RVWs) of solid para-hydrogen (p-H 2 ) by the wave packet interferometry (WPI) combined with coherent anti-Stokes Raman scattering (CARS). RVWs of solid p-H 2 are delocalized in the crystal, and the wave function with wave vector k ∼ 0 is selectively excited via the stimulated Raman process. We have excited the RVW twice by a pair of femtosecond laser pulses with delay controlled by a stabilized Michelson interferometer. Using a broad-band laser pulse, multiple ro-vibrational states can be excited simultaneously. We have observed the time-dependent Ramsey fringe spectra as a function of the inter-pulse delay by a spectrally resolved CARS technique using a narrow-band probe pulse, resolving the different intermediate states. Due to the different fringe oscillation periods among those intermediate states, we can manipulate their amplitude ratio by tuning the inter-pulse delay on the sub-femtosecond time scale. The state-selective manipulation and detection of the CARS signal combined with the WPI is a general and efficient protocol for the control of the interference of multiple quantum states in various quantum systems.

Dual-pulse frequency compounded superharmonic imaging.

PubMed

van Neer, Paul L M J; Danilouchkine, Mikhail G; Matte, Guillaume M; van der Steen, Anton F W; de Jong, Nico

2011-11-01

Tissue second-harmonic imaging is currently the default mode in commercial diagnostic ultrasound systems. A new modality, superharmonic imaging (SHI), combines the third through fifth harmonics originating from nonlinear wave propagation through tissue. SHI could further improve the resolution and quality of echographic images. The superharmonics have gaps between the harmonics because the transducer has a limited bandwidth of about 70% to 80%. This causes ghost reflection artifacts in the superharmonic echo image. In this work, a new dual-pulse frequency compounding (DPFC) method to eliminate these artifacts is introduced. In the DPFC SHI method, each trace is constructed by summing two firings with slightly different center frequencies. The feasibility of the method was established using a single-element transducer. Its acoustic field was modeled in KZK simulations and compared with the corresponding measurements obtained with a hydrophone apparatus. Subsequently, the method was implemented on and optimized for a setup consisting of an interleaved phased-array transducer (44 elements at 1 MHz and 44 elements at 3.7 MHz, optimized for echocardiography) and a programmable ultrasound system. DPFC SHI effectively suppresses the ghost reflection artifacts associated with imaging using multiple harmonics. Moreover, compared with the single-pulse third harmonic, DPFC SHI improved the axial resolution by 3.1 and 1.6 times at the -6-dB and -20-dB levels, respectively. Hence, DPFC offers the possibility of generating harmonic images of a higher quality at a cost of a moderate frame rate reduction.

New 445 nm blue laser for laryngeal surgery combines photoangiolytic and cutting properties.

PubMed

Hess, Markus M; Fleischer, Susanne; Ernstberger, Marcel

2018-06-01

Photoangiolytic lasers have broadened the surgical armamentarium for many phonosurgical interventions. However, the pulse dye laser and potassium titanyl phosphate (KTP) laser have technical drawbacks and a smaller spectrum of indications. The new 445 nm wavelength laser, the so-called 'blue laser', proves to show tissue effects comparable to the KTP laser and is also capable of treating subepithelial vessels due to its photoangiolytic properties, it can coagulate and carbonize at higher energy levels, and can be used via glass fibers in non-contact and contact mode for in-office procedures. In contrast to the KTP, the new 445 nm laser can also be used as a cutting laser, thus combining very much wanted properties of diode or CO2 lasers with photoangiolytic lasers. Further advantages of the new laser are the; (1) portability of the shoe box sized, shock-proof laser machine for in-office and operating room usage, (2) the selection of pulse rates from continuous wave (cw) to less than a millisecond, (3) stronger tissue effects compared to KTP with similar energy and pulse settings, (4) far better cutting properties than the KTP, and thus (5) more possibilities for usage in laryngology as well as in other fields or surgery. We demonstrate the feasibility of the 445 nm laser in several laboratory experiments and show clinical cases where photoangiolysis and cutting was possible. However, this is a preliminary report and further systematic studies in greater numbers are warranted.

Wearable sensor glove based on conducting fabric using electrodermal activity and pulse-wave sensors for e-health application.

PubMed

Lee, Youngbum; Lee, Byungwoo; Lee, Myoungho

2010-03-01

Improvement of the quality and efficiency of health in medicine, both at home and the hospital, calls for improved sensors that might be included in a common carrier such as a wearable sensor device to measure various biosignals and provide healthcare services that use e-health technology. Designed to be user-friendly, smart clothes and gloves respond well to the end users for health monitoring. This study describes a wearable sensor glove that is equipped with an electrodermal activity (EDA) sensor, pulse-wave sensor, conducting fabric, and an embedded system. The EDA sensor utilizes the relationship between drowsiness and the EDA signal. The EDA sensors were made using a conducting fabric instead of silver chloride electrodes, as a more practical and practically wearable device. The pulse-wave sensor measurement system, which is widely applied in oriental medicinal practices, is also a strong element in e-health monitoring systems. The EDA and pulse-wave signal acquisition module was constructed by connecting the sensor to the glove via a conductive fabric. The signal acquisition module is then connected to a personal computer that displays the results of the EDA and pulse-wave signal processing analysis and gives accurate feedback to the user. This system is designed for a number of applications for the e-health services, including drowsiness detection and oriental medicine.

Empirical transfer functions: Application to the determination of outermost core velocity structure using teleseismic SmKS phases

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Eaton, D. W.; Alexandrakis, C.

2007-05-01

Teleseismic SmKS waves propagate as S-waves in the mantle and compressional (K) waves in the core, with m-1 underside bounce points at the core-mantle boundary. For long-period or broadband recordings at epicentral distances of 115-135°, higher-order SmKS waves (3 ≤ m < ∞) are not often discernible as distinct pulses. Instead, they are typically manifested as a weakly dispersive waveform that lags SKKS by ~ 12-32s. In a ray-theoretical representation of this process, there is a strong geometrical similarity between the coalescence of SmKS turning waves to form a composite arrival and the interference of mantle S waves to form teleseismic Love waves. SmKS waves can thus be viewed as a type of pseudo-interface wave, the dispersive properties of which depend strongly on the fine-scale velocity structure of the outermost core. In order to analyze SmKS arrivals, we have developed an empirical transfer-function (ETF) technique that uses SKKS as a reference phase. An ETF is a wave-shaping filter that transforms the observed SKKS pulse into the observed SmKS pulse. We obtain this filter by windowing the respective pulses and applying frequency- domain Wiener deconvolution. Each ETF contains SmKS-SKKS differential arrival-time, phase-shift and relative-amplitude information; it also implicitly removes the source-time function and instrument response, thus facilitating the merging of results from different stations and events. Here, we apply this approach to global observations of SmKS phases and invert the results to yield a new velocity model for the outermost core region.

Few-cycle optical rogue waves: complex modified Korteweg-de Vries equation.

PubMed

He, Jingsong; Wang, Lihong; Li, Linjing; Porsezian, K; Erdélyi, R

2014-06-01

In this paper, we consider the complex modified Korteweg-de Vries (mKdV) equation as a model of few-cycle optical pulses. Using the Lax pair, we construct a generalized Darboux transformation and systematically generate the first-, second-, and third-order rogue wave solutions and analyze the nature of evolution of higher-order rogue waves in detail. Based on detailed numerical and analytical investigations, we classify the higher-order rogue waves with respect to their intrinsic structure, namely, fundamental pattern, triangular pattern, and ring pattern. We also present several new patterns of the rogue wave according to the standard and nonstandard decomposition. The results of this paper explain the generalization of higher-order rogue waves in terms of rational solutions. We apply the contour line method to obtain the analytical formulas of the length and width of the first-order rogue wave of the complex mKdV and the nonlinear Schrödinger equations. In nonlinear optics, the higher-order rogue wave solutions found here will be very useful to generate high-power few-cycle optical pulses which will be applicable in the area of ultrashort pulse technology.

Interaction Mechanisms of Cavitation Bubbles Induced by Spatially and Temporally Separated fs-Laser Pulses

PubMed Central

Tinne, Nadine; Kaune, Brigitte; Krüger, Alexander; Ripken, Tammo

2014-01-01

The emerging use of femtosecond lasers with high repetition rates in the MHz regime together with limited scan speed implies possible mutual optical and dynamical interaction effects of the individual cutting spots. In order to get more insight into the dynamics a time-resolved photographic analysis of the interaction of cavitation bubbles is presented. Particularly, we investigated the influence of fs-laser pulses and their resulting bubble dynamics with various spatial as well as temporal separations. Different time courses of characteristic interaction effects between the cavitation bubbles were observed depending on pulse energy and spatio-temporal pulse separation. These ranged from merely no interaction to the phenomena of strong water jet formation. Afterwards, the mechanisms are discussed regarding their impact on the medical application of effective tissue cutting lateral to the laser beam direction with best possible axial precision: the mechanical forces of photodisruption as well as the occurring water jet should have low axial extend and a preferably lateral priority. Furthermore, the overall efficiency of energy conversion into controlled mechanical impact should be maximized compared to the transmitted pulse energy and unwanted long range mechanical side effects, e.g. shock waves, axial jet components. In conclusion, these experimental results are of great importance for the prospective optimization of the ophthalmic surgical process with high-repetition rate fs-lasers. PMID:25502697

RADIATION WAVE DETECTION

DOEpatents

Wouters, L.F.

1960-08-30

Radiation waves can be detected by simultaneously measuring radiation- wave intensities at a plurality of space-distributed points and producing therefrom a plot of the wave intensity as a function of time. To this end. a detector system is provided which includes a plurality of nuclear radiation intensity detectors spaced at equal radial increments of distance from a source of nuclear radiation. Means are provided to simultaneously sensitize the detectors at the instant a wave of radiation traverses their positions. the detectors producing electrical pulses indicative of wave intensity. The system further includes means for delaying the pulses from the detectors by amounts proportional to the distance of the detectors from the source to provide an indication of radiation-wave intensity as a function of time.

Local changes in arterial oxygen saturation induced by visible and near-infrared light radiation.

PubMed

Yesman, S S; Mamilov, S O; Veligotsky, D V; Gisbrecht, A I

2016-01-01

In this study, we investigate the efficiency of laser radiation on oxyhemoglobin (HbO2) rate in blood vessels and its wavelength dependence. The results of in vivo experimental measurements of the laser-induced photodissociation of HbO2 in cutaneous blood vessels in the visible and near-infrared (IR) spectral range are presented. Arterial oxygen saturation (SpO2) was measured by a method of fingertip pulse oximetry, which is based on the measurement of the modulated pulse wave of the blood. The light irradiating the finger was provided by corresponding light-emitting diodes (LED) at 15 wavelengths in the 400-940 nm spectrum range. Statistical results with a value of p < 0.05 were viewed as being significant for all volunteers. The results show that there is a decrease in SpO2 in the blood under the influence of the transcutaneous laser irradiation. Three maxima in the spectral range (530, 600, and 850 nm) are revealed, wherein decrease in the relative concentration of SpO2 reaches 5 % ± 0.5 %. Near-IR radiation plays a dominant role in absorption of laser radiation by oxyhemoglobin in deeper layers of tissue blood vessels. The obtained data correlate with the processes of light propagation in biological tissue. The observed reduction in SpO2 indicates the process of photodissociation of HbO2 in vivo and may result in local increase in O2 in the tissue. Such laser-induced enrichment of tissue oxygenation can be used in phototherapy of pathologies, where the elimination of local tissue hypoxia is critical.

Extremely High Peak Power Obtained at 29 GHZ Microwave Pulse Generation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Rostov, V. V.; Gunin, A. V.; Romanchenko, I. V.; Pedos, M. S.; Rukin, S. N.; Sharypov, K. A.; Shunailov, S. A.; Ul'maskulov, M. R.; Yalandin, M. I.

2017-12-01

The paper presents research results on enhancing the peak power of microwave pulses with sub- and nanosecond length using a backward-wave oscillator (BWO) operating at 29 GHz frequency and possessing a reproducible phase structure. Experiments are conducted in two modes on a high-current electron accelerator with the required electron beam power. In the first (superradiation) mode, which utilizes the elongated slow-wave structure, the BWO peak power is 3 GW at 180 ns pulse duration (full width at halfmaximum, FWHM). In the second (quasi-stationary) mode, the BWO peak power reaches 600 MW at 2 ns pulse duration (FWHM). The phase spread from pulse to pulse can vary from units to several tens of percent in a nanosecond pulse mode. The experiments do not show any influence of microwave breakdown on the BWO power generation and radiation pulse duration.

Dynamic behavior of geometrically complex hybrid composite samples in a Split-Hopkinson Pressure Bar system

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Pouya, M.; Balasubramaniam, S.; Sharafiev, S.; F-X Wagner, M.

2018-06-01

The interfaces between layered materials play an important role for the overall mechanical behavior of hybrid composites, particularly during dynamic loading. Moreover, in complex-shaped composites, interfacial failure is strongly affected by the geometry and size of these contact interfaces. As preliminary work for the design of a novel sample geometry that allows to analyze wave reflection phenomena at the interfaces of such materials, a series of experiments using a Split-Hopkinson Pressure Bar technique was performed on five different sample geometries made of a monomaterial steel. A complementary explicit finite element model of the Split-Hopkinson Pressure Bar system was developed and the same sample geometries were studied numerically. The simulated input, reflected and transmitted elastic wave pulses were analyzed for the different sample geometries and were found to agree well with the experimental results. Additional simulations using different composite layers of steel and aluminum (with the same sample geometries) were performed to investigate the effect of material variation on the propagated wave pulses. The numerical results show that the reflected and transmitted wave pulses systematically depend on the sample geometry, and that elastic wave pulse propagation is affected by the properties of individual material layers.

Nonlinear interaction of infrared waves on a VO2 surface at a semiconductor-metal phase transition

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Berger, N. K.; Zhukov, E. A.; Novokhatskii, V. V.

1984-04-01

Nonlinear interactions (including wavefront reversal) of light from CW or pulsed 10.6-micron CO2 lasers at the semiconductor-metal phase transition in a VO2 film are investigated experimentally. The results are presented in graphs and characterized in detail. The intensity reflection coefficients of the three-wave interactions are found to be 0.5 percent for a CW reference wave of intensity 900 mW/sq cm and 42 percent for a pulsed reference wave of threshold density 600-800 microjoule/sq cm.

Nonlinear pulse propagation and phase velocity of laser-driven plasma waves

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Benedetti, Carlo; Rossi, Francesco; Schroeder, Carl; Esarey, Eric; Leemans, Wim

2014-10-01

We investigate and characterize the laser evolution and plasma wave excitation by a relativistically intense, short-pulse laser propagating in a preformed parabolic plasma channel, including the effects of pulse steepening, frequency redshifting, and energy depletion. We derived in 3D, and in the weakly relativistic intensity regime, analytical expressions for the laser energy depletion, the pulse self-steepening rate, the laser intensity centroid velocity, and the phase velocity of the plasma wave. Analytical results have been validated numerically using the 2D-cylindrical, ponderomotive code INF&RNO. We also discuss the extension of these results to the nonlinear regime, where an analytical theory of the nonlinear wake phase velocity is lacking. Work supported by the Office of Science, Office of High Energy Physics, of the U.S. Department of Energy under Contract No. DE-AC02-05CH11231.

A repetitive S-band long-pulse relativistic backward-wave oscillator.

PubMed

Jin, Zhenxing; Zhang, Jun; Yang, Jianhua; Zhong, Huihuang; Qian, Baoliang; Shu, Ting; Zhang, Jiande; Zhou, Shengyue; Xu, Liurong

2011-08-01

This paper presents both numerical and experimental studies of a repetitive S-band long-pulse relativistic backward-wave oscillator. The dispersion relation curve of the main slow-wave structure is given by the numerical calculation. Experimental results show that a 1 GW microwaves with pulse duration of about 100 ns (full width of half magnitude) under 10 Hz repetitive operation mode are obtained. The microwave frequency is 3.6 GHz with the dominant mode of TM(01), and power conversion efficiency is about 20%. The single pulse energy is about 100 J. The experimental results are in good agreement with the simulation ones. By analyzing the experimental phenomenon, we obtain the conclusion that the explosive emission on the surface of the electrodynamics structure in intense radio frequency field mainly leads to the earlier unexpected termination of microwave output.

Dual physiological rate measurement instrument

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Cooper, Tommy G. (Inventor)

1990-01-01

The object of the invention is to provide an instrument for converting a physiological pulse rate into a corresponding linear output voltage. The instrument which accurately measures the rate of an unknown rectangular pulse wave over an extended range of values comprises a phase-locked loop including a phase comparator, a filtering network, and a voltage-controlled oscillator, arranged in cascade. The phase comparator has a first input responsive to the pulse wave and a second input responsive to the output signal of the voltage-controlled oscillator. The comparator provides a signal dependent on the difference in phase and frequency between the signals appearing on the first and second inputs. A high-input impedance amplifier accepts an output from the filtering network and provides an amplified output DC signal to a utilization device for providing a measurement of the rate of the pulse wave.

Pressure wave charged repetitively pulsed gas laser

DOEpatents

Kulkarny, Vijay A.

1982-01-01

A repetitively pulsed gas laser in which a system of mechanical shutters bracketing the laser cavity manipulate pressure waves resulting from residual energy in the cavity gas following a lasing event so as to draw fresh gas into the cavity and effectively pump spent gas in a dynamic closed loop.

Dynamical mechanisms of conducted vasoreactivity: minimalistic modeling study

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kuryshova, Ekaterina A.; Rogatina, Kristina V.; Postnov, Dmitry E.

2018-04-01

Endothelial cells are cells lining the inner surface of the blood and lymphatic vessels, they separate the bloodstream from the deeper layers of the vascular wall. Earlier endothelium was considered only as a passive barrier between blood and tissues. However, it has now become apparent that endothelial cells, specifically reacting to different molecular signals generated locally and remotely, perform a variety of functions. Simulation of large vascular networks requires the development of specialized models of autoregulation of vascular tone. On the one hand, such models should have a strong support for cellular dynamics, on the other - be as computationally efficient as possible. A model of a two-dimensional cylindrical array of endothelial cells is proposed on the basis of the integral description by means of the whole-cell CVC. The process of propagation of hyperpolarizing and depolarizing pulses is investigated depending on the statistics of cell distribution between the two main types. Endothelial cells are considered as a dynamic system possessing bistability. Based on the articles, the results of the distribution of the resting-potential values were repeated, the propagation of the hyperpolarizing pulse was observed, the endothelial cell chain supported the propagation of the wave switching to a hyperpolarized state, and then the return wave returned to its original state.

Generation of ultrasound in materials using continuous-wave lasers.

PubMed

Caron, James N; DiComo, Gregory P; Nikitin, Sergei

2012-03-01

Generating and detecting ultrasound is a standard method of nondestructive evaluation of materials. Pulsed lasers are used to generate ultrasound remotely in situations that prohibit the use of contact transducers. The scanning rate is limited by the repetition rates of the pulsed lasers, ranging between 10 and 100 Hz for lasers with sufficient pulse widths and energies. Alternately, a high-power continuous-wave laser can be scanned across the surface, creating an ultrasonic wavefront. Since generation is continuous, the scanning rate can be as much as 4 orders of magnitude higher than with pulsed lasers. This paper introduces the concept, comparing the theoretical scanning speed with generation by pulsed laser. © 2012 Optical Society of America

Optical trapping of nanoparticles by ultrashort laser pulses.

PubMed

Usman, Anwar; Chiang, Wei-Yi; Masuhara, Hiroshi

2013-01-01

Optical trapping with continuous-wave lasers has been a fascinating field in the optical manipulation. It has become a powerful tool for manipulating micrometer-sized objects, and has been widely applied in physics, chemistry, biology, material, and colloidal science. Replacing the continuous-wave- with pulsed-mode laser in optical trapping has already revealed some novel phenomena, including the stable trap, modifiable trapping positions, and controllable directional optical ejections of particles in nanometer scales. Due to two distinctive features; impulsive peak powers and relaxation time between consecutive pulses, the optical trapping with the laser pulses has been demonstrated to have some advantages over conventional continuous-wave lasers, particularly when the particles are within Rayleigh approximation. This would open unprecedented opportunities in both fundamental science and application. This Review summarizes recent advances in the optical trapping with laser pulses and discusses the electromagnetic formulations and physical interpretations of the new phenomena. Its aim is rather to show how beautiful and promising this field will be, and to encourage the in-depth study of this field.

Transmission loss measurement of acoustic material using time-domain pulse-separation method (L).

PubMed

Sun, Liang; Hou, Hong

2011-04-01

An alternative method for measuring the normal incidence sound transmission loss (nSTL) is presented in this paper based on the time-domain separation of so-called Butterworth pulse with a short-duration time about 1 ms in a standing wave tube. During the generation process of the pulse, inverse filter principle was adopted to compensate the loudspeaker response, besides this, the effect of the characteristics of tube termination can be eliminated through the generation process of the pulse so as to obtain a single plane pulse wave in the standing wave tube which makes the nSTL measurement very simple. A polyurethane foam material with low transmission loss and a kind of rubber material with relatively high transmission loss are used to verify the proposed method. When compared with the traditional two-load method, a relatively good agreement between these two methods can be observed. The main error of this method results from the measuring accuracy of the amplitude of transmission coefficient.

Energy, momentum, and angular momentum of sound pulses.

PubMed

Lekner, John

2017-12-01

Pulse solutions of the wave equation can be expressed as superpositions of scalar monochromatic beam wavefunctions (solutions of the Helmholtz equation). This formulation leads to causal (unidirectional) propagation, in contrast to all currently known closed-form solutions of the wave equation. Application is made to the evaluation of the energy, momentum, and angular momentum of acoustic pulses, as integrals over the beam and pulse weight functions. Equivalence is established between integration over space of the energy, momentum, and angular momentum densities, and integration over the wavevector weight function. The inequality linking the total energy and the total momentum is made explicit in terms of the weight function formulation. It is shown that a general pulse can be viewed as a superposition of phonons, each with energy ℏck, z component of momentum ℏq, and z component of angular momentum ℏm. A closed-form solution of the wave equation is found, which is localized and causal, and its energy and momentum are evaluated explicitly.

Experimental Test of Coupled Wave Model of Large Coils

DTIC Science & Technology

1985-06-01

46556 Abstract: Recent data from Time Domain Pulse Reflectometry experiments on a three turn coil in the form of a race track corroborate the...Domain Pulse Reflectometry experiments on a three turn coil in the form of a race track corroborate the theory of coupled wave model for large coils...Gabriel, "Coupled Wave Model for Large Magnet Coils", NASA Contractor Report 3332, National Aeronautics and Space Administration, Washington, DC

The interaction between electromagnetic fields at megahertz, gigahertz and terahertz frequencies with cells, tissues and organisms: risks and potential

PubMed Central

Begley, Ryan; Harvey, Alan R.; Hool, Livia; Wallace, Vincent P.

2017-01-01

Since regular radio broadcasts started in the 1920s, the exposure to human-made electromagnetic fields has steadily increased. These days we are not only exposed to radio waves but also other frequencies from a variety of sources, mainly from communication and security devices. Considering that nearly all biological systems interact with electromagnetic fields, understanding the affects is essential for safety and technological progress. This paper systematically reviews the role and effects of static and pulsed radio frequencies (100–109 Hz), millimetre waves (MMWs) or gigahertz (109–1011 Hz), and terahertz (1011–1013 Hz) on various biomolecules, cells and tissues. Electromagnetic fields have been shown to affect the activity in cell membranes (sodium versus potassium ion conductivities) and non-selective channels, transmembrane potentials and even the cell cycle. Particular attention is given to millimetre and terahertz radiation due to their increasing utilization and, hence, increasing human exposure. MMWs are known to alter active transport across cell membranes, and it has been reported that terahertz radiation may interfere with DNA and cause genomic instabilities. These and other phenomena are discussed along with the discrepancies and controversies from published studies. PMID:29212756

Photo-acoustic excitation and optical detection of fundamental flexural guided wave in coated bone phantoms.

PubMed

Moilanen, Petro; Zhao, Zuomin; Karppinen, Pasi; Karppinen, Timo; Kilappa, Vantte; Pirhonen, Jalmari; Myllylä, Risto; Haeggström, Edward; Timonen, Jussi

2014-03-01

Photo-acoustic (PA) imaging was combined with skeletal quantitative ultrasound (QUS) for assessment of human long bones. This approach permitted low-frequency excitation and detection of ultrasound so as to efficiently receive the thickness-sensitive fundamental flexural guided wave (FFGW) through a coating of soft tissue. The method was tested on seven axisymmetric bone phantoms, whose 1- to 5-mm wall thickness and 16-mm diameter mimicked those of the human radius. Phantoms were made of a composite material and coated with a 2.5- to 7.5-mm layer of soft material that mimicked soft tissue. Ultrasound was excited with a pulsed Nd:YAG laser at 1064-nm wavelength and received on the same side of the coated phantom with a heterodyne interferometer. The FFGW was detected at 30-kHz frequency. Fitting the FFGW phase velocity by the FLC(1,1) tube mode provided an accurate (9.5 ± 4.0%) wall thickness estimate. Ultrasonic in vivo characterization of cortical bone thickness may thus become possible. Copyright © 2014 World Federation for Ultrasound in Medicine & Biology. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Polarization control of terahertz waves generated by circularly polarized few-cycle laser pulses

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Song, Liwei; Bai, Ya; Xu, Rongjie; Li, Chuang; Liu, Peng; Li, Ruxin; Xu, Zhizhan

2013-12-01

We demonstrate the generation and control of elliptically polarized terahertz (THz) waves from air plasma produced by circularly polarized few-cycle laser pulses. Experimental and calculated results reveal that electric field asymmetry in rotating directions of the circularly polarized few-cycle laser pulses produces the enhanced broadband transient currents, and the phase difference of perpendicular laser field components is partially inherited in the generation process of THz emission. The ellipticity of the THz emission and its major axis direction are all-optically controlled by the duration and carrier-envelope phase of the laser pulses.

Carrier-envelope phase control of carrier-wave Rabi flopping in asymmetric semiparabolic quantum well.

PubMed

Zhang, Chaojin; Song, Xiaohong; Yang, Weifeng; Xu, Zhizhan

2008-02-04

We investigate the carrier-wave Rabi flopping effects in an asymmetric semiparabolic semiconductor quantum well (QW) with few-cycle pulse. It is found that higher spectral components of few-cycle ultrashort pulses in the semiparabolic QW depend crucially on the carrier-envelope phase (CEP) of the few-cycle ultrashort pulses: continuum and distinct peaks can be achieved by controlling the CEP. Our results demonstrate that by adjusting the CEP of few-cycle ultrashort pulses, the intersubband dynamics in the asymmetric semiparabolic QW can be controlled in an ultrashort timescale with moderate laser intensity.

Measurement of energy contrast of amplified ultrashort pulses using cross-polarized wave generation and spectral interferometry.

PubMed

Iliev, Marin; Meier, Amanda K; Galloway, Benjamin; Adams, Daniel E; Squier, Jeff A; Durfee, Charles G

2014-07-28

We present a method using spectral interferometry (SI) to characterize a pulse in the presence of an incoherent background such as amplified spontaneous emission (ASE). The output of a regenerative amplifier is interfered with a copy of the pulse that has been converted using third-order cross-polarized wave generation (XPW). The ASE shows as a pedestal background in the interference pattern. The energy contrast between the short-pulse component and the ASE is retrieved. The spectra of the interacting beams are obtained through an improvement to the self-referenced spectral interferometry (SRSI) analysis.

Noncontact phase-sensitive dynamic optical coherence elastography at megahertz rate

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Singh, Manmohan; Wu, Chen; Liu, Chih-Hao; Li, Jiasong; Schill, Alexander; Nair, Achuth; Kistenev, Yury V.; Larin, Kirill V.

2016-03-01

Dynamic optical coherence elastography (OCE) techniques have shown great promise at quantitatively obtaining the biomechanical properties of tissue. However, the majority of these techniques have required multiple temporal OCT acquisitions (M-B mode) and corresponding excitations, which lead to clinically unfeasible acquisition times and potential tissue damage. Furthermore, the large data sets and extended laser exposures hinder their translation to the clinic, where patient discomfort and safety are critical criteria. In this work we demonstrate noncontact true kilohertz frame-rate dynamic optical coherence elastography by directly imaging a focused air-pulse induced elastic wave with a home-built phase-sensitive OCE system based on a 4X buffered Fourier Domain Mode Locked swept source laser with an A-scan rate of ~1.5 MHz. The elastic wave was imaged at a frame rate of ~7.3 kHz using only a single excitation. In contrast to previous techniques, successive B-scans were acquired over the measurement region (B-M mode) in this work. The feasibility of this method was validated by quantifying the elasticity of tissue-mimicking agar phantoms as well as porcine corneas ex vivo at different intraocular pressures. The results demonstrate that this method can acquire a depth-resolved elastogram in milliseconds. The reduced data set enabled a rapid elasticity assessment, and the ultra-fast acquisition speed allowed for a clinically safe laser exposure to the cornea.

Nonlinear Brillouin amplification of finite-duration seeds in the strong coupling regime

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lehmann, G.; Spatschek, K. H.

2013-07-01

Parametric plasma processes received renewed interest in the context of generating ultra-intense and ultra-short laser pulses up to the exawatt-zetawatt regime. Both Raman as well as Brillouin amplifications of seed pulses were proposed. Here, we investigate Brillouin processes in the one-dimensional (1D) backscattering geometry with the help of numerical simulations. For optimal seed amplification, Brillouin scattering is considered in the so called strong coupling (sc) regime. Special emphasis lies on the dependence of the amplification process on the finite duration of the initial seed pulses. First, the standard plane-wave instability predictions are generalized to pulse models, and the changes of initial seed pulse forms due to parametric instabilities are investigated. Three-wave-interaction results are compared to predictions by a new (kinetic) Vlasov code. The calculations are then extended to the nonlinear region with pump depletion. Generation of different seed layers is interpreted by self-similar solutions of the three-wave interaction model. Similar to Raman amplification, shadowing of the rear layers by the leading layers of the seed occurs. The shadowing is more pronounced for initially broad seed pulses. The effect is quantified for Brillouin amplification. Kinetic Vlasov simulations agree with the three-wave interaction predictions and thereby affirm the universal validity of self-similar layer formation during Brillouin seed amplification in the strong coupling regime.

A heuristic model of stone comminution in shock wave lithotripsy

PubMed Central

Smith, Nathan B.; Zhong, Pei

2013-01-01

A heuristic model is presented to describe the overall progression of stone comminution in shock wave lithotripsy (SWL), accounting for the effects of shock wave dose and the average peak pressure, P+(avg), incident on the stone during the treatment. The model is developed through adaptation of the Weibull theory for brittle fracture, incorporating threshold values in dose and P+(avg) that are required to initiate fragmentation. The model is validated against experimental data of stone comminution from two stone types (hard and soft BegoStone) obtained at various positions in lithotripter fields produced by two shock wave sources of different beam width and pulse profile both in water and in 1,3-butanediol (which suppresses cavitation). Subsequently, the model is used to assess the performance of a newly developed acoustic lens for electromagnetic lithotripters in comparison with its original counterpart both under static and simulated respiratory motion. The results have demonstrated the predictive value of this heuristic model in elucidating the physical basis for improved performance of the new lens. The model also provides a rationale for the selection of SWL treatment protocols to achieve effective stone comminution without elevating the risk of tissue injury. PMID:23927195

Time-domain comparisons of power law attenuation in causal and noncausal time-fractional wave equations

PubMed Central

Zhao, Xiaofeng; McGough, Robert J.

2016-01-01

The attenuation of ultrasound propagating in human tissue follows a power law with respect to frequency that is modeled by several different causal and noncausal fractional partial differential equations. To demonstrate some of the similarities and differences that are observed in three related time-fractional partial differential equations, time-domain Green's functions are calculated numerically for the power law wave equation, the Szabo wave equation, and for the Caputo wave equation. These Green's functions are evaluated for water with a power law exponent of y = 2, breast with a power law exponent of y = 1.5, and liver with a power law exponent of y = 1.139. Simulation results show that the noncausal features of the numerically calculated time-domain response are only evident very close to the source and that these causal and noncausal time-domain Green's functions converge to the same result away from the source. When noncausal time-domain Green's functions are convolved with a short pulse, no evidence of noncausal behavior remains in the time-domain, which suggests that these causal and noncausal time-fractional models are equally effective for these numerical calculations. PMID:27250193

Experimental application of pulsed Ho:YAG laser-induced liquid jet as a novel rigid neuroendoscopic dissection device.

PubMed

Ohki, Tomohiro; Nakagawa, Atsuhiro; Hirano, Takayuki; Hashimoto, Tokitada; Menezes, Viren; Jokura, Hidefumi; Uenohara, Hiroshi; Sato, Yasuhiko; Saito, Tsutomu; Shirane, Reizo; Tominaga, Teiji; Takayama, Kazuyoshi

2004-01-01

Although water jet technology has been considered as a feasible neuroendoscopic dissection methodology because of its ability to perform selective tissue dissection without thermal damage, problems associated with continuous use of water and the ensuing fountain-effect-with catapulting of the tissue-could make water jets unsuitable for endoscopic use, in terms of safety and ease of handling. Therefore, the authors experimented with minimization of water usage during the application of a pulsed holmium:yttrium-aluminum-garnet (Ho:YAG) laser-induced liquid jet (LILJ), while assuring the dissection quality and the controllability of a conventional water jet dissection device. We have developed the LILJ generator for use as a rigid neuroendoscope, discerned its mechanical behavior, and evaluated its dissection ability using the cadaveric rabbit ventricular wall. The LILJ generator is incorporated into the tip of a stainless steel tube (length: 22 cm; internal diameter: 1.0 mm; external diameter: 1.4 mm), so that the device can be inserted into a commercial, rigid neuroendoscope. Briefly, the LILJ is generated by irradiating an internally supplied water column within the stainless steel tube using the pulsed Ho:YAG laser (wave length: 2.1 microm, pulse duration time: 350 microseconds) and is then ejected through the metal nozzle (internal diameter: 100 microm). The Ho:YAG laser pulse energy is conveyed through optical quartz fiber (core diameter: 400 microm), while cold water (5 degrees C) is internally supplied at a rate of 40 ml/hour. The relationship between laser energy (range: 40-433 mJ/pulse), standoff distance (defined as the distance between the tip of the optical fiber and the nozzle end; range: 10-30 mm), and the velocity, shape, pressure, and average volume of the ejected jet were analyzed by means of high-speed camera, PVDF needle hydrophone, and digital scale. The quality of the dissection plane, the preservation of blood vessels, and the penetration depth were evaluated using five fresh cadaveric rabbit ventricular walls, under neuroendoscopic vision. Jet velocity (7.0-19.6 m/second) and pressure (0.07-0.28 MPa) could be controlled by varying the laser energy, which determined the penetration depth in the cadaveric rabbit ventricular wall (0.07-1.30 mm/shot). The latter could be cut into desirable shapes-without thermal effects-under clear neuroendoscopic vision. The average volume of a single ejected jet could be confined to 0.42-1.52 microl/shot, and there was no accompanying generation of shock waves. Histological specimens revealed a sharp dissection plane and demonstrated that blood vessels of diameter over 100 microm could be preserved, without thermal damage. The present pulsed LILJ system holds promise as a safe and reliable dissection device for deployment in a rigid neuroendoscope. Copyright 2004 Wiley-Liss, Inc.

The prediction, observation and study of long-distant undamped thermal waves generated in pulse radiative processes

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Vysotskii, V. I.; Kornilova, A. A.; Vasilenko, A. O.; Krit, T. B.; Vysotskyy, M. V.

2017-07-01

The problems of the existence, generation, propagation and registration of long-distant undamped thermal waves formed in pulse radiative processes have been theoretically analyzed and confirmed experimentally. These waves may be used for the analysis of short-time processes of interaction of particles or electromagnetic fields with different targets. Such undamped waves can only exist in environments with a finite (nonzero) time of local thermal relaxation and their frequencies are determined by this time. The results of successful experiments on the generation and registration of undamped thermal waves at a large distance (up to 2 m) are also presented.

Effect of laser polarization and pulse energy on therapeutic, femtosecond laser-induced second harmonic generation in corneal tissue (Conference Presentation)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Calhoun, William R.; Ilev, Ilko K.

2016-03-01

Some of the most commonly performed surgical operations in the world, including laser-assisted in-situ keratomileusis (LASIK), lens replacement (e.g. cataract surgery), and keratoplasty (cornea transplant), now employ therapeutic infrared femtosecond lasers (FSLs) for their extreme precision, low energy delivered into tissue and advanced ablation characteristics. Although the widely exploited applications of FSLs in medical therapeutics offer significant benefits, FSLs must generate very high intensities in order to achieve optical breakdown, the predominant tissue ablative mechanism, which can also stimulate nonlinear optical effects such as harmonic generation, an effect that generates coherent visible and UV light in the case of second- (SHG) and third-harmonic generation (THG), respectively. In order to improve the understanding of HG in corneal tissue, the effect of FSL polarization and pulse energy were investigated. FSL stimulated SHG intensity in corneal tissue was measured as the laser polarization was rotated 360 degrees. Further, the pulse energy at the SHG wavelength were measured for single FSL pulses as the pulse energy at the fundamental wavelength was varied through a range of clinically relevant values. The results of this study revealed SHG intensity oscillated with laser polarization, having a variation greater than 20%. This relationship seems to due to the intrinsic anisotropy of collagen fibril hyperpolarizability, not related to tissue birefringence. SHG pulse energy measurements showed an increase in SHG pulse energy with increasing FSL pulse energy, however conversion efficiency decreased. This may be related to the dynamic relationship between optical breakdown leading to tissue destruction and HG evolution.

Erratum: Sources of Image Degradation in Fundamental and Harmonic Ultrasound Imaging: A Nonlinear, Full-Wave, Simulation Study

PubMed Central

Pinton, Gianmarco F.; Trahey, Gregg E.; Dahl, Jeremy J.

2015-01-01

A full-wave equation that describes nonlinear propagation in a heterogeneous attenuating medium is solved numerically with finite differences in the time domain. This numerical method is used to simulate propagation of a diagnostic ultrasound pulse through a measured representation of the human abdomen with heterogeneities in speed of sound, attenuation, density, and nonlinearity. Conventional delay-and-sum beamforming is used to generate point spread functions (PSFs) that display the effects of these heterogeneities. For the particular imaging configuration that is modeled, these PSFs reveal that the primary source of degradation in fundamental imaging is due to reverberation from near-field structures. Compared with fundamental imaging, reverberation clutter in harmonic imaging is 27.1 dB lower. Simulated tissue with uniform velocity but unchanged impedance characteristics indicates that for harmonic imaging, the primary source of degradation is phase aberration. PMID:21693410

Magnetoacoustic Tomography with Magnetic Induction: Bioimepedance reconstruction through vector source imaging

PubMed Central

Mariappan, Leo; He, Bin

2013-01-01

Magneto acoustic tomography with magnetic induction (MAT-MI) is a technique proposed to reconstruct the conductivity distribution in biological tissue at ultrasound imaging resolution. A magnetic pulse is used to generate eddy currents in the object, which in the presence of a static magnetic field induces Lorentz force based acoustic waves in the medium. This time resolved acoustic waves are collected with ultrasound transducers and, in the present work, these are used to reconstruct the current source which gives rise to the MAT-MI acoustic signal using vector imaging point spread functions. The reconstructed source is then used to estimate the conductivity distribution of the object. Computer simulations and phantom experiments are performed to demonstrate conductivity reconstruction through vector source imaging in a circular scanning geometry with a limited bandwidth finite size piston transducer. The results demonstrate that the MAT-MI approach is capable of conductivity reconstruction in a physical setting. PMID:23322761

Photoacoustic Tomography

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wang, Lihong V.

Photoacoustic tomography (PAT) refers to imaging that is based on the photoacoustic effect. Although the photoacoustic effect as a physical phenomenon was first reported on by Alexander Graham Bell in 1880 [1], PAT as an imaging technology was developed only after the advent of ultrasonic transducers, computers, and lasers [2-31]. A review on biomedical photoacoustics is available [32]. The motivation for PAT is to combine optical-absorption contrast with ultrasonic spatial resolution for deep imaging in the optical quasi-diffusive or diffusive regime. In PAT, the tissue is irradiated by usually a short-pulsed laser beam to achieve a thermal and acoustic impulse response (Fig. 19.1). Locally absorbed light is converted into heat, which is further converted to a pressure rise via thermo-elastic expansion. The initial pressure rise - determined by the local optical absorption coefficient (μ â ), fluence (ψ) and other thermal and mechanical properties - propagates as an ultrasonic wave, which is referred to as a photoacoustic wave.

Intense THz pulses cause H2AX phosphorylation and activate DNA damage response in human skin tissue

PubMed Central

Titova, Lyubov V.; Ayesheshim, Ayesheshim K.; Golubov, Andrey; Fogen, Dawson; Rodriguez-Juarez, Rocio; Hegmann, Frank A.; Kovalchuk, Olga

2013-01-01

Recent emergence and growing use of terahertz (THz) radiation for medical imaging and public security screening raise questions on reasonable levels of exposure and health consequences of this form of electromagnetic radiation. In particular, picosecond-duration THz pulses have shown promise for novel diagnostic imaging techniques. However, the effects of THz pulses on human cells and tissues thus far remain largely unknown. We report on the investigation of the biological effects of pulsed THz radiation on artificial human skin tissues. We observe that exposure to intense THz pulses for ten minutes leads to a significant induction of H2AX phosphorylation, indicating that THz pulse irradiation may cause DNA damage in exposed skin tissue. At the same time, we find a THz-pulse-induced increase in the levels of several proteins responsible for cell-cycle regulation and tumor suppression, suggesting that DNA damage repair mechanisms are quickly activated. Furthermore, we find that the cellular response to pulsed THz radiation is significantly different from that induced by exposure to UVA (400 nm). PMID:23577291

Intense THz pulses cause H2AX phosphorylation and activate DNA damage response in human skin tissue.

PubMed

Titova, Lyubov V; Ayesheshim, Ayesheshim K; Golubov, Andrey; Fogen, Dawson; Rodriguez-Juarez, Rocio; Hegmann, Frank A; Kovalchuk, Olga

2013-04-01

Recent emergence and growing use of terahertz (THz) radiation for medical imaging and public security screening raise questions on reasonable levels of exposure and health consequences of this form of electromagnetic radiation. In particular, picosecond-duration THz pulses have shown promise for novel diagnostic imaging techniques. However, the effects of THz pulses on human cells and tissues thus far remain largely unknown. We report on the investigation of the biological effects of pulsed THz radiation on artificial human skin tissues. We observe that exposure to intense THz pulses for ten minutes leads to a significant induction of H2AX phosphorylation, indicating that THz pulse irradiation may cause DNA damage in exposed skin tissue. At the same time, we find a THz-pulse-induced increase in the levels of several proteins responsible for cell-cycle regulation and tumor suppression, suggesting that DNA damage repair mechanisms are quickly activated. Furthermore, we find that the cellular response to pulsed THz radiation is significantly different from that induced by exposure to UVA (400 nm).

Quantitative Ultrasound Backscatter for Pulsed Cavitational Ultrasound Therapy—Histotripsy

PubMed Central

Wang, Tzu-Yin; Xu, Zhen; Winterroth, Frank; Hall, Timothy L.; Fowlkes, J. Brian; Rothman, Edward D.; Roberts, William W.; Cain, Charles A.

2011-01-01

Histotripsy is a well-controlled ultrasonic tissue ablation technology that mechanically and progressively fractionates tissue structures using cavitation. The fractionated tissue volume can be monitored with ultrasound imaging because a significant ultrasound backscatter reduction occurs. This paper correlates the ultrasound backscatter reduction with the degree of tissue fractionation characterized by the percentage of remaining normal-appearing cell nuclei on histology. Different degrees of tissue fractionation were generated in vitro in freshly excised porcine kidneys by varying the number of therapeutic ultrasound pulses from 100 to 2000 pulses per treatment location. All ultrasound pulses were 15 cycles at 1 MHz delivered at 100 Hz pulse repetition frequency and 19 MPa peak negative pressure. The results showed that the normalized backscatter intensity decreased exponentially with increasing number of pulses. Correspondingly, the percentage of normal appearing nuclei in the treated area decreased exponentially as well. A linear correlation existed between the normalized backscatter intensity and the percentage of normal appearing cell nuclei in the treated region. This suggests that the normalized backscatter intensity may be a potential quantitative real-time feedback parameter for histotripsy-induced tissue fractionation. This quantitative feedback may allow the prediction of local clinical outcomes, i.e., when a tissue volume has been sufficiently treated. PMID:19750596

Laser welding of biological tissue: experimental studies in ophthalmology

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Pini, Roberto; Rossi, Francesca; Menabuoni, Luca

2006-04-01

In this paper we present an original approach to laser welding of ocular media. Attention is focused on laser welding of the cornea and lens capsule. The process is based on the interaction of near infrared diode laser radiation (at 810 nm) with tissue that was previously stained with an Indocyanine Green solution in sterile water. The topical application of the chromophore makes possible a selective heating of the tissue, which results in a homogenous welding effect with low thermal damage to the surrounding tissue. Experimental tests were performed ex vivo on both capsule and cornea, and in vivo (rabbits) only on the cornea, in order to characterize the process as a whole. Spectrophotometric, biomechanical, and thermal measurements were carried out in order to study the laser-tissue interaction, while morphological, histological and auto-florescence microscopy analyses made during a follow-up study provided information on the healing process in welded rabbit corneas. The welding procedure was set up according to the type of tissue, with the staining procedure and irradiation conditions being optimized in each case. Our test indicated that: 1) laser welding of corneal wounds, which is a non contact technique performed at low continuous wave laser power (12 W/cm2), can be proposed as a support to or substitute for the standard suturing technique in cataract surgery and in penetrating keratoplasty (in corneal transplants); 2) laser welding of the lens capsule requires a "contact irradiating technique" in order to be efficiently performed, since the tissue is in underwater conditions, with single spot pulses of about 100 J/cm2 fluence and pulse duration around 100 ms. In the latter case, laser welding was proposed as a tool for assisting closure of the lens capsule after the lens refilling procedure (Phaco-ersatz), or for repairing capsular breaks induced by accidental traumas or produced intraoperatively.

Multi-Gaussian fitting for pulse waveform using Weighted Least Squares and multi-criteria decision making method.

PubMed

Wang, Lu; Xu, Lisheng; Feng, Shuting; Meng, Max Q-H; Wang, Kuanquan

2013-11-01

Analysis of pulse waveform is a low cost, non-invasive method for obtaining vital information related to the conditions of the cardiovascular system. In recent years, different Pulse Decomposition Analysis (PDA) methods have been applied to disclose the pathological mechanisms of the pulse waveform. All these methods decompose single-period pulse waveform into a constant number (such as 3, 4 or 5) of individual waves. Furthermore, those methods do not pay much attention to the estimation error of the key points in the pulse waveform. The estimation of human vascular conditions depends on the key points' positions of pulse wave. In this paper, we propose a Multi-Gaussian (MG) model to fit real pulse waveforms using an adaptive number (4 or 5 in our study) of Gaussian waves. The unknown parameters in the MG model are estimated by the Weighted Least Squares (WLS) method and the optimized weight values corresponding to different sampling points are selected by using the Multi-Criteria Decision Making (MCDM) method. Performance of the MG model and the WLS method has been evaluated by fitting 150 real pulse waveforms of five different types. The resulting Normalized Root Mean Square Error (NRMSE) was less than 2.0% and the estimation accuracy for the key points was satisfactory, demonstrating that our proposed method is effective in compressing, synthesizing and analyzing pulse waveforms. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Does the estimation of light attenuation in tissue increase the accuracy of reflectance pulse oximetry at low oxygen saturations in vivo?

PubMed

Kisch-Wedel, H; Bernreuter, P; Kemming, G; Albert, M; Zwissler, B

2009-09-01

A new technique was validated in vivo in reflectance pulse oximetry for measuring low oxygen saturations. Two pairs of light emitter/detector diodes allow for estimation of light attenuation (LA) in tissue, which is assumed to be responsible for the inaccuracy of pulse oximetry at less than 70 % arterial oxygen saturation. For validation, 17 newborn piglets were desaturated stepwise from 21 % to 1.25 % inspiratory oxygen concentration during general anesthesia, and arterial oxygen saturation was measured with the reflectance pulse oximeter adjusted for LA in tissue, with a standard transmission pulse oximeter and a hemoximeter. LA in tissue could be quantified and was different between snout and foreleg (probability level (p) < 0.05). At arterial oxygen saturations above 70 %, the bias between the methods was at 0 %-1 % and the variability 4 %-5 %. From 2 % to 100 % arterial oxygen saturation, the reflectance pulse oximeter estimated oxyhemoglobin saturation more accurately than a conventional transmission pulse oximeter (p < 0.05). At low oxygen saturations below 70 %, the bias and variability of the reflectance pulse oximeter calibration were closer to the hemoximeter measurements than the transmission pulse oximeter (p < 0.05). The variability of the reflectance pulse oximeter was slightly lower than the traditional oximeter by taking into account the LA in tissue (9 % versus 11 % -15 %, ns), and thus, the quality of the individual calibration lines improved (correlation coefficient, p < 0.05).

Ultrashort pulse high repetition rate laser system for biological tissue processing

DOEpatents

Neev, Joseph; Da Silva, Luiz B.; Matthews, Dennis L.; Glinsky, Michael E.; Stuart, Brent C.; Perry, Michael D.; Feit, Michael D.; Rubenchik, Alexander M.

1998-01-01

A method and apparatus is disclosed for fast, efficient, precise and damage-free biological tissue removal using an ultrashort pulse duration laser system operating at high pulse repetition rates. The duration of each laser pulse is on the order of about 1 fs to less than 50 ps such that energy deposition is localized in a small depth and occurs before significant hydrodynamic motion and thermal conduction, leading to collateral damage, can take place. The depth of material removed per pulse is on the order of about 1 micrometer, and the minimal thermal and mechanical effects associated with this ablation method allows for high repetition rate operation, in the region 10 to over 1000 Hertz, which, in turn, achieves high material removal rates. The input laser energy per ablated volume of tissue is small, and the energy density required to ablate material decreases with decreasing pulse width. The ablation threshold and ablation rate are only weakly dependent on tissue type and condition, allowing for maximum flexibility of use in various biological tissue removal applications. The use of a chirped-pulse amplified Titanium-doped sapphire laser is disclosed as the source in one embodiment.

Ultrashort pulse high repetition rate laser system for biological tissue processing

DOEpatents

Neev, J.; Da Silva, L.B.; Matthews, D.L.; Glinsky, M.E.; Stuart, B.C.; Perry, M.D.; Feit, M.D.; Rubenchik, A.M.

1998-02-24

A method and apparatus are disclosed for fast, efficient, precise and damage-free biological tissue removal using an ultrashort pulse duration laser system operating at high pulse repetition rates. The duration of each laser pulse is on the order of about 1 fs to less than 50 ps such that energy deposition is localized in a small depth and occurs before significant hydrodynamic motion and thermal conduction, leading to collateral damage, can take place. The depth of material removed per pulse is on the order of about 1 micrometer, and the minimal thermal and mechanical effects associated with this ablation method allows for high repetition rate operation, in the region 10 to over 1000 Hertz, which, in turn, achieves high material removal rates. The input laser energy per ablated volume of tissue is small, and the energy density required to ablate material decreases with decreasing pulse width. The ablation threshold and ablation rate are only weakly dependent on tissue type and condition, allowing for maximum flexibility of use in various biological tissue removal applications. The use of a chirped-pulse amplified Titanium-doped sapphire laser is disclosed as the source in one embodiment. 8 figs.