Sample records for ultrasound standing wave

  1. Reduced clot debris size using standing waves formed via high intensity focused ultrasound

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Guo, Shifang; Du, Xuan; Wang, Xin; Lu, Shukuan; Shi, Aiwei; Xu, Shanshan; Bouakaz, Ayache; Wan, Mingxi

    2017-09-01

    The feasibility of utilizing high intensity focused ultrasound (HIFU) to induce thrombolysis has been demonstrated previously. However, clinical concerns still remain related to the clot debris produced via fragmentation of the original clot potentially being too large and hence occluding downstream vessels, causing hazardous emboli. This study investigates the use of standing wave fields formed via HIFU to disintegrate the thrombus while achieving a reduced clot debris size in vitro. The results showed that the average diameter of the clot debris calculated by volume percentage was smaller in the standing wave mode than in the travelling wave mode at identical ultrasound thrombolysis settings. Furthermore, the inertial cavitation dose was shown to be lower in the standing wave mode, while the estimated cavitation bubble size distribution was similar in both modes. These results show that a reduction of the clot debris size with standing waves may be attributed to the particle trapping of the acoustic potential well which contributed to particle fragmentation.

  2. Acoustic streaming induced by two orthogonal ultrasound standing waves in a microfluidic channel.

    PubMed

    Doinikov, Alexander A; Thibault, Pierre; Marmottant, Philippe

    2018-07-01

    A mathematical model is derived for acoustic streaming in a microfluidic channel confined between a solid wall and a rigid reflector. Acoustic streaming is produced by two orthogonal ultrasound standing waves of the same frequency that are created by two pairs of counter-propagating leaky surface waves induced in the solid wall. The magnitudes and phases of the standing waves are assumed to be different. Full analytical solutions are found for the equations of acoustic streaming. The obtained solutions are used in numerical simulations to reveal the structure of the acoustic streaming. It is shown that the interaction of two standing waves leads to the appearance of a cross term in the equations of acoustic streaming. If the phase lag between the standing waves is nonzero, the cross term brings about circular vortices with rotation axes perpendicular to the solid wall of the channel. The vortices make fluid particles rotate and move alternately up and down between the solid wall and the reflector. The obtained results are of immediate interest for acoustomicrofluidic applications such as the ultrasonic micromixing of fluids and the manipulation of microparticles. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  3. Modulation control over ultrasound-mediated gene delivery: evaluating the importance of standing waves.

    PubMed

    Hassan, Mariame A; Buldakov, Mikhail A; Ogawa, Ryohei; Zhao, Qing-Li; Furusawa, Yukihiro; Kudo, Nobuki; Kondo, Takashi; Riesz, Peter

    2010-01-04

    Low modulation frequencies from 0.5 to 100Hz were shown to alter the characteristics of the ultrasound field producing solution agitation (<5Hz; region of "ultrasound streaming" prevalence) or stagnancy (>5Hz; region of standing waves establishment) (Buldakov et al., Ultrason. Sonochem., 2009). In this study, the same conditions were used to depict the changes in exogenous DNA delivery in these regions. The luciferase expression data revealed that lower modulations were more capable of enhancing delivery at the expense of viability. On the contrary, the viability was conserved at higher modulations whereas delivery was found to be null. Cavitational activity and acoustic streaming were the effecters beyond the observed pattern and delivery enhancement was shown to be mediated mainly through sonopermeation. To promote transfection, the addition of calcium ions or an echo contrast agent (Levovist((R))) was proposed. Depending on the mechanism involved in each approach, differential enhancement was observed in both regions and at the interim zone (5Hz). In both cases, enhancement in standing waves field was significant reaching 16.0 and 3.3 folds increase, respectively. Therefore, it is concluded that although the establishment of standing waves is not the only prerequisite for high transfection rates, yet, it is a key element in optimization when other factors such as proximity and cavitation are considered.

  4. Scalable Directed Self-Assembly Using Ultrasound Waves

    DTIC Science & Technology

    2015-09-04

    SECURITY CLASSIFICATION OF: We aim to understand how ultrasound waves can be used to create organized patterns of nanoparticles in a host medium such...as a polymer matrix material. The critical difference between the ultrasound technology studied in this project, and other directed self-assembly...of nanoparticles dispersed in a host medium are assembled by means of standing ultrasound waves. Additionally, we have obtained experimental

  5. Nonviral transfection of suspension cells in ultrasound standing wave fields.

    PubMed

    Lee, Yu-Hsiang; Peng, Ching-An

    2007-05-01

    Ultrasound-induced cavitation has been widely used for delivering DNA vectors into cells. However, this approach may seriously disrupt cell membranes and cause lethal damage when cells are exposed to the inertial cavitation field. In this study, instead of using sonoporation, ultrasound standing wave fields (USWF) were explored for nonviral transfection of suspension cells. Acoustic resonance in a tubular chamber was generated from the interference of waves emitted from a piezoelectric transducer and consequently reflected from a borosilicate glass coverslip. The suspended K562 erythroleukemia cells were transfected by polyethyleneimine (PEI)/DNA complexes with and without exposure to 1-MHz USWF for 5 min. During USWF exposure, K562 cells moved to the pressure nodal planes first and formed cell bands by the primary radiation force. Nanometer-sized PEI/DNA complexes, circulated between nodal planes by acoustic microstreaming, then used the cell agglomerates as the nucleating sites on which to attach. After incubation at 37 degrees C for 48 h, the efficiency of nonviral transfection based on EGFP transgene expression was determined by fluorescent microscopy and fluorometry. Both studies showed that USWF brought suspended K562 cells and PEI/DNA complexes into close contact at the pressure nodal planes, yielding an approximately 10-fold increment of EGFP transgene expression compared with the group without ultrasonic treatment.

  6. Gene expression analysis of mouse embryonic stem cells following levitation in an ultrasound standing wave trap.

    PubMed

    Bazou, Despina; Kearney, Roisin; Mansergh, Fiona; Bourdon, Celine; Farrar, Jane; Wride, Michael

    2011-02-01

    In the present paper, gene expression analysis of mouse embryonic stem (ES) cells levitated in a novel ultrasound standing wave trap (USWT) (Bazou et al. 2005a) at variable acoustic pressures (0.08-0.85 MPa) and times (5-60 min) was performed. Our results showed that levitation of ES cells at the highest employed acoustic pressure for 60 min does not modify gene expression and cells maintain their pluripotency. Embryoid bodies (EBs) also expressed the early and late neural differentiation markers, which were also unaffected by the acoustic field. Our results suggest that the ultrasound trap microenvironment is minimally invasive as the biologic consequences of ES cell replication and EB differentiation proceed without significantly affecting gene expression. The technique holds great promise in safe cell manipulation techniques for a variety of applications including tissue engineering and regenerative medicine. Copyright © 2011 World Federation for Ultrasound in Medicine & Biology. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  7. Gene Expression Analysis of Mouse Embryonic Stem Cells Following Levitation in an Ultrasound Standing Wave Trap

    PubMed Central

    Bazou, Despina; Kearney, Roisin; Mansergh, Fiona; Bourdon, Celine; Farrar, Jane; Wride, Michael

    2011-01-01

    In the present paper, gene expression analysis of mouse embryonic stem (ES) cells levitated in a novel ultrasound standing wave trap (USWT) (Bazou et al. 2005a) at variable acoustic pressures (0.08–0.85 MPa) and times (5–60 min) was performed. Our results showed that levitation of ES cells at the highest employed acoustic pressure for 60 min does not modify gene expression and cells maintain their pluripotency. Embryoid bodies (EBs) also expressed the early and late neural differentiation markers, which were also unaffected by the acoustic field. Our results suggest that the ultrasound trap microenvironment is minimally invasive as the biologic consequences of ES cell replication and EB differentiation proceed without significantly affecting gene expression. The technique holds great promise in safe cell manipulation techniques for a variety of applications including tissue engineering and regenerative medicine. (E-mail: Bazoud@tcd.ie) PMID:21208732

  8. Primordial standing waves

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Gubitosi, Giulia; Magueijo, João

    2018-03-01

    We consider the possibility that the primordial fluctuations (scalar and tensor) might have been standing waves at their moment of creation, whether or not they had a quantum origin. We lay down the general conditions for spatial translational invariance, and isolate the pieces of the most general such theory that comply with, or break translational symmetry. We find that, in order to characterize statistically translationally invariant standing waves, it is essential to consider the correlator ⟨c0(k )c0(k')⟩ in addition to the better known ⟨c0(k )c0†(k')⟩ [where c0(k ) are the complex amplitudes of traveling waves]. We then examine how the standard process of "squeezing" (responsible for converting traveling waves into standing waves while the fluctuations are outside the horizon) reacts to being fed primordial standing waves. For translationally invariant systems only one type of standing wave, with the correct temporal phase (the "sine wave"), survives squeezing. Primordial standing waves might therefore be invisible at late times—or not—depending on their phase. Theories with modified dispersion relations behave differently in this respect, since only standing waves with the opposite temporal phase survive at late times.

  9. Bubble-based acoustic radiation force using chirp insonation to reduce standing wave effects.

    PubMed

    Erpelding, Todd N; Hollman, Kyle W; O'Donnell, Matthew

    2007-02-01

    Bubble-based acoustic radiation force can measure local viscoelastic properties of tissue. High intensity acoustic waves applied to laser-generated bubbles induce displacements inversely proportional to local Young's modulus. In certain instances, long pulse durations are desirable but are susceptible to standing wave artifacts, which corrupt displacement measurements. Chirp pulse acoustic radiation force was investigated as a method to reduce standing wave artifacts. Chirp pulses with linear frequency sweep magnitudes of 100, 200 and 300 kHz centered around 1.5 MHz were applied to glass beads within gelatin phantoms and laser-generated bubbles within porcine lenses. The ultrasound transducer was translated axially to vary standing wave conditions, while comparing displacements using chirp pulses and 1.5 MHz tone burst pulses of the same duration and peak rarefactional pressure. Results demonstrated significant reduction in standing wave effects using chirp pulses, with displacement proportional to acoustic intensity and bubble size.

  10. Physical enviroment of 2-D animal cell aggregates formed in a short pathlength ultrasound standing wave trap.

    PubMed

    Bazou, Despina; Kuznetsova, Larisa A; Coakley, W Terence

    2005-03-01

    2-D mammalian cell aggregates can be formed and levitated in a 1.5 MHz single half wavelength ultrasound standing wave trap. The physical environment of cells in such a trap has been examined. Attention was paid to parameters such as temperature, acoustic streaming, cavitation and intercellular forces. The extent to which these factors might be intrusive to a neural cell aggregate levitated in the trap was evaluated. Neural cells were exposed to ultrasound at a pressure amplitude of 0.54 MPa for 30 s; a small aggregate had been formed at the center of the trap. The pressure amplitude was then decreased to 0.27 MPa for 2 min, at which level the aggregation process continued at a slower rate. The pressure amplitude was then decreased to 0.06 MPa for 1 h. Temperature measurements that were conducted in situ with a 200 microm thermocouple over a 30 min period showed that the maximum temperature rise was less than 0.5 K. Acoustic streaming was measured by the particle image velocimetry method (PIV). It was shown that the hydrodynamic stress imposed on cells by acoustic streaming is less than that imposed by gentle preparative centrifugation procedures. Acoustic spectrum analysis showed that cavitation activity does not occur in the cell suspensions sonicated at the above pressures. White noise was detected only at a pressure amplitude of 1.96 MPa. Finally, it was shown that the attractive acoustic force between ultrasonically agglomerated cells is small compared with the normal attractive van der Waals force that operates at close cell surface separations. It is concluded that the standing wave trap operates only to concentrate cells locally, as in tissue, and does not modify the in vitro expression of surface receptor interactions.

  11. Bubble-Based Acoustic Radiation Force Using Chirp Insonation to Reduce Standing Wave Effects

    PubMed Central

    Erpelding, Todd N.; Hollman, Kyle W.; O’Donnell, Matthew

    2007-01-01

    Bubble-based acoustic radiation force can measure local viscoelastic properties of tissue. High intensity acoustic waves applied to laser-generated bubbles induce displacements inversely proportional to local Young’s modulus. In certain instances, long pulse durations are desirable but are susceptible to standing wave artifacts, which corrupt displacement measurements. Chirp pulse acoustic radiation force was investigated as a method to reduce standing wave artifacts. Chirp pulses with linear frequency sweep magnitudes of 100, 200, and 300 kHz centered around 1.5 MHz were applied to glass beads within gelatin phantoms and laser-generated bubbles within porcine lenses. The ultrasound transducer was translated axially to vary standing wave conditions, while comparing displacements using chirp pulses and 1.5 MHz tone burst pulses of the same duration and peak rarefactional pressure. Results demonstrated significant reduction in standing wave effects using chirp pulses, with displacement proportional to acoustic intensity and bubble size. PMID:17306697

  12. Investigation of standing wave formation in a human skull for a clinical prototype of a large-aperture, transcranial MR-guided Focused Ultrasound (MRgFUS) phased array: An experimental and simulation study

    PubMed Central

    Song, Junho; Pulkkinen, Aki; Huang, Yuexi; Hynynen, Kullervo

    2014-01-01

    Standing wave formation in an ex vivo human skull was investigated using a clinical prototype of a 30 cm diameter with 15 cm radius of curvature, low frequency (230 kHz), hemispherical transcranial Magnetic Resonance guided Focused Ultrasound (MRgFUS) phased-array. Experimental and simulation studies were conducted with changing aperture size and f-number configurations of the phased array, and qualitatively and quantitatively examined the acoustic pressure variation at the focus due to standing waves. The results demonstrated that the nodes and anti-nodes of standing wave produced by the small aperture array were clearly seen at approximately every 3 mm. The effect of the standing wave became more pronounced as the focus was moved closer to skull base. However, a sharp focus was seen for the full array, and there was no such standing wave pattern in the acoustic plane or near the skull base. This study showed that the fluctuation pressure amplitude would be greatly reduced by using a large-scale, hemispherical phased array with a low f-number. PMID:22049360

  13. Three-dimensional instability of standing waves

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Zhu, Qiang; Liu, Yuming; Yue, Dick K. P.

    2003-12-01

    We investigate the three-dimensional instability of finite-amplitude standing surface waves under the influence of gravity. The analysis employs the transition matrix (TM) approach and uses a new high-order spectral element (HOSE) method for computation of the nonlinear wave dynamics. HOSE is an extension of the original high-order spectral method (HOS) wherein nonlinear wave wave and wave body interactions are retained up to high order in wave steepness. Instead of global basis functions in HOS, however, HOSE employs spectral elements to allow for complex free-surface geometries and surface-piercing bodies. Exponential convergence of HOS with respect to the total number of spectral modes (for a fixed number of elements) and interaction order is retained in HOSE. In this study, we use TM-HOSE to obtain the stability of general three-dimensional perturbations (on a two-dimensional surface) on two classes of standing waves: plane standing waves in a rectangular tank; and radial/azimuthal standing waves in a circular basin. For plane standing waves, we confirm the known result of two-dimensional side-bandlike instability. In addition, we find a novel three-dimensional instability for base flow of any amplitude. The dominant component of the unstable disturbance is an oblique (standing) wave oriented at an arbitrary angle whose frequency is close to the (nonlinear) frequency of the original standing wave. This finding is confirmed by direct long-time simulations using HOSE which show that the nonlinear evolution leads to classical Fermi Pasta Ulam recurrence. For the circular basin, we find that, beyond a threshold wave steepness, a standing wave (of nonlinear frequency Omega) is unstable to three-dimensional perturbations. The unstable perturbation contains two dominant (standing-wave) components, the sum of whose frequencies is close to 2Omega. From the cases we consider, the critical wave steepness is found to generally decrease/increase with increasing radial

  14. Revisiting the difference between traveling-wave and standing-wave thermoacoustic engines - A simple analytical model for the standing-wave one

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Yasui, Kyuichi; Kozuka, Teruyuki; Yasuoka, Masaki; Kato, Kazumi

    2015-11-01

    There are two major categories in a thermoacoustic prime-mover. One is the traveling-wave type and the other is the standing-wave type. A simple analytical model of a standing-wave thermoacoustic prime-mover is proposed at relatively low heat-flux for a stack much shorter than the acoustic wavelength, which approximately describes the Brayton cycle. Numerical simulations of Rott's equations have revealed that the work flow (acoustic power) increases by increasing of the amplitude of the particle velocity (| U|) for the traveling-wave type and by increasing cosΦ for the standing-wave type, where Φ is the phase difference between the particle velocity and the acoustic pressure. In other words, the standing-wave type is a phase-dominant type while the traveling-wave type is an amplitude-dominant one. The ratio of the absolute value of the traveling-wave component (| U|cosΦ) to that of the standing-wave component (| U|sinΦ) of any thermoacoustic engine roughly equals the ratio of the absolute value of the increasing rate of | U| to that of cosΦ. The different mechanism between the traveling-wave and the standing-wave type is discussed regarding the dependence of the energy efficiency on the acoustic impedance of a stack as well as that on ωτα, where ω is the angular frequency of an acoustic wave and τα is the thermal relaxation time. While the energy efficiency of the traveling-wave type at the optimal ωτα is much higher than that of the standing-wave type, the energy efficiency of the standing-wave type is higher than that of the traveling-wave type at much higher ωτα under a fixed temperature difference between the cold and the hot ends of the stack.

  15. Refrigeration system having standing wave compressor

    DOEpatents

    Lucas, Timothy S.

    1992-01-01

    A compression-evaporation refrigeration system, wherein gaseous compression of the refrigerant is provided by a standing wave compressor. The standing wave compressor is modified so as to provide a separate subcooling system for the refrigerant, so that efficiency losses due to flashing are reduced. Subcooling occurs when heat exchange is provided between the refrigerant and a heat pumping surface, which is exposed to the standing acoustic wave within the standing wave compressor. A variable capacity and variable discharge pressure for the standing wave compressor is provided. A control circuit simultaneously varies the capacity and discharge pressure in response to changing operating conditions, thereby maintaining the minimum discharge pressure needed for condensation to occur at any time. Thus, the power consumption of the standing wave compressor is reduced and system efficiency is improved.

  16. Standing wave compressor

    DOEpatents

    Lucas, Timothy S.

    1991-01-01

    A compressor for compression-evaporation cooling systems, which requires no moving parts. A gaseous refrigerant inside a chamber is acoustically compressed and conveyed by means of a standing acoustic wave which is set up in the gaseous refrigerant. This standing acoustic wave can be driven either by a transducer, or by direct exposure of the gas to microwave and infrared sources, including solar energy. Input and output ports arranged along the chamber provide for the intake and discharge of the gaseous refrigerant. These ports can be provided with optional valve arrangements, so as to increase the compressor's pressure differential. The performance of the compressor in either of its transducer or electromagnetically driven configurations, can be optimized by a controlling circuit. This controlling circuit holds the wavelength of the standing acoustical wave constant, by changing the driving frequency in response to varying operating conditions.

  17. Numerical Investigation of Three-dimensional Instability of Standing Waves

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Zhu, Qiang; Liu, Yuming; Yue, Dick K. P.

    2002-11-01

    We study the three-dimensional instability of finite-amplitude standing waves under the influence of gravity using the transition matrix method. For accurate calculation of the transition matrices, we apply an efficient high-order spectral element method for nonlinear wave dynamics in complex domain. We consider two types of standing waves: (a) plane standing waves; and (b) standing waves in a circular tank. For the former, in addition to the confirmation of the side-band-like instability, we find a new three-dimensional instability for arbitrary base standing waves. The dominant component of the unstable disturbance is an oblique standing wave, with an arbitrary angle relative to the base flow, whose frequency is approximately equal to that of the base standing wave. Based on direct simulations, we confirm such a three-dimensional instability and show the occurrence of the Fermi-Pasta-Ulam recurrence phenomenon during nonlinear evolution. For the latter, we find that beyond a threshold wave steepness, the standing wave with frequency Ω becomes unstable to a small three-dimensional disturbance, which contains two dominant standing-wave components with frequencies ω1 and ω_2, provided that 2Ω ω1 + ω_2. The threshold wave steepness is found to decrease/increase as the radial/azimuthal wavenumber of the base standing wave increases. We show that the instability of standing waves in rectangular and circular tanks is caused by third-order quartet resonances between base flow and disturbance.

  18. Guitar Strings as Standing Waves: A Demonstration

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Davis, Michael

    2007-08-01

    An undergraduate student's first exposure to modern atomic theory tends to start with Bohr's model of the atom. This familiar introduction to atomic structure also marks a general chemistry student's first foray into waves. Many popular chemistry textbooks illustrate the concept of a standing wave in the development of the modern quantum model by using the phrase “as seen on a guitar string”. In these illustrations, the wave itself is often small and difficult to discern. The same phenomenon, however, can be easily and audibly observed. This demonstration uses an acoustic guitar to produce three unique harmonic vibrations, each of which is representative of a standing wave and illustrates the concept of quantization. Manipulation of the guitar string to produce a standing wave is pervasive in popular music and is audibly recognizable. Lightly placing a finger on the 12th, 7th, or 5th fret and strumming any one or all six strings can produce an audible example of a standing wave on a guitar. This corresponds to a standing wave with 1, 2, or 3 nodes, respectively. Attempting to induce a node at other points on a guitar string does not generate a standing wave, due to destructive interference, thus no audible tone is produced.

  19. Standing Sound Waves in Air with DataStudio

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Kraftmakher, Yaakov

    2010-01-01

    Two experiments related to standing sound waves in air are adapted for using the ScienceWorkshop data-acquisition system with the DataStudio software from PASCO scientific. First, the standing waves are created by reflection from a plane reflector. The distribution of the sound pressure along the standing wave is measured. Second, the resonance…

  20. Standing wave acoustic levitation on an annular plate

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Kandemir, Mehmet Hakan; Çalışkan, Mehmet

    2016-11-01

    In standing wave acoustic levitation technique, a standing wave is formed between a source and a reflector. Particles can be attracted towards pressure nodes in standing waves owing to a spring action through which particles can be suspended in air. This operation can be performed on continuous structures as well as in several numbers of axes. In this study an annular acoustic levitation arrangement is introduced. Design features of the arrangement are discussed in detail. Bending modes of the annular plate, known as the most efficient sound generation mechanism in such structures, are focused on. Several types of bending modes of the plate are simulated and evaluated by computer simulations. Waveguides are designed to amplify waves coming from sources of excitation, that are, transducers. With the right positioning of the reflector plate, standing waves are formed in the space between the annular vibrating plate and the reflector plate. Radiation forces are also predicted. It is demonstrated that small particles can be suspended in air at pressure nodes of the standing wave corresponding to a particular bending mode.

  1. Mammalian spontaneous otoacoustic emissions are amplitude-stabilized cochlear standing waves.

    PubMed

    Shera, Christopher A

    2003-07-01

    Mammalian spontaneous otoacoustic emissions (SOAEs) have been suggested to arise by three different mechanisms. The local-oscillator model, dating back to the work of Thomas Gold, supposes that SOAEs arise through the local, autonomous oscillation of some cellular constituent of the organ of Corti (e.g., the "active process" underlying the cochlear amplifier). Two other models, by contrast, both suppose that SOAEs are a global collective phenomenon--cochlear standing waves created by multiple internal reflection--but differ on the nature of the proposed power source: Whereas the "passive" standing-wave model supposes that SOAEs are biological noise, passively amplified by cochlear standing-wave resonances acting as narrow-band nonlinear filters, the "active" standing-wave model supposes that standing-wave amplitudes are actively maintained by coherent wave amplification within the cochlea. Quantitative tests of key predictions that distinguish the local-oscillator and global standing-wave models are presented and shown to support the global standing-wave model. In addition to predicting the existence of multiple emissions with a characteristic minimum frequency spacing, the global standing-wave model accurately predicts the mean value of this spacing, its standard deviation, and its power-law dependence on SOAE frequency. Furthermore, the global standing-wave model accounts for the magnitude, sign, and frequency dependence of changes in SOAE frequency that result from modulations in middle-ear stiffness. Although some of these SOAE characteristics may be replicable through artful ad hoc adjustment of local-oscillator models, they all arise quite naturally in the standing-wave framework. Finally, the statistics of SOAE time waveforms demonstrate that SOAEs are coherent, amplitude-stabilized signals, as predicted by the active standing-wave model. Taken together, the results imply that SOAEs are amplitude-stabilized standing waves produced by the cochlea acting as a

  2. A Fresh Look at Longitudinal Standing Waves on a Spring

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Rutherford, Casey

    2013-01-01

    Transverse standing waves produced on a string, as shown in Fig. 1, are a common demonstration of standing wave patterns that have nodes at both ends. Longitudinal standing waves can be produced on a helical spring that is mounted vertically and attached to a speaker, as shown in Fig. 2, and used to produce both node-node (NN) and node-antinode (NA) standing waves. The resonant frequencies of the two standing wave patterns are related with theory that is accessible to students in algebra-based introductory physics courses, and actual measurements show good agreement with theoretical predictions.

  3. X-Ray Standing Waves on Surfaces

    DTIC Science & Technology

    1993-01-01

    dependent distributional changes of iodine on Pt 6.3 X-ray standing wave study of a Langmuir - Blodgett multilayer film 7. Conclusions 8. Acknowledgments...4B. 6.3 X-ray standing wave study of a Langmuir - Blodgett multilayer film As mentioned previously the total external reflection condition occurs...for a Zn atom layer embedded in the top arachidate bilayer of a Langmuir - Blodgett (LB) multilayer film which was deposited on the surface of a gold

  4. A full-wave Helmholtz model for continuous-wave ultrasound transmission.

    PubMed

    Huttunen, Tomi; Malinen, Matti; Kaipio, Jari P; White, Phillip Jason; Hynynen, Kullervo

    2005-03-01

    A full-wave Helmholtz model of continuous-wave (CW) ultrasound fields may offer several attractive features over widely used partial-wave approximations. For example, many full-wave techniques can be easily adjusted for complex geometries, and multiple reflections of sound are automatically taken into account in the model. To date, however, the full-wave modeling of CW fields in general 3D geometries has been avoided due to the large computational cost associated with the numerical approximation of the Helmholtz equation. Recent developments in computing capacity together with improvements in finite element type modeling techniques are making possible wave simulations in 3D geometries which reach over tens of wavelengths. The aim of this study is to investigate the feasibility of a full-wave solution of the 3D Helmholtz equation for modeling of continuous-wave ultrasound fields in an inhomogeneous medium. The numerical approximation of the Helmholtz equation is computed using the ultraweak variational formulation (UWVF) method. In addition, an inverse problem technique is utilized to reconstruct the velocity distribution on the transducer which is used to model the sound source in the UWVF scheme. The modeling method is verified by comparing simulated and measured fields in the case of transmission of 531 kHz CW fields through layered plastic plates. The comparison shows a reasonable agreement between simulations and measurements at low angles of incidence but, due to mode conversion, the Helmholtz model becomes insufficient for simulating ultrasound fields in plates at large angles of incidence.

  5. Surface waves on floating liquids induced by ultrasound field

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Geng, D. L.; Xie, W. J.; Yan, N.; Wei, B.

    2013-01-01

    We demonstrate a kind of wave pattern on the surface of floating liquids in a modulated ultrasound field. The waves are related to the liquid/solid phase transformation process. The nucleation sites of the eutectics locate at the center of these waves, and the eutectic growth direction is parallel to the propagation direction of the waves. It is revealed that such wave phenomenon can be ascribed to the interaction between ultrasound and eutectic growth at the liquid/solid interface. This result may provide a potential method for fabricating wave patterned surfaces on eutectic alloys.

  6. A Standing-Wave Experiment with a Guitar

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Inman, Fred W.

    2006-10-01

    When teaching standing waves, one often uses as examples musical instruments with strings, e.g., pianos, violins, and guitars. In today's popular music culture, young people may be more familiar with guitars than any other string instrument. I was helping my 15-year-old granddaughter make some repairs and adjustments to her electric guitar, and the subject of the spacing between the frets on the fingerboard was raised. I told her that the physics of standing waves and the equal tempered musical scale dictate the location of the frets. The purpose of this paper is to suggest that students might be introduced to the physics of standing waves using a guitar and to the formula for the fret locations. By measuring the positions of the frets, this formula can be tested.

  7. Generation of Autologous Platelet-Rich Plasma by the Ultrasonic Standing Waves.

    PubMed

    Wu, Yue; Kanna, Murugappan Suresh; Liu, Chenhui; Zhou, Yufeng; Chan, Casey K

    2016-08-01

    Platelet-rich plasma (PRP) is a volume of autologous plasma that has a higher platelet concentration above baseline. It has already been approved as a new therapeutic modality and investigated in clinics, such as bone repair and regeneration, and oral surgery, with low cost-effectiveness ratio. At present, PRP is mostly prepared using a centrifuge. However, this method has several shortcomings, such as long preparation time (30 min), complexity in operation, and contamination of red blood cells (RBCs). In this paper, a new PRP preparation approach was proposed and tested. Ultrasound waves (4.5 MHz) generated from piezoelectric ceramics can establish standing waves inside a syringe filled with the whole blood. Subsequently, RBCs would accumulate at the locations of pressure nodes in response to acoustic radiation force, and the formed clusters would have a high speed of sedimentation. It is found that the PRP prepared by the proposed device can achieve higher platelet concentration and less RBCs contamination than a commercial centrifugal device, but similar growth factor (i.e., PDGF-ββ). In addition, the sedimentation process under centrifugation and sonication was simulated using the Mason-Weaver equation and compared with each other to illustrate the differences between these two technologies and to optimize the design in the future. Altogether, ultrasound method is an effective method of PRP preparation with comparable outcomes as the commercially available centrifugal products.

  8. A Fresh Look at Longitudinal Standing Waves on a Spring

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Rutherford, Casey

    2013-01-01

    Transverse standing waves produced on a string, as shown in Fig. 1, are a common demonstration of standing wave patterns that have nodes at both ends. Longitudinal standing waves can be produced on a helical spring that is mounted vertically and attached to a speaker, as shown in Fig. 2, and used to produce both node-node (NN) and node-antinode…

  9. Elucidation of flow-mediated tumour cell-induced platelet aggregation using an ultrasound standing wave trap.

    PubMed

    Bazou, D; Santos-Martinez, M J; Medina, C; Radomski, M W

    2011-04-01

    Tumour cells activate and aggregate platelets [tumour cell-induced platelet aggregation (TCIPA)] and this process plays an important role in the successful metastasis of cancer cells. To date, most studies on TCIPA have been conducted under no-flow conditions. In this study, we have investigated TCIPA in real time under flow conditions, using an ultrasound standing wave trap that allows formation and levitation of cancer cell clusters in suspension, thus mimicking the conditions generated by flowing blood. Using 59M adenocarcinoma and HT1080 fibrosarcoma cells and human platelets, cancer cell cluster-platelet aggregates were imaged in real time using epi-fluorescence microscopy (F-actin) and investigated in detail using confocal microscopy (matrix metalloproteinase-2-GPIIb/IIIa co-localization) and scanning electron and helium-ion microscopy (<1 nm resolution). The release of gelatinases from aggregates was studied using zymography. We found that platelet activation and aggregation takes place on the surface of cancer cells (TCIPA), leading to time-dependent disruption of cancer cell clusters. Pharmacological modulation of TCIPA revealed that EDTA, prostacyclin, o-phenanthroline and apyrase significantly down-regulated TCIPA and, in turn, delayed cell cluster disruption, However, EGTA and aspirin were ineffective. Pharmacological inhibition of TCIPA correlated with the down-regulation of platelet activation as shown by flow-cytometry assay of platelet P-selectin. Our results show for the first time, that during TCIPA, platelet activation disrupts cancer cell clusters and this can contribute to metastasis. Thus, selective targeting of platelet aggregate-cancer cell clusters may be an important strategy to control metastasis. © 2011 The Authors. British Journal of Pharmacology © 2011 The British Pharmacological Society.

  10. Elucidation of flow-mediated tumour cell-induced platelet aggregation using an ultrasound standing wave trap

    PubMed Central

    Bazou, D; Santos-Martinez, MJ; Medina, C; Radomski, MW

    2011-01-01

    BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE Tumour cells activate and aggregate platelets [tumour cell-induced platelet aggregation (TCIPA)] and this process plays an important role in the successful metastasis of cancer cells. To date, most studies on TCIPA have been conducted under no-flow conditions. In this study, we have investigated TCIPA in real time under flow conditions, using an ultrasound standing wave trap that allows formation and levitation of cancer cell clusters in suspension, thus mimicking the conditions generated by flowing blood. EXPERIMENTAL APPROACH Using 59M adenocarcinoma and HT1080 fibrosarcoma cells and human platelets, cancer cell cluster–platelet aggregates were imaged in real time using epi-fluorescence microscopy (F-actin) and investigated in detail using confocal microscopy (matrix metalloproteinase-2-GPIIb/IIIa co-localization) and scanning electron and helium-ion microscopy (<1 nm resolution). The release of gelatinases from aggregates was studied using zymography. KEY RESULTS We found that platelet activation and aggregation takes place on the surface of cancer cells (TCIPA), leading to time-dependent disruption of cancer cell clusters. Pharmacological modulation of TCIPA revealed that EDTA, prostacyclin, o-phenanthroline and apyrase significantly down-regulated TCIPA and, in turn, delayed cell cluster disruption, However, EGTA and aspirin were ineffective. Pharmacological inhibition of TCIPA correlated with the down-regulation of platelet activation as shown by flow-cytometry assay of platelet P-selectin. CONCLUSION AND IMPLICATIONS Our results show for the first time, that during TCIPA, platelet activation disrupts cancer cell clusters and this can contribute to metastasis. Thus, selective targeting of platelet aggregate–cancer cell clusters may be an important strategy to control metastasis. PMID:21182493

  11. Wave interference: mechanics of the standing wave component and the illusion of "which way" information

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Hudgins, W. R.; Meulenberg, A.; Penland, R. F.

    2015-09-01

    Two adjacent coherent light beams, 180° out of phase and traveling on adjacent, parallel paths, remain visibly separated by the null (dark) zone from their mutual interference pattern as they merge. Each half of the pattern can be traced to one of the beams. Does such an experiment provide both "which way" and momentum knowledge? To answer this question, we demonstrate, by examining behavior of wave momentum and energy in a medium, that interfering waves interact. Central to the mechanism of interference is a standing wave component resulting from the combination of coherent waves. We show the mathematics for the formation of the standing wave component and for wave momentum involved in the waves' interaction. In water and in open coaxial cable, we observe that standing waves form cells bounded "reflection zones" where wave momentum from adjacent cells is reversed, confining oscillating energy to each cell. Applying principles observed in standing waves in media to the standing wave component of interfering light beams, we identify dark (null) regions to be the reflection zones. Each part of the interference pattern is affected by interactions between other parts, obscuring "which-way" information. We demonstrated physical interaction experimentally using two beams interfering slightly with one dark zone between them. Blocking one beam "downstream" from the interference region removed the null zone and allowed the remaining beam to evolve to a footprint of a single beam.

  12. Standing wave contributions to the linear interference effect in stratosphere-troposphere coupling

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Watt-Meyer, Oliver; Kushner, Paul

    2014-05-01

    A body of literature by Hayashi and others [Hayashi 1973, 1977, 1979; Pratt, 1976] developed a decomposition of the wavenumber-frequency spectrum into standing and travelling waves. These techniques directly decompose the power spectrum—that is, the amplitudes squared—into standing and travelling parts. This, incorrectly, does not allow for a term representing the covariance between these waves. We propose a simple decomposition based on the 2D Fourier transform which allows one to directly compute the variance of the standing and travelling waves, as well as the covariance between them. Applying this decomposition to geopotential height anomalies in the Northern Hemisphere winter, we show the dominance of standing waves for planetary wavenumbers 1 through 3, especially in the stratosphere, and that wave-1 anomalies have a significant westward travelling component in the high-latitude (60N to 80N) troposphere. Variations in the relative zonal phasing between a wave anomaly and the background climatological wave pattern—the "linear interference" effect—are known to explain a large part of the planetary wave driving of the polar stratosphere in both hemispheres. While the linear interference effect is robust across observations, models of varying degrees of complexity, and in response to various types of perturbations, it is not well understood dynamically. We use the above-described decomposition into standing and travelling waves to investigate the drivers of linear interference. We find that the linear part of the wave activity flux is primarily driven by the standing waves, at all vertical levels. This can be understood by noting that the longitudinal positions of the antinodes of the standing waves are typically close to being aligned with the maximum and minimum of the background climatology. We discuss implications for predictability of wave activity flux, and hence polar vortex strength variability.

  13. Ultrafast Ultrasound Imaging With Cascaded Dual-Polarity Waves.

    PubMed

    Zhang, Yang; Guo, Yuexin; Lee, Wei-Ning

    2018-04-01

    Ultrafast ultrasound imaging using plane or diverging waves, instead of focused beams, has advanced greatly the development of novel ultrasound imaging methods for evaluating tissue functions beyond anatomical information. However, the sonographic signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) of ultrafast imaging remains limited due to the lack of transmission focusing, and thus insufficient acoustic energy delivery. We hereby propose a new ultrafast ultrasound imaging methodology with cascaded dual-polarity waves (CDWs), which consists of a pulse train with positive and negative polarities. A new coding scheme and a corresponding linear decoding process were thereby designed to obtain the recovered signals with increased amplitude, thus increasing the SNR without sacrificing the frame rate. The newly designed CDW ultrafast ultrasound imaging technique achieved higher quality B-mode images than coherent plane-wave compounding (CPWC) and multiplane wave (MW) imaging in a calibration phantom, ex vivo pork belly, and in vivo human back muscle. CDW imaging shows a significant improvement in the SNR (10.71 dB versus CPWC and 7.62 dB versus MW), penetration depth (36.94% versus CPWC and 35.14% versus MW), and contrast ratio in deep regions (5.97 dB versus CPWC and 5.05 dB versus MW) without compromising other image quality metrics, such as spatial resolution and frame rate. The enhanced image qualities and ultrafast frame rates offered by CDW imaging beget great potential for various novel imaging applications.

  14. Students dance longitudinal standing waves

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Ruiz, Michael J.

    2017-05-01

    A demonstration is presented that involves students dancing longitudinal standing waves. The resulting kinaesthetic experience and visualization both contribute towards an understanding of the natural modes of vibrations in open and closed pipes. A video of this fun classroom activity is provided (http://mjtruiz.com/ped/dance/).

  15. Cavitation and non-cavitation regime for large-scale ultrasonic standing wave particle separation systems--In situ gentle cavitation threshold determination and free radical related oxidation.

    PubMed

    Johansson, Linda; Singh, Tanoj; Leong, Thomas; Mawson, Raymond; McArthur, Sally; Manasseh, Richard; Juliano, Pablo

    2016-01-01

    We here suggest a novel and straightforward approach for liter-scale ultrasound particle manipulation standing wave systems to guide system design in terms of frequency and acoustic power for operating in either cavitation or non-cavitation regimes for ultrasound standing wave systems, using the sonochemiluminescent chemical luminol. We show that this method offers a simple way of in situ determination of the cavitation threshold for selected separation vessel geometry. Since the pressure field is system specific the cavitation threshold is system specific (for the threshold parameter range). In this study we discuss cavitation effects and also measure one implication of cavitation for the application of milk fat separation, the degree of milk fat lipid oxidation by headspace volatile measurements. For the evaluated vessel, 2 MHz as opposed to 1 MHz operation enabled operation in non-cavitation or low cavitation conditions as measured by the luminol intensity threshold method. In all cases the lipid oxidation derived volatiles were below the human sensory detection level. Ultrasound treatment did not significantly influence the oxidative changes in milk for either 1 MHz (dose of 46 kJ/L and 464 kJ/L) or 2 MHz (dose of 37 kJ/L and 373 kJ/L) operation. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  16. Shear Wave Wavefront Mapping Using Ultrasound Color Flow Imaging.

    PubMed

    Yamakoshi, Yoshiki; Kasahara, Toshihiro; Iijima, Tomohiro; Yuminaka, Yasushi

    2015-10-01

    A wavefront reconstruction method for a continuous shear wave is proposed. The method uses ultrasound color flow imaging (CFI) to detect the shear wave's wavefront. When the shear wave vibration frequency satisfies the required frequency condition and the displacement amplitude satisfies the displacement amplitude condition, zero and maximum flow velocities appear at the shear wave vibration phases of zero and π rad, respectively. These specific flow velocities produce the shear wave's wavefront map in CFI. An important feature of this method is that the shear wave propagation is observed in real time without addition of extra functions to the ultrasound imaging system. The experiments are performed using a 6.5 MHz CFI system. The shear wave is excited by a multilayer piezoelectric actuator. In a phantom experiment, the shear wave velocities estimated using the proposed method and those estimated using a system based on displacement measurement show good agreement. © The Author(s) 2015.

  17. Flutter and forced response of mistuned rotors using standing wave analysis

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Dugundji, J.; Bundas, D. J.

    1983-01-01

    A standing wave approach is applied to the analysis of the flutter and forced response of tuned and mistuned rotors. The traditional traveling wave cascade airforces are recast into standing wave arbitrary motion form using Pade approximants, and the resulting equations of motion are written in the matrix form. Applications for vibration modes, flutter, and forced response are discussed. It is noted that the standing wave methods may prove to be more versatile for dealing with certain applications, such as coupling flutter with forced response and dynamic shaft problems, transient impulses on the rotor, low-order engine excitation, bearing motions, and mistuning effects in rotors.

  18. Flutter and forced response of mistuned rotors using standing wave analysis

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Bundas, D. J.; Dungundji, J.

    1983-01-01

    A standing wave approach is applied to the analysis of the flutter and forced response of tuned and mistuned rotors. The traditional traveling wave cascade airforces are recast into standing wave arbitrary motion form using Pade approximants, and the resulting equations of motion are written in the matrix form. Applications for vibration modes, flutter, and forced response are discussed. It is noted that the standing wave methods may prove to be more versatile for dealing with certain applications, such as coupling flutter with forced response and dynamic shaft problems, transient impulses on the rotor, low-order engine excitation, bearing motion, and mistuning effects in rotors.

  19. Bubbles with shock waves and ultrasound: a review.

    PubMed

    Ohl, Siew-Wan; Klaseboer, Evert; Khoo, Boo Cheong

    2015-10-06

    The study of the interaction of bubbles with shock waves and ultrasound is sometimes termed 'acoustic cavitation'. It is of importance in many biomedical applications where sound waves are applied. The use of shock waves and ultrasound in medical treatments is appealing because of their non-invasiveness. In this review, we present a variety of acoustics-bubble interactions, with a focus on shock wave-bubble interaction and bubble cloud phenomena. The dynamics of a single spherically oscillating bubble is rather well understood. However, when there is a nearby surface, the bubble often collapses non-spherically with a high-speed jet. The direction of the jet depends on the 'resistance' of the boundary: the bubble jets towards a rigid boundary, splits up near an elastic boundary, and jets away from a free surface. The presence of a shock wave complicates the bubble dynamics further. We shall discuss both experimental studies using high-speed photography and numerical simulations involving shock wave-bubble interaction. In biomedical applications, instead of a single bubble, often clouds of bubbles appear (consisting of many individual bubbles). The dynamics of such a bubble cloud is even more complex. We shall show some of the phenomena observed in a high-intensity focused ultrasound (HIFU) field. The nonlinear nature of the sound field and the complex inter-bubble interaction in a cloud present challenges to a comprehensive understanding of the physics of the bubble cloud in HIFU. We conclude the article with some comments on the challenges ahead.

  20. The Standing Wave on a String as an Oscillator

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Sobel, Michael

    2007-01-01

    In the usual treatment of waves in introductory courses, one begins with traveling waves and the frequency/wavelength relationship f[lambda] = v, where "v" is the wave velocity. One then makes the point about superposition and shows that two waves traveling in opposite directions can add up to a standing wave; Eq. (1) still applies. This approach…

  1. Precise spatial control of cavitation erosion in a vessel phantom by using an ultrasonic standing wave.

    PubMed

    Shi, Aiwei; Huang, Peixuan; Guo, Shifang; Zhao, Lu; Jia, Yingjie; Zong, Yujin; Wan, Mingxi

    2016-07-01

    In atherosclerotic inducement in animal models, the conventionally used balloon injury is invasive, produces excessive vessel injuries at unpredictable locations and is inconvenient in arterioles. Fortunately, cavitation erosion, which plays an important role in therapeutic ultrasound in blood vessels, has the potential to induce atherosclerosis noninvasively at predictable sites. In this study, precise spatial control of cavitation erosion for superficial lesions in a vessel phantom was realised by using an ultrasonic standing wave (USW) with the participation of cavitation nuclei and medium-intensity ultrasound pulses. The superficial vessel erosions were restricted between adjacent pressure nodes, which were 0.87 mm apart in the USW field of 1 MHz. The erosion positions could be shifted along the vessel by nodal modulation under a submillimetre-scale accuracy without moving the ultrasound transducers. Moreover, the cavitation erosion of the proximal or distal wall could be determined by the types of cavitation nuclei and their corresponding cavitation pulses, i.e., phase-change microbubbles with cavitation pulses of 5 MHz and SonoVue microbubbles with cavitation pulses of 1 MHz. Effects of acoustic parameters of the cavitation pulses on the cavitation erosions were investigated. The flow conditions in the experiments were considered and discussed. Compared to only using travelling waves, the proposed method in this paper improves the controllability of the cavitation erosion and reduces the erosion depth, providing a more suitable approach for vessel endothelial injury while avoiding haemorrhage. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  2. Simple Excitation of Standing Waves in Rubber Bands and Membranes

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Cortel, Adolf

    2004-04-01

    Many methods to excite standing waves in strings, plates, membranes, rods, tubes, and soap bubbles have been described. Usually a loudspeaker or a vibrating reed is driven by the amplified output of an audio oscillator. A novel and simple method consists of using a tuning fork or a singing rod to excite transversal standing waves in stretched rubber membranes sprinkled with fine sand.

  3. Multiplane wave imaging increases signal-to-noise ratio in ultrafast ultrasound imaging.

    PubMed

    Tiran, Elodie; Deffieux, Thomas; Correia, Mafalda; Maresca, David; Osmanski, Bruno-Felix; Sieu, Lim-Anna; Bergel, Antoine; Cohen, Ivan; Pernot, Mathieu; Tanter, Mickael

    2015-11-07

    Ultrafast imaging using plane or diverging waves has recently enabled new ultrasound imaging modes with improved sensitivity and very high frame rates. Some of these new imaging modalities include shear wave elastography, ultrafast Doppler, ultrafast contrast-enhanced imaging and functional ultrasound imaging. Even though ultrafast imaging already encounters clinical success, increasing even more its penetration depth and signal-to-noise ratio for dedicated applications would be valuable. Ultrafast imaging relies on the coherent compounding of backscattered echoes resulting from successive tilted plane waves emissions; this produces high-resolution ultrasound images with a trade-off between final frame rate, contrast and resolution. In this work, we introduce multiplane wave imaging, a new method that strongly improves ultrafast images signal-to-noise ratio by virtually increasing the emission signal amplitude without compromising the frame rate. This method relies on the successive transmissions of multiple plane waves with differently coded amplitudes and emission angles in a single transmit event. Data from each single plane wave of increased amplitude can then be obtained, by recombining the received data of successive events with the proper coefficients. The benefits of multiplane wave for B-mode, shear wave elastography and ultrafast Doppler imaging are experimentally demonstrated. Multiplane wave with 4 plane waves emissions yields a 5.8  ±  0.5 dB increase in signal-to-noise ratio and approximately 10 mm in penetration in a calibrated ultrasound phantom (0.7 d MHz(-1) cm(-1)). In shear wave elastography, the same multiplane wave configuration yields a 2.07  ±  0.05 fold reduction of the particle velocity standard deviation and a two-fold reduction of the shear wave velocity maps standard deviation. In functional ultrasound imaging, the mapping of cerebral blood volume results in a 3 to 6 dB increase of the contrast-to-noise ratio in deep

  4. Effect of Forcing Function on Nonlinear Acoustic Standing Waves

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Finkheiner, Joshua R.; Li, Xiao-Fan; Raman, Ganesh; Daniels, Chris; Steinetz, Bruce

    2003-01-01

    Nonlinear acoustic standing waves of high amplitude have been demonstrated by utilizing the effects of resonator shape to prevent the pressure waves from entering saturation. Experimentally, nonlinear acoustic standing waves have been generated by shaking an entire resonating cavity. While this promotes more efficient energy transfer than a piston-driven resonator, it also introduces complicated structural dynamics into the system. Experiments have shown that these dynamics result in resonator forcing functions comprised of a sum of several Fourier modes. However, previous numerical studies of the acoustics generated within the resonator assumed simple sinusoidal waves as the driving force. Using a previously developed numerical code, this paper demonstrates the effects of using a forcing function constructed with a series of harmonic sinusoidal waves on resonating cavities. From these results, a method will be demonstrated which allows the direct numerical analysis of experimentally generated nonlinear acoustic waves in resonators driven by harmonic forcing functions.

  5. Axial acoustic radiation force on rigid oblate and prolate spheroids in Bessel vortex beams of progressive, standing and quasi-standing waves.

    PubMed

    Mitri, F G

    2017-02-01

    The analysis using the partial-wave series expansion (PWSE) method in spherical coordinates is extended to evaluate the acoustic radiation force experienced by rigid oblate and prolate spheroids centered on the axis of wave propagation of high-order Bessel vortex beams composed of progressive, standing and quasi-standing waves, respectively. A coupled system of linear equations is derived after applying the Neumann boundary condition for an immovable surface in a non-viscous fluid, and solved numerically by matrix inversion after performing a single numerical integration procedure. The system of linear equations depends on the partial-wave index n and the order of the Bessel vortex beam m using truncated but converging PWSEs in the least-squares sense. Numerical results for the radiation force function, which is the radiation force per unit energy density and unit cross-sectional surface, are computed with particular emphasis on the amplitude ratio describing the transition from the progressive to the pure standing waves cases, the aspect ratio (i.e., the ratio of the major axis over the minor axis of the spheroid), the half-cone angle and order of the Bessel vortex beam, as well as the dimensionless size parameter. A generalized expression for the radiation force function is derived for cases encompassing the progressive, standing and quasi-standing waves of Bessel vortex beams. This expression can be reduced to other types of beams/waves such as the zeroth-order Bessel non-vortex beam or the infinite plane wave case by appropriate selection of the beam parameters. The results for progressive waves reveal a tractor beam behavior, characterized by the emergence of an attractive pulling force acting in opposite direction of wave propagation. Moreover, the transition to the quasi-standing and pure standing wave cases shows the acoustical tweezers behavior in dual-beam Bessel vortex beams. Applications in acoustic levitation, particle manipulation and acousto

  6. Influence of Waveform on Cell Viability during Ultrasound Exposure

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Saliev, Timur; Feril, Loreto B.; McLean, Donald A.; Tachibana, Katsuro; Campbell, Paul A.

    2011-09-01

    We examined the role of ultrasound standing waves, and their travelling wave counterparts, on cell viability in an in-vitro insonation apparatus. Furthermore, the effect of distinct waveforms (sine and top-hat) was also explored, together with the role of microbubble presence. Measurements of cell viability in standing wave scenarios demonstrated a relatively higher rate of lysis (63.13±10.89% remaining viable) compared with the travelling wave data, where 96.22±4.0% remained viable. Significant differences were also seen as a function of waveform, where insonations employing top-hat wave shapes resulted in an average end stage viability of 30.31±5.71% compared with 61.94±14.28% in the sinusoidal counterparts.

  7. Quantitative shear-wave optical coherence elastography with a programmable phased array ultrasound as the wave source.

    PubMed

    Song, Shaozhen; Le, Nhan Minh; Huang, Zhihong; Shen, Tueng; Wang, Ruikang K

    2015-11-01

    The purpose of this study is to implement a beam-steering ultrasound as the wave source for shear-wave optical coherence elastography (SW-OCE) to achieve an extended range of elastic imaging of the tissue sample. We introduce a linear phased array ultrasound transducer (LPAUT) as the remote and programmable wave source and a phase-sensitive optical coherence tomography (OCT) as the sensitive shear-wave detector. The LPAUT is programmed to launch acoustic radiation force impulses (ARFI) focused at desired locations within the range of OCT imaging, upon which the elasticity map of the entire OCT B-scan cross section is recovered by spatial compounding of the elastic maps derived from each launch of AFRIs. We also propose a directional filter to separate the shear-wave propagation at different directions in order to reduce the effect of tissue heterogeneity on the shear-wave propagation within tissue. The feasibility of this proposed approach is then demonstrated by determining the stiffness of tissue-mimicking phantoms with agarose concentrations of 0.5% and 1% and also by imaging the Young's modulus of retinal and choroidal tissues within a porcine eye ball ex vivo. The approach opens up opportunities to combine medical ultrasound imaging and SW-OCE for high-resolution localized quantitative assessment of tissue biomechanical property.

  8. Stable cavitation induces increased cytoplasmic calcium in L929 fibroblasts exposed to 1-MHz pulsed ultrasound.

    PubMed

    Tsukamoto, Akira; Higashiyama, Satoru; Yoshida, Kenji; Watanabe, Yoshiaki; Furukawa, Katsuko S; Ushida, Takashi

    2011-12-01

    An increase in cytoplasmic calcium (Ca(2+) increase) is a second messenger that is often observed under ultrasound irradiation. We hypothesize that cavitation is a physical mechanism that underlies the increase in Ca(2+) in these experiments. To control the presence of cavitation, the wave type was controlled in a sonication chamber. One wave type largely contained a traveling wave (wave type A) while the other wave type largely contained a standing wave (wave type B). Fast Fourier transform (FFT) analysis of a sound field produced by the wave types ascertained that stable cavitation was present only under wave type A ultrasound irradiation. Under the two controlled wave types, the increase in Ca(2+) in L929 fibroblasts was observed with fluorescence imaging. Under wave type A ultrasound irradiation, an increase in Ca(2+) was observed; however, no increase in Ca(2+) was observed under wave type B ultrasound irradiation. We conclude that stable cavitation is involved in the increase of Ca(2+) in cells subjected to pulsed ultrasound. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  9. Design and implementation of a smartphone-based portable ultrasound pulsed-wave Doppler device for blood flow measurement.

    PubMed

    Huang, Chih-Chung; Lee, Po-Yang; Chen, Pay-Yu; Liu, Ting-Yu

    2012-01-01

    Blood flow measurement using Doppler ultrasound has become a useful tool for diagnosing cardiovascular diseases and as a physiological monitor. Recently, pocket-sized ultrasound scanners have been introduced for portable diagnosis. The present paper reports the implementation of a portable ultrasound pulsed-wave (PW) Doppler flowmeter using a smartphone. A 10-MHz ultrasonic surface transducer was designed for the dynamic monitoring of blood flow velocity. The directional baseband Doppler shift signals were obtained using a portable analog circuit system. After hardware processing, the Doppler signals were fed directly to a smartphone for Doppler spectrogram analysis and display in real time. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first report of the use of this system for medical ultrasound Doppler signal processing. A Couette flow phantom, consisting of two parallel disks with a 2-mm gap, was used to evaluate and calibrate the device. Doppler spectrograms of porcine blood flow were measured using this stand-alone portable device under the pulsatile condition. Subsequently, in vivo portable system verification was performed by measuring the arterial blood flow of a rat and comparing the results with the measurement from a commercial ultrasound duplex scanner. All of the results demonstrated the potential for using a smartphone as a novel embedded system for portable medical ultrasound applications. © 2012 IEEE

  10. Study of non-spherical bubble oscillations near a surface in a weak acoustic standing wave field.

    PubMed

    Xi, Xiaoyu; Cegla, Frederic; Mettin, Robert; Holsteyns, Frank; Lippert, Alexander

    2014-04-01

    The interaction of acoustically driven bubbles with a wall is important in many applications of ultrasound and cavitation, as the close boundary can severely alter the bubble dynamics. In this paper, the non-spherical surface oscillations of bubbles near a surface in a weak acoustic standing wave field are investigated experimentally and numerically. The translation, the volume, and surface mode oscillations of bubbles near a flat glass surface were observed by a high speed camera in a standing wave cell at 46.8 kHz. The model approach is based on a modified Keller-Miksis equation coupled to surface mode amplitude equations in the first order, and to the translation equations. Modifications are introduced due to the adjacent wall. It was found that a bubble's oscillation mode can change in the presence of the wall, as compared to the bubble in the bulk liquid. In particular, the wall shifts the instability pressure thresholds to smaller driving frequencies for fixed bubble equilibrium radii, or to smaller equilibrium radii for fixed excitation frequency. This can destabilize otherwise spherical bubbles, or stabilize bubbles undergoing surface oscillations in the bulk. The bubble dynamics observed in experiment demonstrated the same trend as the theoretical results.

  11. Two-dimensional Shear Wave Elastography on Conventional Ultrasound Scanners with Time Aligned Sequential Tracking (TAST) and Comb-push Ultrasound Shear Elastography (CUSE)

    PubMed Central

    Song, Pengfei; Macdonald, Michael C.; Behler, Russell H.; Lanning, Justin D.; Wang, Michael H.; Urban, Matthew W.; Manduca, Armando; Zhao, Heng; Callstrom, Matthew R.; Alizad, Azra; Greenleaf, James F.; Chen, Shigao

    2014-01-01

    Two-dimensional (2D) shear wave elastography presents 2D quantitative shear elasticity maps of tissue, which are clinically useful for both focal lesion detection and diffuse disease diagnosis. Realization of 2D shear wave elastography on conventional ultrasound scanners, however, is challenging due to the low tracking pulse-repetition-frequency (PRF) of these systems. While some clinical and research platforms support software beamforming and plane wave imaging with high PRF, the majority of current clinical ultrasound systems do not have the software beamforming capability, which presents a critical challenge for translating the 2D shear wave elastography technique from laboratory to clinical scanners. To address this challenge, this paper presents a Time Aligned Sequential Tracking (TAST) method for shear wave tracking on conventional ultrasound scanners. TAST takes advantage of the parallel beamforming capability of conventional systems and realizes high PRF shear wave tracking by sequentially firing tracking vectors and aligning shear wave data in the temporal direction. The Comb-push Ultrasound Shear Elastography (CUSE) technique was used to simultaneously produce multiple shear wave sources within the field-of-view (FOV) to enhance shear wave signal-to-noise-ratio (SNR) and facilitate robust reconstructions of 2D elasticity maps. TAST and CUSE were realized on a conventional ultrasound scanner (the General Electric LOGIQ E9). A phantom study showed that the shear wave speed measurements from the LOGIQ E9 were in good agreement to the values measured from other 2D shear wave imaging technologies. An inclusion phantom study showed that the LOGIQ E9 had comparable performance to the Aixplorer (Supersonic Imagine) in terms of bias and precision in measuring different sized inclusions. Finally, in vivo case analysis of a breast with a malignant mass, and a liver from a healthy subject demonstrated the feasibility of using the LOGIQ E9 for in vivo 2D shear wave

  12. Distribution of standing-wave errors in real-ear sound-level measurements.

    PubMed

    Richmond, Susan A; Kopun, Judy G; Neely, Stephen T; Tan, Hongyang; Gorga, Michael P

    2011-05-01

    Standing waves can cause measurement errors when sound-pressure level (SPL) measurements are performed in a closed ear canal, e.g., during probe-microphone system calibration for distortion-product otoacoustic emission (DPOAE) testing. Alternative calibration methods, such as forward-pressure level (FPL), minimize the influence of standing waves by calculating the forward-going sound waves separate from the reflections that cause errors. Previous research compared test performance (Burke et al., 2010) and threshold prediction (Rogers et al., 2010) using SPL and multiple FPL calibration conditions, and surprisingly found no significant improvements when using FPL relative to SPL, except at 8 kHz. The present study examined the calibration data collected by Burke et al. and Rogers et al. from 155 human subjects in order to describe the frequency location and magnitude of standing-wave pressure minima to see if these errors might explain trends in test performance. Results indicate that while individual results varied widely, pressure variability was larger around 4 kHz and smaller at 8 kHz, consistent with the dimensions of the adult ear canal. The present data suggest that standing-wave errors are not responsible for the historically poor (8 kHz) or good (4 kHz) performance of DPOAE measures at specific test frequencies.

  13. Excitation of Standing Waves by an Electric Toothbrush

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Cros, Ana; Ferrer-Roca, Chantal

    2006-01-01

    There are a number of ways of exciting standing waves in ropes and springs using non-commercial vibrators such as loudspeakers, jigsaws, motors, or a simple tuning fork, including the rhythmical shaking of a handheld Slinky. We have come up with a very simple and cheap way of exciting stationary waves in a string, which anyone, particularly…

  14. Guitar Strings as Standing Waves: A Demonstration

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Davis, Michael

    2007-01-01

    The study demonstrates the induction of one-dimensional standing waves, called "natural-harmonics" on a guitar to provide a unique tone. The analysis shows that a normally complex vibration is composed of a number of simple and discrete vibrations.

  15. Bubbles with shock waves and ultrasound: a review

    PubMed Central

    Ohl, Siew-Wan; Klaseboer, Evert; Khoo, Boo Cheong

    2015-01-01

    The study of the interaction of bubbles with shock waves and ultrasound is sometimes termed ‘acoustic cavitation'. It is of importance in many biomedical applications where sound waves are applied. The use of shock waves and ultrasound in medical treatments is appealing because of their non-invasiveness. In this review, we present a variety of acoustics–bubble interactions, with a focus on shock wave–bubble interaction and bubble cloud phenomena. The dynamics of a single spherically oscillating bubble is rather well understood. However, when there is a nearby surface, the bubble often collapses non-spherically with a high-speed jet. The direction of the jet depends on the ‘resistance' of the boundary: the bubble jets towards a rigid boundary, splits up near an elastic boundary, and jets away from a free surface. The presence of a shock wave complicates the bubble dynamics further. We shall discuss both experimental studies using high-speed photography and numerical simulations involving shock wave–bubble interaction. In biomedical applications, instead of a single bubble, often clouds of bubbles appear (consisting of many individual bubbles). The dynamics of such a bubble cloud is even more complex. We shall show some of the phenomena observed in a high-intensity focused ultrasound (HIFU) field. The nonlinear nature of the sound field and the complex inter-bubble interaction in a cloud present challenges to a comprehensive understanding of the physics of the bubble cloud in HIFU. We conclude the article with some comments on the challenges ahead. PMID:26442143

  16. Standing Waves in a Nonuniform Medium

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Gluck, Paul

    2011-01-01

    A recent note in this journal presented a demonstration of standing waves along a cord consisting of two parts having different material densities, showing different sized wavelengths in each part. A generalization of that experiment to a continuously varying linear mass density is to vibrate a strip of material with gradually varying width (mass…

  17. Three dimensional full-wave nonlinear acoustic simulations: Applications to ultrasound imaging

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

    Pinton, Gianmarco

    Characterization of acoustic waves that propagate nonlinearly in an inhomogeneous medium has significant applications to diagnostic and therapeutic ultrasound. The generation of an ultrasound image of human tissue is based on the complex physics of acoustic wave propagation: diffraction, reflection, scattering, frequency dependent attenuation, and nonlinearity. The nonlinearity of wave propagation is used to the advantage of diagnostic scanners that use the harmonic components of the ultrasonic signal to improve the resolution and penetration of clinical scanners. One approach to simulating ultrasound images is to make approximations that can reduce the physics to systems that have a low computational cost.more » Here a maximalist approach is taken and the full three dimensional wave physics is simulated with finite differences. This paper demonstrates how finite difference simulations for the nonlinear acoustic wave equation can be used to generate physically realistic two and three dimensional ultrasound images anywhere in the body. A specific intercostal liver imaging scenario for two cases: with the ribs in place, and with the ribs removed. This configuration provides an imaging scenario that cannot be performed in vivo but that can test the influence of the ribs on image quality. Several imaging properties are studied, in particular the beamplots, the spatial coherence at the transducer surface, the distributed phase aberration, and the lesion detectability for imaging at the fundamental and harmonic frequencies. The results indicate, counterintuitively, that at the fundamental frequency the beamplot improves due to the apodization effect of the ribs but at the same time there is more degradation from reverberation clutter. At the harmonic frequency there is significantly less improvement in the beamplot and also significantly less degradation from reverberation. It is shown that even though simulating the full propagation physics is computationally

  18. Oscillations of a standing shock wave generated by the Richtmyer-Meshkov instability

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Mikaelian, Karnig O.

    2016-07-01

    In a typical Richtmyer-Meshkov experiment a fast moving flat shock strikes a stationary perturbed interface between fluids A and B creating a transmitted and a reflected shock, both of which are perturbed. We propose shock tube experiments in which the reflected shock is stationary in the laboratory. Such a standing perturbed shock undergoes well-known damped oscillations. We present the conditions required for producing such a standing shock wave, which greatly facilitates the measurement of the oscillations and their rate of damping. We define a critical density ratio Rcritical, in terms of the adiabatic indices of the two fluids, and a critical Mach number Mscritical of the incident shock wave, which produces a standing reflected wave. If the initial density ratio R of the two fluids is less than Rcritical then a standing shock wave is possible at Ms=Mscritical . Otherwise a standing shock is not possible and the reflected wave always moves in the direction opposite the incident shock. Examples are given for present-day operating shock tubes with sinusoidal or inclined interfaces. We consider the effect of viscosity, which affects the damping rate of the oscillations. We point out that nonlinear bubble and spike amplitudes depend relatively weakly on the viscosity of the fluids and that the interface area is a better diagnostic.

  19. Oscillations of a standing shock wave generated by the Richtmyer-Meshkov instability

    DOE PAGES

    Mikaelian, Karnig O.

    2016-07-13

    In a typical Richtmyer-Meshkov experiment a fast moving flat shock strikes a stationary perturbed interface between fluids A and B creating a transmitted and a reflected shock, both of which are perturbed. We propose shock tube experiments in which the reflected shock is stationary in the laboratory. Such a standing perturbed shock undergoes well-known damped oscillations. We present the conditions required for producing such a standing shock wave, which greatly facilitates the measurement of the oscillations and their rate of damping. We define a critical density ratio R critical, in terms of the adiabatic indices of the two fluids, andmore » a critical Mach number M critical s of the incident shock wave, which produces a standing reflected wave. If the initial density ratio R of the two fluids is less than R critical then a standing shock wave is possible at M s=M critical s. Otherwise a standing shock is not possible and the reflected wave always moves in the direction opposite the incident shock. Examples are given for present-day operating shock tubes with sinusoidal or inclined interfaces. We consider the effect of viscosity, which affects the damping rate of the oscillations. Furthermore, we point out that nonlinear bubble and spike amplitudes depend relatively weakly on the viscosity of the fluids and that the interface area is a better diagnostic.« less

  20. Experimental investigation of stress wave propagation in standing trees

    Treesearch

    Houjiang Zhang; Xiping Wang; Juan Su

    2011-01-01

    The objective of this study was to investigate how a stress wave travels in a standing tree as it is introduced into the tree trunk through a mechanical impact. A series of stress wave time-of-flight (TOF) data were obtained from three freshly-cut red pine (Pinus resinosa Ait.) logs by means of a two-probe stress wave timer. Two-dimensional (2D) and three-dimensional (...

  1. Jet formation and shock wave emission during collapse of ultrasound-induced cavitation bubbles and their role in the therapeutic applications of high-intensity focused ultrasound.

    PubMed

    Brujan, E A; Ikeda, T; Matsumoto, Y

    2005-10-21

    The dynamics of inertial cavitation bubbles produced by short pulses of high-intensity focused ultrasound near a rigid boundary are studied to get a better understanding of the role of jet formation and shock wave emission during bubble collapse in the therapeutic applications of ultrasound. The bubble dynamics are investigated by high-speed photography with up to 2 million frames/s and acoustic measurements, as well as by numerical calculations. The significant parameter of this study is the dimensionless stand-off, gamma, which is defined as the distance of the bubble centre at its maximum expansion scaled by the maximum bubble radius. High-speed photography is applied to observe the bubble motion and the velocity of the liquid jet formed during bubble collapse. Hydrophone measurements are used to determine the pressure and the duration of the shock wave emitted during bubble rebound. Calculations yield the variation with time of the bubble wall, the maximum velocity and the kinetic energy of the re-entrant jet. The comparisons between experimental and numerical data are favourable with regard to both shape history and translational motion of the bubble. The acoustic energy constitutes the largest individual amount in the energy balance of bubble collapse. The ratio of the shock wave energy, measured at 10 mm from the emission centre, to the cavitation bubble energy was 1:2.4 at gamma = 1.55 and 1:3.5 at gamma = 1. At this distance, the shock wave pressure ranges from 0.122 MPa, at gamma = 1, to 0.162 MPa, at gamma = 1.55, and the temporal duration at the half maximum level is 87 ns. The maximum jet velocity ranges from 27 m s(-1), at gamma = 1, to 36 m s(-1), at gamma = 1.55. For gamma < 1.2, the re-entrant jet can generate an impact pressure on the nearby boundary larger than 50 MPa. We discuss the implications of the results for the therapeutic applications of high-intensity focused ultrasound.

  2. [Prognostic analysis of plantar fasciitis treated by pneumatic ballistic extracorporeal shock wave versus ultrasound guided intervention].

    PubMed

    Huo, Xiu-Lin; Wang, Ke-Tao; Zhang, Xiao-Ying; Yang, Yi-Tian; Cao, Fu-Yang; Yang, Jing; Yuan, Wei-Xiu; Mi, Wei-Dong

    2018-02-20

    To compare the medium- and long-term effect of pneumatic ballistic extracorporeal shock wave versus ultrasound-guided hormone injection in the treatment of plantar fasciitis. The clinical data were collected from patients with plantar fasciitis admitted to PLA General Hospital pain department from September, 2015 to February, 2017. The patients were randomly divided into ultrasound-guided drug injection group and shock wave group. The therapeutic parameters including the numerical rating scale (NRS) scores in the first step pain in the morning, American Orthopedic Foot and Ankle Society (AOFAS) Ankle Hindfoot Scale, and thickness of the plantar fascia were monitored before and at 1 week, 1 month, 3 months, and 6 months after the treatment. The recurrence rate, effectiveness, and patient satisfaction were compared between the two groups at 6 months after the treatment. Thirty-nine patients were enrolled in shock wave group and 38 patients in ultrasound group. The NRS scores in the first step pain in the morning were lowered after treatment in both groups (P<0.05), and the scores were significantly lower in ultrasound group than in shock wave group at 1 week and 1 month (P<0.01), but significantly higher in ultrasound group than in shock wave group at 3 and 6 months after treatment (P<0.05). The AOFAS functional scores were increased in both groups (P<0.05) at 6 months after treatment, was significantly lower in ultrasound group than in shock wave group than group B (90.44∓13.27 vs 75.76∓21.40; P<0.05). The effective rates in shock wave group and ultrasound group were 92.31% and 76.32%, respectively (P<0.05). Recurrence was found in 1 patient (2.56%) in shock wave group and in 8 (21.05%) in ultrasound group (P<0.05). The patient satisfaction scores were significantly higher in shock wave group than in ultrasound group (8.13∓2.67 vs 6.63∓3.75, P=0.048). Pneumatic ballistic extracorporeal shock achieves better medium- and long-term outcomes than ultrasound

  3. Standing wave tube electro active polymer wave energy converter

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Jean, Philippe; Wattez, Ambroise; Ardoise, Guillaume; Melis, C.; Van Kessel, R.; Fourmon, A.; Barrabino, E.; Heemskerk, J.; Queau, J. P.

    2012-04-01

    Over the past 4 years SBM has developed a revolutionary Wave Energy Converter (WEC): the S3. Floating under the ocean surface, the S3 amplifies pressure waves similarly to a Ruben's tube. Only made of elastomers, the system is entirely flexible, environmentally friendly and silent. Thanks to a multimodal resonant behavior, the S3 is capable of efficiently harvesting wave energy from a wide range of wave periods, naturally smoothing the irregularities of ocean wave amplitudes and periods. In the S3 system, Electro Active Polymer (EAP) generators are distributed along an elastomeric tube over several wave lengths, they convert wave induced deformations directly into electricity. The output is high voltage multiphase Direct Current with low ripple. Unlike other conventional WECs, the S3 requires no maintenance of moving parts. The conception and operating principle will eventually lead to a reduction of both CAPEX and OPEX. By integrating EAP generators into a small scale S3, SBM achieved a world first: direct conversion of wave energy in electricity with a moored flexible submerged EAP WEC in a wave tank test. Through an extensive testing program on large scale EAP generators, SBM identified challenges in scaling up to a utility grid device. French Government supports the consortium consisting of SBM, IFREMER and ECN in their efforts to deploy a full scale prototype at the SEMREV test center in France at the horizon 2014-2015. SBM will be seeking strategic as well as financial partners to unleash the true potentials of the S3 Standing Wave Tube Electro Active Polymer WEC.

  4. Nanoscale Imaging of Buried Structures via Scanning Near-Field Ultrasound Holography

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Shekhawat, Gajendra S.; Dravid, Vinayak P.

    2005-10-01

    A nondestructive imaging method, scanning near-field ultrasound holography (SNFUH), has been developed that provides depth information as well as spatial resolution at the 10- to 100-nanometer scale. In SNFUH, the phase and amplitude of the scattered specimen ultrasound wave, reflected in perturbation to the surface acoustic standing wave, are mapped with a scanning probe microscopy platform to provide nanoscale-resolution images of the internal substructure of diverse materials. We have used SNFUH to image buried nanostructures, to perform subsurface metrology in microelectronic structures, and to image malaria parasites in red blood cells.

  5. Contrast agent-free sonoporation: The use of an ultrasonic standing wave microfluidic system for the delivery of pharmaceutical agents

    PubMed Central

    Carugo, Dario; Ankrett, Dyan N.; Glynne-Jones, Peter; Capretto, Lorenzo; Boltryk, Rosemary J.; Zhang, Xunli; Townsend, Paul A.; Hill, Martyn

    2011-01-01

    Sonoporation is a useful biophysical mechanism for facilitating the transmembrane delivery of therapeutic agents from the extracellular to the intracellular milieu. Conventionally, sonoporation is carried out in the presence of ultrasound contrast agents, which are known to greatly enhance transient poration of biological cell membranes. However, in vivo contrast agents have been observed to induce capillary rupture and haemorrhage due to endothelial cell damage and to greatly increase the potential for cell lysis in vitro. Here, we demonstrate sonoporation of cardiac myoblasts in the absence of contrast agent (CA-free sonoporation) using a low-cost ultrasound-microfluidic device. Within this device an ultrasonic standing wave was generated, allowing control over the position of the cells and the strength of the acoustic radiation forces. Real-time single-cell analysis and retrospective post-sonication analysis of insonated cardiac myoblasts showed that CA-free sonoporation induced transmembrane transfer of fluorescent probes (CMFDA and FITC-dextran) and that different mechanisms potentially contribute to membrane poration in the presence of an ultrasonic wave. Additionally, to the best of our knowledge, we have shown for the first time that sonoporation induces increased cell cytotoxicity as a consequence of CA-free ultrasound-facilitated uptake of pharmaceutical agents (doxorubicin, luteolin, and apigenin). The US-microfluidic device designed here provides an in vitro alternative to expensive and controversial in vivo models used for early stage drug discovery, and drug delivery programs and toxicity measurements. PMID:22662060

  6. Stability of standing wave for the fractional nonlinear Schrödinger equation

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Peng, Congming; Shi, Qihong

    2018-01-01

    In this paper, we study the stability and instability of standing waves for the fractional nonlinear Schrödinger equation i∂tu = (-Δ)su - |u|2σu, where (t ,x ) ∈R × RN, 1/2 standing waves are orbitally stable; when σ =2/s N , the ground state solitary waves are strongly unstable to blowup.

  7. Experimental observation of standing wave effect in low-pressure very-high-frequency capacitive discharges

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

    Liu, Yong-Xin; Gao, Fei; Liu, Jia

    2014-07-28

    Radial uniformity measurements of plasma density were carried out by using a floating double probe in a cylindrical (21 cm in electrode diameter) capacitive discharge reactor driven over a wide range of frequencies (27–220 MHz). At low rf power, a multiple-node structure of standing wave effect was observed at 130 MHz. The secondary density peak caused by the standing wave effect became pronounced and shifts toward the axis as the driving frequency further to increase, indicative of a much more shortened standing-wave wavelength. With increasing rf power, the secondary density peak shift toward the radial edge, namely, the standing-wave wavelength was increased,more » in good qualitative agreement with the previous theory and simulation results. At higher pressures and high frequencies, the rf power was primarily deposited at the periphery of the electrode, due to the fact that the waves were strongly damped as they propagated from the discharge edge into the center.« less

  8. Analysis of standing sound waves using holographic interferometry

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Russell, Daniel A.; Parker, David E.; Hughes, Russell S.

    2009-08-01

    Optical holographic interferometry was used to study standing sound waves in air inside a resonance tube driven by a small loudspeaker at one end. The front face of the resonance tube was constructed with plexiglass, allowing optical interrogation of the tube interior. The object beam of the holographic setup was directed through the plexiglass and reflected off the back wall of the resonator. When driven at resonance, the fluctuations in the air density at the antinodes altered the refractive index of the air in the tube, causing interference patterns in the resulting holographic images. Real-time holography was used to determine resonance frequencies and to measure the wavelengths of the standing waves. Time-average holography was used to observe the effect of increasing the sound pressure level on the resulting fringe pattern. A simple theory was developed to successfully predict the fringe pattern.

  9. An Ultrasound Surface Wave Technique for Assessing Skin and Lung Diseases.

    PubMed

    Zhang, Xiaoming; Zhou, Boran; Kalra, Sanjay; Bartholmai, Brian; Greenleaf, James; Osborn, Thomas

    2018-02-01

    Systemic sclerosis (SSc) is a multi-organ connective tissue disease characterized by immune dysregulation and organ fibrosis. Severe organ involvement, especially of the skin and lung, is the cause of morbidity and mortality in SSc. Interstitial lung disease (ILD) includes multiple lung disorders in which the lung tissue is fibrotic and stiffened. The purpose of this study was to translate ultrasound surface wave elastography (USWE) for assessing patients with SSc and/or ILD via measuring surface wave speeds of both skin and superficial lung tissue. Forty-one patients with both SSc and ILD and 30 healthy patients were enrolled in this study. An external harmonic vibration was used to generate the wave propagation on the skin or lung. Three excitation frequencies of 100, 150 and 200 Hz were used. An ultrasound probe was used to measure the wave propagation in the tissue non-invasively. Surface wave speeds were measured on the forearm and upper arm of both left and right arm, as well as the upper and lower lungs, through six intercostal spaces of patients and healthy patients. Viscoelasticity of the skin was calculated by the wave speed dispersion with frequency using the Voigt model. The magnitudes of surface wave speed and viscoelasticity of patients' skin were significantly higher than those of healthy patients (p <0.0001) for each location and each frequency. The surface wave speeds of patients' lung were significantly higher than those of healthy patients (p <0.0001) for each location and each frequency. USWE is a non-invasive and non-ionizing technique for measuring both skin and lung surface wave speed and may be useful for quantitative assessment of SSc and/or ILD. Copyright © 2018 World Federation for Ultrasound in Medicine and Biology. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  10. Scanning dimensional measurement using laser-trapped microsphere with optical standing-wave scale

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Michihata, Masaki; Ueda, Shin-ichi; Takahashi, Satoru; Takamasu, Kiyoshi; Takaya, Yasuhiro

    2017-06-01

    We propose a laser trapping-based scanning dimensional measurement method for free-form surfaces. We previously developed a laser trapping-based microprobe for three-dimensional coordinate metrology. This probe performs two types of measurements: a tactile coordinate and a scanning measurement in the same coordinate system. The proposed scanning measurement exploits optical interference. A standing-wave field is generated between the laser-trapped microsphere and the measured surface because of the interference from the retroreflected light. The standing-wave field produces an effective length scale, and the trapped microsphere acts as a sensor to read this scale. A horizontal scan of the trapped microsphere produces a phase shift of the standing wave according to the surface topography. This shift can be measured from the change in the microsphere position. The dynamics of the trapped microsphere within the standing-wave field was estimated using a harmonic model, from which the measured surface can be reconstructed. A spherical lens was measured experimentally, yielding a radius of curvature of 2.59 mm, in agreement with the nominal specification (2.60 mm). The difference between the measured points and a spherical fitted curve was 96 nm, which demonstrates the scanning function of the laser trapping-based microprobe for free-form surfaces.

  11. Standing Helicon Wave Induced by a Rapidly Bent Magnetic Field in Plasmas.

    PubMed

    Takahashi, Kazunori; Takayama, Sho; Komuro, Atsushi; Ando, Akira

    2016-04-01

    An electron energy probability function and a rf magnetic field are measured in a rf hydrogen helicon source, where axial and transverse static magnetic fields are applied to the source by solenoids and to the diffusion chamber by filter magnets, respectively. It is demonstrated that the helicon wave is reflected by the rapidly bent magnetic field and the resultant standing wave heats the electrons between the source and the magnetic filter, while the electron cooling effect by the magnetic filter is maintained. It is interpreted that the standing wave is generated by the presence of a spatially localized change of a refractive index.

  12. Standing Helicon Wave Induced by a Rapidly Bent Magnetic Field in Plasmas

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Takahashi, Kazunori; Takayama, Sho; Komuro, Atsushi; Ando, Akira

    2016-04-01

    An electron energy probability function and a rf magnetic field are measured in a rf hydrogen helicon source, where axial and transverse static magnetic fields are applied to the source by solenoids and to the diffusion chamber by filter magnets, respectively. It is demonstrated that the helicon wave is reflected by the rapidly bent magnetic field and the resultant standing wave heats the electrons between the source and the magnetic filter, while the electron cooling effect by the magnetic filter is maintained. It is interpreted that the standing wave is generated by the presence of a spatially localized change of a refractive index.

  13. On the pressure field of nonlinear standing water waves

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Schwartz, L. W.

    1980-01-01

    The pressure field produced by two dimensional nonlinear time and space periodic standing waves was calculated as a series expansion in the wave height. The high order series was summed by the use of Pade approximants. Calculations included the pressure variation at great depth, which was considered to be a likely cause of microseismic activity, and the pressure distribution on a vertical barrier or breakwater.

  14. Overdetermined shooting methods for computing standing water waves with spectral accuracy

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Wilkening, Jon; Yu, Jia

    2012-01-01

    A high-performance shooting algorithm is developed to compute time-periodic solutions of the free-surface Euler equations with spectral accuracy in double and quadruple precision. The method is used to study resonance and its effect on standing water waves. We identify new nucleation mechanisms in which isolated large-amplitude solutions, and closed loops of such solutions, suddenly exist for depths below a critical threshold. We also study degenerate and secondary bifurcations related to Wilton's ripples in the traveling case, and explore the breakdown of self-similarity at the crests of extreme standing waves. In shallow water, we find that standing waves take the form of counter-propagating solitary waves that repeatedly collide quasi-elastically. In deep water with surface tension, we find that standing waves resemble counter-propagating depression waves. We also discuss the existence and non-uniqueness of solutions, and smooth versus erratic dependence of Fourier modes on wave amplitude and fluid depth. In the numerical method, robustness is achieved by posing the problem as an overdetermined nonlinear system and using either adjoint-based minimization techniques or a quadratically convergent trust-region method to minimize the objective function. Efficiency is achieved in the trust-region approach by parallelizing the Jacobian computation, so the setup cost of computing the Dirichlet-to-Neumann operator in the variational equation is not repeated for each column. Updates of the Jacobian are also delayed until the previous Jacobian ceases to be useful. Accuracy is maintained using spectral collocation with optional mesh refinement in space, a high-order Runge-Kutta or spectral deferred correction method in time and quadruple precision for improved navigation of delicate regions of parameter space as well as validation of double-precision results. Implementation issues for transferring much of the computation to a graphic processing units are briefly discussed

  15. Analysis on Non-Resonance Standing Waves and Vibration Tracks of Strings

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Fang, Tian-Shen

    2007-01-01

    This paper presents an experimental technique to observe the vibration tracks of string standing waves. From the vibration tracks, we can analyse the vibration directions of harmonic waves. For the harmonic wave vibrations of strings, when the driving frequency f[subscript s] = Nf[subscript n] (N = 1, 2, 3, 4,...), both resonance and non-resonance…

  16. Instability of standing waves for Klein-Gordon-Zakharov equations with different propagation speeds in three space dimensions

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Gan, Zaihui; Zhang, Jian

    2005-07-01

    This paper is concerned with the standing wave for Klein-Gordon-Zakharov equations with different propagation speeds in three space dimensions. The existence of standing wave with the ground state is established by applying an intricate variational argument and the instability of the standing wave is shown by applying Pagne and Sattinger's potential well argument and Levine's concavity method.

  17. Experimental observation of standing interfacial waves induced by surface waves in muddy water

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Maxeiner, Eric; Dalrymple, Robert A.

    2011-09-01

    A striking feature has been observed in a laboratory wave tank with a thin layer of clear water overlying a layer of mud. A piston-type wave maker is used to generate long monochromatic surface waves in a tank with a layer of kaolinite clay at the bottom. The wave action on the mud causes the clay particles to rise from the bottom into the water column, forming a lutocline. As the lutocline approaches the water surface, a set of standing interfacial waves form on the lutocline. The interfacial wave directions are oriented nearly orthogonal to the surface wave direction. The interfacial waves, which sometimes cover the entire length and width of the tank, are also temporally subharmonic as the phase of the interfacial wave alternates with each passing surface wave crest. These interfacial waves are the result of a resonant three-wave interaction involving the surface wave train and the two interfacial wave trains. The interfacial waves are only present when the lutocline is about 3 cm of the water surface and they can be sufficiently nonlinear as to exhibit superharmonics and a breaking-type of instability.

  18. Conjunction of standing wave and resonance in asymmetric nanowires: a mechanism for thermal rectification and remote energy accumulation.

    PubMed

    Liu, Yue-Yang; Zhou, Wu-Xing; Chen, Ke-Qiu

    2015-12-02

    As an important way to control and manage heat transport, thermal rectification has become an elementary issue in the field of phononics and plays a key role in the designing of thermal devices. Here we investigate systematically the standing wave and the accompanying resonance process in asymmetric nanowires to understand the standing wave itself and its great effect on thermal rectification. Results show that the standing wave is sensitive to both the structural and thermal properties of the material, and its great effect on enhancing the thermal rectification is realized not only by the energy-localization nature of the standing wave, but also by the resonance-caused large amplitude and high energy of the standing wave.

  19. FloWave.US: validated, open-source, and flexible software for ultrasound blood flow analysis.

    PubMed

    Coolbaugh, Crystal L; Bush, Emily C; Caskey, Charles F; Damon, Bruce M; Towse, Theodore F

    2016-10-01

    Automated software improves the accuracy and reliability of blood velocity, vessel diameter, blood flow, and shear rate ultrasound measurements, but existing software offers limited flexibility to customize and validate analyses. We developed FloWave.US-open-source software to automate ultrasound blood flow analysis-and demonstrated the validity of its blood velocity (aggregate relative error, 4.32%) and vessel diameter (0.31%) measures with a skeletal muscle ultrasound flow phantom. Compared with a commercial, manual analysis software program, FloWave.US produced equivalent in vivo cardiac cycle time-averaged mean (TAMean) velocities at rest and following a 10-s muscle contraction (mean bias <1 pixel for both conditions). Automated analysis of ultrasound blood flow data was 9.8 times faster than the manual method. Finally, a case study of a lower extremity muscle contraction experiment highlighted the ability of FloWave.US to measure small fluctuations in TAMean velocity, vessel diameter, and mean blood flow at specific time points in the cardiac cycle. In summary, the collective features of our newly designed software-accuracy, reliability, reduced processing time, cost-effectiveness, and flexibility-offer advantages over existing proprietary options. Further, public distribution of FloWave.US allows researchers to easily access and customize code to adapt ultrasound blood flow analysis to a variety of vascular physiology applications. Copyright © 2016 the American Physiological Society.

  20. Cavitation Bubble Streaming in Ultrasonic-Standing-Wave Field

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Nomura, Shinfuku; Mukasa, Shinobu; Kuroiwa, Masaya; Okada, Yasuyuki; Murakami, Koichi

    2005-05-01

    The mechanism of cavitation bubble streaming by ultrasonic vibration in a water tank was experimentally investigated. A standard ultrasonic cleaner unit with a resonant frequency of 40 kHz was used as an ultrasonic generator. The behavior of the streaming was visualized by the schlieren method and sonochemical luminescence, and the velocity of the streaming was measured by laser Doppler velocity measurement equipment (LDV). The cavitation bubble streaming has two structures. A cavitation cloud, which consists of many cavitation bubbles, is shaped like a facing pair of bowls with a diameter of approximately 1/3 the wavelength of the standing wave, and moves inside the standing-wave field with a velocity of 30 to 60 mm/s. The cavitation bubbles move intensely in the cloud with a velocity of 5 m/s at an ultrasonic output power of 75 W. The streaming is completely different from conventional acoustic streaming. Also the cavitation bubble is generated neither at the pressure node nor at the antinode.

  1. Standing Waves in an Elastic Spring: A Systematic Study by Video Analysis

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Ventura, Daniel Rodrigues; de Carvalho, Paulo Simeão; Dias, Marco Adriano

    2017-04-01

    The word "wave" is part of the daily language of every student. However, the physical understanding of the concept demands a high level of abstract thought. In physics, waves are oscillating variations of a physical quantity that involve the transfer of energy from one point to another, without displacement of matter. A wave can be formed by an elastic deformation, a variation of pressure, changes in the intensity of electric or magnetic fields, a propagation of a temperature variation, or other disturbances. Moreover, a wave can be categorized as pulsed or periodic. Most importantly, conditions can be set such that waves interfere with one another, resulting in standing waves. These have many applications in technology, although they are not always readily identified and/or understood by all students. In this work, we use a simple setup including a low-cost constant spring, such as a Slinky, and the free software Tracker for video analysis. We show they can be very useful for the teaching of mechanical wave propagation and the analysis of harmonics in standing waves.

  2. Comparison of two ways of altering carpal tunnel pressure with ultrasound surface wave elastography.

    PubMed

    Cheng, Yu-Shiuan; Zhou, Boran; Kubo, Kazutoshi; An, Kai-Nan; Moran, Steven L; Amadio, Peter C; Zhang, Xiaoming; Zhao, Chunfeng

    2018-06-06

    Higher carpal tunnel pressure is related to the development of carpal tunnel syndrome. Currently, the measurement of carpal tunnel pressure is invasive and therefore, a noninvasive technique is needed. We previously demonstrated that speed of wave propagation through a tendon in the carpal tunnel measured by ultrasound elastography could be used as an indicator of carpal tunnel pressure in a cadaveric model, in which a balloon had to be inserted into the carpal tunnel to adjust the carpal tunnel pressure. However, the method for adjusting the carpal tunnel pressure in the cadaveric model is not applicable for the in vivo model. The objective of this study was to utilize a different technique to adjust carpal tunnel pressure via pressing the palm and to validate it with ultrasound surface wave elastography in a human cadaveric model. The outcome was also compared with a previous balloon insertion technique. Results showed that wave speed of intra-carpal tunnel tendon and the ratio of wave speed of intra-and outer-carpal tunnel tendons increased linearly with carpal tunnel pressure. Moreover, wave speed of intra carpal tunnel tendon via both ways of altering carpal tunnel pressure showed similar results with high correlation. Therefore, it was concluded that the technique of pressing the palm can be used to adjust carpal tunnel pressure, and pressure changes can be detected via ultrasound surface wave elastography in an ex vivo model. Future studies will utilize this technique in vivo to validate the usefulness of ultrasound surface wave elastography for measuring carpal tunnel pressure. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  3. Surface refraction of sound waves affects calibration of three-dimensional ultrasound.

    PubMed

    Ballhausen, Hendrik; Ballhausen, Bianca Désirée; Lachaine, Martin; Li, Minglun; Parodi, Katia; Belka, Claus; Reiner, Michael

    2015-05-27

    Three-dimensional ultrasound (3D-US) is used in planning and treatment during external beam radiotherapy. The accuracy of the technique depends not only on the achievable image quality in clinical routine, but also on technical limitations of achievable precision during calibration. Refraction of ultrasound waves is a known source for geometric distortion, but such an effect was not expected in homogenous calibration phantoms. However, in this paper we demonstrate that the discontinuity of the refraction index at the phantom surface may affect the calibration unless the ultrasound probe is perfectly perpendicular to the phantom. A calibration phantom was repeatedly scanned with a 3D-US system (Elekta Clarity) by three independent observers. The ultrasound probe was moved horizontally at a fixed angle in the sagittal plane. The resulting wedge shaped volume between probe and phantom was filled with water to couple in the ultrasound waves. Because the speed of sound in water was smaller than the speed of sound in Zerdine, the main component of the phantom, the angle of the ultrasound waves inside the phantom increased. This caused an apparent shift in the calibration features which was recorded as a function of the impeding angle. To confirm the magnitude and temperature dependence, the experiment was repeated by two of the observers with a mixture of ice and water at 0 °C and with thermalized tap water at 21 °C room temperature. During the first series of measurements, a linear dependency of the displacements dx of the calibration features on the angle α of the ultrasound probe was observed. The three observers recorded significantly nonzero (p < 0.0001) and very consistent slopes of dx/dα of 0.12, 0.12, and 0.13 mm/°, respectively.. At 0 °C water temperature, the slope increased to 0.18 ± 0.04 mm/°. This matched the prediction of Snell's law of 0.185 mm/° for a speed of sound of 1,402 m/s at the melting point of ice. At 21 °C, slopes of 0.11 and 0

  4. Computational exploration of wave propagation and heating from transcranial focused ultrasound for neuromodulation

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Mueller, Jerel K.; Ai, Leo; Bansal, Priya; Legon, Wynn

    2016-10-01

    Objective. While ultrasound is largely established for use in diagnostic imaging, its application for neuromodulation is relatively new and crudely understood. The objective of the present study was to investigate the effects of tissue properties and geometry on the wave propagation and heating in the context of transcranial neuromodulation. Approach. A computational model of transcranial-focused ultrasound was constructed and validated against empirical data. The models were then incrementally extended to investigate a number of issues related to the use of ultrasound for neuromodulation, including the effect on wave propagation of variations in geometry of skull and gyral anatomy as well as the effect of multiple tissue and media layers, including scalp, skull, CSF, and gray/white matter. In addition, a sensitivity analysis was run to characterize the influence of acoustic properties of intracranial tissues. Finally, the heating associated with ultrasonic stimulation waveforms designed for neuromodulation was modeled. Main results. The wave propagation of a transcranially focused ultrasound beam is significantly influenced by the cranial domain. The half maximum acoustic beam intensity profiles are insensitive overall to small changes in material properties, though the inclusion of sulci in models results in greater peak intensity values compared to a model without sulci (1%-30% greater). Finally, heating using currently employed stimulation parameters in humans is highest in bone (0.16 °C) and is negligible in brain (4.27 × 10-3 °C) for a 0.5 s exposure. Significance. Ultrasound for noninvasive neuromodulation holds great promise and appeal for its non-invasiveness, high spatial resolution and deep focal lengths. Here we show gross brain anatomy and biological material properties to have limited effect on ultrasound wave propagation and to result in safe heating levels in the skull and brain.

  5. Computational exploration of wave propagation and heating from transcranial focused ultrasound for neuromodulation.

    PubMed

    Mueller, Jerel K; Ai, Leo; Bansal, Priya; Legon, Wynn

    2016-10-01

    While ultrasound is largely established for use in diagnostic imaging, its application for neuromodulation is relatively new and crudely understood. The objective of the present study was to investigate the effects of tissue properties and geometry on the wave propagation and heating in the context of transcranial neuromodulation. A computational model of transcranial-focused ultrasound was constructed and validated against empirical data. The models were then incrementally extended to investigate a number of issues related to the use of ultrasound for neuromodulation, including the effect on wave propagation of variations in geometry of skull and gyral anatomy as well as the effect of multiple tissue and media layers, including scalp, skull, CSF, and gray/white matter. In addition, a sensitivity analysis was run to characterize the influence of acoustic properties of intracranial tissues. Finally, the heating associated with ultrasonic stimulation waveforms designed for neuromodulation was modeled. The wave propagation of a transcranially focused ultrasound beam is significantly influenced by the cranial domain. The half maximum acoustic beam intensity profiles are insensitive overall to small changes in material properties, though the inclusion of sulci in models results in greater peak intensity values compared to a model without sulci (1%-30% greater). Finally, heating using currently employed stimulation parameters in humans is highest in bone (0.16 °C) and is negligible in brain (4.27 × 10(-3) °C) for a 0.5 s exposure. Ultrasound for noninvasive neuromodulation holds great promise and appeal for its non-invasiveness, high spatial resolution and deep focal lengths. Here we show gross brain anatomy and biological material properties to have limited effect on ultrasound wave propagation and to result in safe heating levels in the skull and brain.

  6. Nondestructive evaluation of standing trees with a stress wave method.

    Treesearch

    Xiping Wang; Robert J. Ross; Michael McClellan; R. James Barbour; John R. Erickson; John W. Forsman; Gary D. McGinnis

    2001-01-01

    The primary objective of this study was to investigate the usefulness of a stress wave technique for evaluating wood strength and stiffness of young-growth western hemlock and Sitka spruce in standing trees. A secondary objective was to determine if the effects of silvicultural practices on wood quality can be identified using this technique. Stress wave measurements...

  7. Ultrasound

    MedlinePlus Videos and Cool Tools

    Ultrasound is a useful procedure for monitoring the baby's development in the uterus. Ultrasound uses inaudible sound waves to produce a two- ... sound waves and appear dark or black. An ultrasound can supply vital information about a mother's pregnancy ...

  8. A comparison of the effectiveness of extracorporeal shock wave and ultrasound therapy in the management of heel pain

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Cheing, G. L. Y.; Chang, H.; Lo, S. K.

    2007-11-01

    The aim of this study was to compare the effectiveness of extracorporeal shock wave therapy (ESWT) and ultrasound therapy (US) for managing heel pain. Thirty-seven subjects received either: ESWT (once a week), US (three times a week), or CONTROL (no treatment) for 3 consecutive weeks and were followed-up for 3 more weeks. A visual analogue scale (VAS), the maximum tolerable duration for prolonged walking or standing, and the Mayo clinical scoring system (MCSS) were evaluated. Mixed models treating baseline measures as covariates were adopted for statistical analysis. By week 3, intensity of heel pain on palpation was reduced by 37% (VAS score from 7.5 to 4.6) in the ESWT group, 24% (from 5.3 to 4.2) in the US group, and increased by 3% (5.6-5.7) in the control group; this difference was significant after adjusting for baseline VAS scores ( p = 0.022). The improvements in the maximum tolerable duration of prolonged walking or standing was only significant in the ESWT group (157% increase, p = 0.043) but not the other two groups. Both active treatment groups maintained the treatment effect at the three-week follow-up. We conclude that ESWT is potentially more effective in reducing heel pain than ultrasound therapy but additional evidence is needed due to the various limitations of the study.

  9. Transition from Propagating Polariton Solitons to a Standing Wave Condensate Induced by Interactions

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Sich, M.; Chana, J. K.; Egorov, O. A.; Sigurdsson, H.; Shelykh, I. A.; Skryabin, D. V.; Walker, P. M.; Clarke, E.; Royall, B.; Skolnick, M. S.; Krizhanovskii, D. N.

    2018-04-01

    We explore phase transitions of polariton wave packets, first, to a soliton and then to a standing wave polariton condensate in a multimode microwire system, mediated by nonlinear polariton interactions. At low excitation density, we observe ballistic propagation of the multimode polariton wave packets arising from the interference between different transverse modes. With increasing excitation density, the wave packets transform into single-mode bright solitons due to effects of both intermodal and intramodal polariton-polariton scattering. Further increase of the excitation density increases thermalization speed, leading to relaxation of the polariton density from a solitonic spectrum distribution in momentum space down to low momenta, with the resultant formation of a nonequilibrium condensate manifested by a standing wave pattern across the whole sample.

  10. Transition from Propagating Polariton Solitons to a Standing Wave Condensate Induced by Interactions.

    PubMed

    Sich, M; Chana, J K; Egorov, O A; Sigurdsson, H; Shelykh, I A; Skryabin, D V; Walker, P M; Clarke, E; Royall, B; Skolnick, M S; Krizhanovskii, D N

    2018-04-20

    We explore phase transitions of polariton wave packets, first, to a soliton and then to a standing wave polariton condensate in a multimode microwire system, mediated by nonlinear polariton interactions. At low excitation density, we observe ballistic propagation of the multimode polariton wave packets arising from the interference between different transverse modes. With increasing excitation density, the wave packets transform into single-mode bright solitons due to effects of both intermodal and intramodal polariton-polariton scattering. Further increase of the excitation density increases thermalization speed, leading to relaxation of the polariton density from a solitonic spectrum distribution in momentum space down to low momenta, with the resultant formation of a nonequilibrium condensate manifested by a standing wave pattern across the whole sample.

  11. Frequency characteristics of standing-wave acoustooptic modulators

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Apolonskii, A. A.; Shchebetov, S. D.

    1991-10-01

    Experimental data are presented on the performance of wide-aperture standing-wave acoustooptic modulators used as laser mode lockers. In particular, attention is given to the acoustooptic and electrical frequency characteristics of the modulators. The existence of a large effective diffraction frequency region below the fundamental frequency is demonstrated. Individual frequency regions of effective diffraction do not correspond to the even and odd harmonics.

  12. Imaging Feedback of Histotripsy Treatments Using Ultrasound Shear Wave Elastography

    PubMed Central

    Wang, Tzu-Yin; Hall, Timothy L.; Xu, Zhen; Fowlkes, J. Brian; Cain, Charles A.

    2013-01-01

    Histotripsy is a cavitation-based ultrasound therapy that mechanically fractionates soft solid tissues into fluid-like homogenates. This paper investigates the feasibility of imaging the tissue elasticity change during the histotripsy process as a tool to provide feedback for the treatments. The treatments were performed on agar tissue phantoms and ex vivo kidneys using 3-cycle ultrasound pulses delivered by a 750-kHz therapeutic array at peak negative/positive pressure of 17/108 MPa and a repetition rate of 50 Hz. Lesions with different degrees of damage were created with increasing numbers of therapy pulses from 0 to 2000 pulses per treatment location. The elasticity of the lesions was measured with ultrasound shear wave elastography, in which a quasi-planar shear wave was induced by acoustic radiation force generated by the therapeutic array, and tracked with ultrasound imaging at 3000 frames per second. Based on the shear wave velocity calculated from the sequentially captured frames, the Young’s modulus was reconstructed. Results showed that the lesions were more easily identified on the shear wave velocity images than on B-mode images. As the number of therapy pulses increased from 0 to 2000 pulses/location, the Young’s modulus decreased exponentially from 22.1 ± 2.7 to 2.1 ± 1.1 kPa in the tissue phantoms (R2 = 0.99, N = 9 each), and from 33.0 ± 7.1 to 4.0 ± 2.5 kPa in the ex vivo kidneys (R2 = 0.99, N = 8 each). Correspondingly, the tissues transformed from completely intact to completely fractionated as examined via histology. A good correlation existed between the lesions’ Young’s modulus and the degree of tissue fractionation as examined with the percentage of remaining structurally intact cell nuclei (R2 = 0.91, N = 8 each). These results indicate that lesions produced by histotripsy can be detected with high sensitivity using shear wave elastography. Because the decrease in the tissue elasticity corresponded well with the morphological and

  13. Imaging feedback of histotripsy treatments using ultrasound shear wave elastography.

    PubMed

    Wang, Tzu-Yin; Hall, Timothy L; Xu, Zhen; Fowlkes, J Brian; Cain, Charles A

    2012-06-01

    Histotripsy is a cavitation-based ultrasound therapy that mechanically fractionates soft solid tissues into fluid-like homogenates. This paper investigates the feasibility of imaging the tissue elasticity change during the histotripsy process as a tool to provide feedback for the treatments. The treatments were performed on agar tissue phantoms and ex vivo kidneys using 3-cycle ultrasound pulses delivered by a 750-kHz therapeutic array at peak negative/positive pressure of 17/108 MPa and a repetition rate of 50 Hz. Lesions with different degrees of damage were created with increasing numbers of therapy pulses from 0 to 2000 pulses per treatment location. The elasticity of the lesions was measured with ultrasound shear wave elastography, in which a quasi-planar shear wave was induced by acoustic radiation force generated by the therapeutic array, and tracked with ultrasound imaging at 3000 frames per second. Based on the shear wave velocity calculated from the sequentially captured frames, the Young's modulus was reconstructed. Results showed that the lesions were more easily identified on the shear wave velocity images than on B-mode images. As the number of therapy pulses increased from 0 to 2000 pulses/location, the Young's modulus decreased exponentially from 22.1 ± 2.7 to 2.1 ± 1.1 kPa in the tissue phantoms (R2 = 0.99, N = 9 each), and from 33.0 ± 7.1 to 4.0 ± 2.5 kPa in the ex vivo kidneys (R2 = 0.99, N = 8 each). Correspondingly, the tissues transformed from completely intact to completely fractionated as examined via histology. A good correlation existed between the lesions' Young's modulus and the degree of tissue fractionation as examined with the percentage of remaining structurally intact cell nuclei (R2 = 0.91, N = 8 each). These results indicate that lesions produced by histotripsy can be detected with high sensitivity using shear wave elastography. Because the decrease in the tissue elasticity corresponded well with the morphological and

  14. Simulation studies on the standing and traveling wave thermoacoustic prime movers

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Skaria, Mathew; Rasheed, K. K. Abdul; Shafi, K. A.; Kasthurirengan, S.; Behera, Upendra

    2014-01-01

    Thermoacoustic systems have been a focus of recent research due to its structural simplicity, high reliability due to absence of moving parts, and can be driven by low grade energy such as fuel, gas, solar energy, waste heat etc. There has been extensive research on both standing wave and traveling wave systems. Towards the development of such systems, simulations can be carried out by several methods such as (a) solving the energy equation, (b) enthalpy flow model, (c) DeltaEC, a free software available from LANL, USA (d) Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) etc. We present here the simulation studies of standing wave and traveling wave thermoacoustic prime movers using CFD and DeltaEC. The CFD analysis is carried out using Fluent 6.3.26, incorporating the necessary boundary conditions with different working fluids at different operating pressures. The results obtained by CFD are compared with those obtained using DeltaEC. Also, the CFD simulation of the thermoacoustically driven refrigerator is presented.

  15. Transfection effect of microbubbles on cells in superposed ultrasound waves and behavior of cavitation bubble.

    PubMed

    Kodama, Tetsuya; Tomita, Yukio; Koshiyama, Ken-Ichiro; Blomley, Martin J K

    2006-06-01

    The combination of ultrasound and ultrasound contrast agents (UCAs) is able to induce transient membrane permeability leading to direct delivery of exogenous molecules into cells. Cavitation bubbles are believed to be involved in the membrane permeability; however, the detailed mechanism is still unknown. In the present study, the effects of ultrasound and the UCAs, Optison on transfection in vitro for different medium heights and the related dynamic behaviors of cavitation bubbles were investigated. Cultured CHO-E cells mixed with reporter genes (luciferase or beta-gal plasmid DNA) and UCAs were exposed to 1 MHz ultrasound in 24-well plates. Ultrasound was applied from the bottom of the well and reflected at the free surface of the medium, resulting in the superposition of ultrasound waves within the well. Cells cultured on the bottom of 24-well plates were located near the first node (displacement node) of the incident ultrasound downstream. Transfection activity was a function determined with the height of the medium (wave traveling distance), as well as the concentration of UCAs and the exposure time was also determined with the concentration of UCAs and the exposure duration. Survival fraction was determined by MTT assay, also changes with these values in the reverse pattern compared with luciferase activity. With shallow medium height, high transfection efficacy and high survival fraction were obtained at a low concentration of UCAs. In addition, capillary waves and subsequent atomized particles became significant as the medium height decreased. These phenomena suggested cavitation bubbles were being generated in the medium. To determine the effect of UCAs on bubble generation, we repeated the experiments using crushed heat-treated Optison solution instead of the standard microbubble preparation. The transfection ratio and survival fraction showed no additional benefit when ultrasound was used. These results suggested that cavitation bubbles created by the

  16. Bifurcations and stability of standing waves in the nonlinear Schrödinger equation on the tadpole graph

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Noja, Diego; Pelinovsky, Dmitry; Shaikhova, Gaukhar

    2015-07-01

    We develop a detailed analysis of edge bifurcations of standing waves in the nonlinear Schrödinger (NLS) equation on a tadpole graph (a ring attached to a semi-infinite line subject to the Kirchhoff boundary conditions at the junction). It is shown in the recent work [7] by using explicit Jacobi elliptic functions that the cubic NLS equation on a tadpole graph admits a rich structure of standing waves. Among these, there are different branches of localized waves bifurcating from the edge of the essential spectrum of an associated Schrödinger operator. We show by using a modified Lyapunov-Schmidt reduction method that the bifurcation of localized standing waves occurs for every positive power nonlinearity. We distinguish a primary branch of never vanishing standing waves bifurcating from the trivial solution and an infinite sequence of higher branches with oscillating behavior in the ring. The higher branches bifurcate from the branches of degenerate standing waves with vanishing tail outside the ring. Moreover, we analyze stability of bifurcating standing waves. Namely, we show that the primary branch is composed by orbitally stable standing waves for subcritical power nonlinearities, while all nontrivial higher branches are linearly unstable near the bifurcation point. The stability character of the degenerate branches remains inconclusive at the analytical level, whereas heuristic arguments based on analysis of embedded eigenvalues of negative Krein signatures support the conjecture of their linear instability at least near the bifurcation point. Numerical results for the cubic NLS equation show that this conjecture is valid and that the degenerate branches become spectrally stable far away from the bifurcation point.

  17. 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.

  18. Ultrasound wave propagation in tissue and scattering from microbubbles for echo particle image velocimetry technique.

    PubMed

    Mukdadi, Osama; Shandas, Robin

    2004-01-01

    Nonlinear wave propagation in tissue can be employed for tissue harmonic imaging, ultrasound surgery, and more effective tissue ablation for high intensity focused ultrasound (HIFU). Wave propagation in soft tissue and scattering from microbubbles (ultrasound contrast agents) are modeled to improve detectability, signal-to-noise ratio, and contrast harmonic imaging used for echo particle image velocimetry (Echo-PIV) technique. The wave motion in nonlinear material (tissue) is studied using KZK-type parabolic evolution equation. This model considers ultrasound beam diffraction, attenuation, and tissue nonlinearity. Time-domain numerical model is based on that originally developed by Lee and Hamilton [J. Acoust. Soc. Am 97:906-917 (1995)] for axi-symmetric acoustic field. The initial acoustic waveform emitted from the transducer is assumed to be a broadband wave modulated by Gaussian envelope. Scattering from microbubbles seeded in the blood stream is characterized. Hence, we compute the pressure field impinges the wall of a coated microbubble; the dynamics of oscillating microbubble can be modeled using Rayleigh-Plesset-type equation. Here, the continuity and the radial-momentum equation of encapsulated microbubbles are used to account for the lipid layer surrounding the microbubble. Numerical results show the effects of tissue and microbubble nonlinearities on the propagating pressure wave field. These nonlinearities have a strong influence on the waveform distortion and harmonic generation of the propagating and scattering waves. Results also show that microbubbles have stronger nonlinearity than tissue, and thus improves S/N ratio. These theoretical predictions of wave phenomena provide further understanding of biomedical imaging technique and provide better system design.

  19. [Polymeric drug carriers activated by ultrasounds energy].

    PubMed

    Kik, Krzysztof; Lwow, Felicja; Szmigiero, Leszek

    2007-01-01

    In the last two decades an extensive research on the employment of ultrasounds in anticancer therapy has been noticed. So far ultrasounds have been widely used in medicine for diagnostic purposes (ultrasonography), but their great therapeutic potential and the development of polymer based antineoplastic drug carriers have persuaded many investigators to start research on the employment of ultrasounds in anticancer therapy. A new therapeutic concept based on the controlled drug's molecules release from their transporting polymer carriers has been proposed. Cavitation, a phenomenon characteristic for the action of ultrasounds, is used to destroy polymeric drug carriers and for drug release in target sites. The sonodynamic therapy (SDT) which utilizes ultrasonic waves for "acoustic drug activation" leading to the enhancement of cytotoxic activity of some drugs has also been developed. Furthermore, a long standing research on ultrasounds resulted in a new concept based on hyperthermia. This method of cancer treatment does not require any chemotherapeutic agent to be applied.

  20. Measurement of shear-wave velocity by ultrasound critical-angle reflectometry (UCR).

    PubMed

    Mehta, S; Antich, P

    1997-01-01

    There exists a growing body of research that relates the measurement of pressure-wave velocity in bone to different physiological conditions and treatment modalities. The shear-wave velocity has been less studied, although it is necessary for a more complete understanding of the mechanical properties of bone. Ultrasound critical-angle reflectometry (UCR) is a noninvasive and nondestructive technique previously used to measure pressure-wave velocities both in vitro and in vivo. This note describes its application to the measurement of shear-wave velocity in bone, whether directly accessible or covered by soft tissue.

  1. Measurement of shear-wave velocity by ultrasound critical-angle reflectometry (UCR)

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Mehta, S.; Antich, P.; Blomqvist, C. G. (Principal Investigator)

    1997-01-01

    There exists a growing body of research that relates the measurement of pressure-wave velocity in bone to different physiological conditions and treatment modalities. The shear-wave velocity has been less studied, although it is necessary for a more complete understanding of the mechanical properties of bone. Ultrasound critical-angle reflectometry (UCR) is a noninvasive and nondestructive technique previously used to measure pressure-wave velocities both in vitro and in vivo. This note describes its application to the measurement of shear-wave velocity in bone, whether directly accessible or covered by soft tissue.

  2. Stress wave propagation on standing trees. Part 2, Formation of 3D stress wave contour maps.

    Treesearch

    Juan Su; Houjiang Zhang; Xiping Wang

    2009-01-01

    Nondestructive evaluation (NDE) of wood quality in standing trees is an important procedure in the forest operational value chain worldwide. The goal of this paper is to investigate how a stress wave travel in a tree stem as it is introduced into the tree through a mechanical impact. Experimental stress wave data was obtained on freshly cut red pine logs in the...

  3. Validity of measurement of shear modulus by ultrasound shear wave elastography in human pennate muscle.

    PubMed

    Miyamoto, Naokazu; Hirata, Kosuke; Kanehisa, Hiroaki; Yoshitake, Yasuhide

    2015-01-01

    Ultrasound shear wave elastography is becoming a valuable tool for measuring mechanical properties of individual muscles. Since ultrasound shear wave elastography measures shear modulus along the principal axis of the probe (i.e., along the transverse axis of the imaging plane), the measured shear modulus most accurately represents the mechanical property of the muscle along the fascicle direction when the probe's principal axis is parallel to the fascicle direction in the plane of the ultrasound image. However, it is unclear how the measured shear modulus is affected by the probe angle relative to the fascicle direction in the same plane. The purpose of the present study was therefore to examine whether the angle between the principal axis of the probe and the fascicle direction in the same plane affects the measured shear modulus. Shear modulus in seven specially-designed tissue-mimicking phantoms, and in eleven human in-vivo biceps brachii and medial gastrocnemius were determined by using ultrasound shear wave elastography. The probe was positioned parallel or 20° obliquely to the fascicle across the B-mode images. The reproducibility of shear modulus measurements was high for both parallel and oblique conditions. Although there was a significant effect of the probe angle relative to the fascicle on the shear modulus in human experiment, the magnitude was negligibly small. These findings indicate that the ultrasound shear wave elastography is a valid tool for evaluating the mechanical property of pennate muscles along the fascicle direction.

  4. Quantitative shear wave ultrasound elastography: initial experience in solid breast masses

    PubMed Central

    2010-01-01

    Introduction Shear wave elastography is a new method of obtaining quantitative tissue elasticity data during breast ultrasound examinations. The aims of this study were (1) to determine the reproducibility of shear wave elastography (2) to correlate the elasticity values of a series of solid breast masses with histological findings and (3) to compare shear wave elastography with greyscale ultrasound for benign/malignant classification. Methods Using the Aixplorer® ultrasound system (SuperSonic Imagine, Aix en Provence, France), 53 solid breast lesions were identified in 52 consecutive patients. Two orthogonal elastography images were obtained of each lesion. Observers noted the mean elasticity values in regions of interest (ROI) placed over the stiffest areas on the two elastography images and a mean value was calculated for each lesion. A sub-set of 15 patients had two elastography images obtained by an additional operator. Reproducibility of observations was assessed between (1) two observers analysing the same pair of images and (2) findings from two pairs of images of the same lesion taken by two different operators. All lesions were subjected to percutaneous biopsy. Elastography measurements were correlated with histology results. After preliminary experience with 10 patients a mean elasticity cut off value of 50 kilopascals (kPa) was selected for benign/malignant differentiation. Greyscale images were classified according to the American College of Radiology (ACR) Breast Imaging Reporting and Data System (BI-RADS). BI-RADS categories 1-3 were taken as benign while BI-RADS categories 4 and 5 were classified as malignant. Results Twenty-three benign lesions and 30 cancers were diagnosed on histology. Measurement of mean elasticity yielded an intraclass correlation coefficient of 0.99 for two observers assessing the same pairs of elastography images. Analysis of images taken by two independent operators gave an intraclass correlation coefficient of 0.80. Shear

  5. Quantitative shear wave ultrasound elastography: initial experience in solid breast masses.

    PubMed

    Evans, Andrew; Whelehan, Patsy; Thomson, Kim; McLean, Denis; Brauer, Katrin; Purdie, Colin; Jordan, Lee; Baker, Lee; Thompson, Alastair

    2010-01-01

    Shear wave elastography is a new method of obtaining quantitative tissue elasticity data during breast ultrasound examinations. The aims of this study were (1) to determine the reproducibility of shear wave elastography (2) to correlate the elasticity values of a series of solid breast masses with histological findings and (3) to compare shear wave elastography with greyscale ultrasound for benign/malignant classification. Using the Aixplorer® ultrasound system (SuperSonic Imagine, Aix en Provence, France), 53 solid breast lesions were identified in 52 consecutive patients. Two orthogonal elastography images were obtained of each lesion. Observers noted the mean elasticity values in regions of interest (ROI) placed over the stiffest areas on the two elastography images and a mean value was calculated for each lesion. A sub-set of 15 patients had two elastography images obtained by an additional operator. Reproducibility of observations was assessed between (1) two observers analysing the same pair of images and (2) findings from two pairs of images of the same lesion taken by two different operators. All lesions were subjected to percutaneous biopsy. Elastography measurements were correlated with histology results. After preliminary experience with 10 patients a mean elasticity cut off value of 50 kilopascals (kPa) was selected for benign/malignant differentiation. Greyscale images were classified according to the American College of Radiology (ACR) Breast Imaging Reporting and Data System (BI-RADS). BI-RADS categories 1-3 were taken as benign while BI-RADS categories 4 and 5 were classified as malignant. Twenty-three benign lesions and 30 cancers were diagnosed on histology. Measurement of mean elasticity yielded an intraclass correlation coefficient of 0.99 for two observers assessing the same pairs of elastography images. Analysis of images taken by two independent operators gave an intraclass correlation coefficient of 0.80. Shear wave elastography versus

  6. Duplex ultrasound

    MedlinePlus

    Vascular ultrasound; Peripheral vascular ultrasound ... A duplex ultrasound combines: Traditional ultrasound: This uses sound waves that bounce off blood vessels to create pictures. Doppler ultrasound: This ...

  7. Generation of uniform large-area very high frequency plasmas by launching two specific standing waves simultaneously

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

    Chen, Hsin-Liang, E-mail: hlchen@iner.gov.tw; Tu, Yen-Cheng; Hsieh, Cheng-Chang

    2014-09-14

    With the characteristics of higher electron density and lower ion bombardment energy, large-area VHF (very high frequency) plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition has become an essential manufacturing equipment to improve the production throughput and efficiency of thin film silicon solar cell. However, the combination of high frequency and large electrodes leads to the so-called standing wave effect causing a serious problem for the deposition uniformity of silicon thin film. In order to address this issue, a technique based on the idea of simultaneously launching two standing waves that possess similar amplitudes and are out of phase by 90° in timemore » and space is proposed in this study. A linear plasma reactor with discharge length of 54 cm is tested with two different frequencies including 60 and 80 MHz. The experimental results show that the proposed technique could effectively improve the non-uniformity of VHF plasmas from >±60% when only one standing wave is applied to <±10% once two specific standing waves are launched at the same time. Moreover, in terms of the reactor configuration adopted in this study, in which the standing wave effect along the much shorter dimension can be ignored, the proposed technique is applicable to different frequencies without the need to alter the number and arrangement of power feeding points.« less

  8. Continuous-wave ultrasound reflectometry for surface roughness imaging applications

    PubMed Central

    Kinnick, R. R.; Greenleaf, J. F.; Fatemi, M.

    2009-01-01

    Background Measurement of surface roughness irregularities that result from various sources such as manufacturing processes, surface damage, and corrosion, is an important indicator of product quality for many nondestructive testing (NDT) industries. Many techniques exist, however because of their qualitative, time-consuming and direct-contact modes, it is of some importance to work out new experimental methods and efficient tools for quantitative estimation of surface roughness. Objective and Method Here we present continuous-wave ultrasound reflectometry (CWUR) as a novel nondestructive modality for imaging and measuring surface roughness in a non-contact mode. In CWUR, voltage variations due to phase shifts in the reflected ultrasound waves are recorded and processed to form an image of surface roughness. Results An acrylic test block with surface irregularities ranging from 4.22 μm to 19.05 μm as measured by a coordinate measuring machine (CMM), is scanned by an ultrasound transducer having a diameter of 45 mm, a focal distance of 70 mm, and a central frequency of 3 MHz. It is shown that CWUR technique gives very good agreement with the results obtained through CMM inasmuch as the maximum average percent error is around 11.5%. Conclusion Images obtained here demonstrate that CWUR may be used as a powerful noncontact and quantitative tool for nondestructive inspection and imaging of surface irregularities at the micron-size level with an average error of less than 11.5%. PMID:18664399

  9. Propogation loss with frequency of ultrasound guided waves in a composite metal-honeycomb structure

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Saxena, Indu F.; Baid, Harsh K.; Guzman, Narciso; Kempen, Lothar U.; Mal, Ajit

    2009-05-01

    Non-destructive testing of critical structural components is time consuming, while necessary for maintaining safe operation. Large aerospace structures, such as the vertical stabilizers of aircraft undergo inspection at regular intervals for damage diagnostics. However, conventional techniques for damage detection and identification before repair can be scheduled are conducted off-line and therefore can take weeks. The use of guided ultrasound waves is being investigated to expedite damage detection in composites. We measure the frequency dependent loss of ultrasonic guided waves for a structure comprising a boron-nitride composite skin sandwiching an aluminum honeycomb. A wide range of ultrasound frequencies propagate as measured using PZTs, with the lowest attenuation observed about 200-250 kHz. These measurements are confirmed using optical fiber Bragg grating arrays used as ultrasound transducers.

  10. 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

  11. Exchange anisotropy pinning of a standing spin-wave mode

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Magaraggia, R.; Kennewell, K.; Kostylev, M.; Stamps, R. L.; Ali, M.; Greig, D.; Hickey, B. J.; Marrows, C. H.

    2011-02-01

    Standing spin waves in a thin film are used as sensitive probes of interface pinning induced by an antiferromagnet through exchange anisotropy. Using coplanar waveguide ferromagnetic resonance, pinning of the lowest energy spin-wave thickness mode in Ni80Fe20/Ir25Mn75 exchange-biased bilayers was studied for a range of Ir25Mn75 thicknesses. We show that pinning of the standing mode can be used to amplify, relative to the fundamental resonance, frequency shifts associated with exchange bias. The shifts provide a unique “fingerprint” of the exchange bias and can be interpreted in terms of an effective ferromagnetic film thickness and ferromagnet-antiferromagnet interface anisotropy. Thermal effects are studied for ultrathin antiferromagnetic Ir25Mn75 thicknesses, and the onset of bias is correlated with changes in the pinning fields. The pinning strength magnitude is found to grow with cooling of the sample, while the effective ferromagnetic film thickness simultaneously decreases. These results suggest that exchange bias involves some deformation of magnetic order in the interface region.

  12. Standing wave design and experimental validation of a tandem simulated moving bed process for insulin purification.

    PubMed

    Xie, Yi; Mun, Sungyong; Kim, Jinhyun; Wang, Nien-Hwa Linda

    2002-01-01

    A tandem simulated moving bed (SMB) process for insulin purification has been proposed and validated experimentally. The mixture to be separated consists of insulin, high molecular weight proteins, and zinc chloride. A systematic approach based on the standing wave design, rate model simulations, and experiments was used to develop this multicomponent separation process. The standing wave design was applied to specify the SMB operating conditions of a lab-scale unit with 10 columns. The design was validated with rate model simulations prior to experiments. The experimental results show 99.9% purity and 99% yield, which closely agree with the model predictions and the standing wave design targets. The agreement proves that the standing wave design can ensure high purity and high yield for the tandem SMB process. Compared to a conventional batch SEC process, the tandem SMB has 10% higher yield, 400% higher throughput, and 72% lower eluant consumption. In contrast, a design that ignores the effects of mass transfer and nonideal flow cannot meet the purity requirement and gives less than 96% yield.

  13. Axial and transverse acoustic radiation forces on a fluid sphere placed arbitrarily in Bessel beam standing wave tweezers

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

    Mitri, F.G., E-mail: mitri@chevron.com

    The axial and transverse radiation forces on a fluid sphere placed arbitrarily in the acoustical field of Bessel beams of standing waves are evaluated. The three-dimensional components of the time-averaged force are expressed in terms of the beam-shape coefficients of the incident field and the scattering coefficients of the fluid sphere using a partial-wave expansion (PWE) method. Examples are chosen for which the standing wave field is composed of either a zero-order (non-vortex) Bessel beam, or a first-order Bessel vortex beam. It is shown here, that both transverse and axial forces can push or pull the fluid sphere to anmore » equilibrium position depending on the chosen size parameter ka (where k is the wave-number and a the sphere’s radius). The corresponding results are of particular importance in biophysical applications for the design of lab-on-chip devices operating with Bessel beams standing wave tweezers. Moreover, potential investigations in acoustic levitation and related applications in particle rotation in a vortex beam may benefit from the results of this study. -- Highlights: •The axial and transverse forces on a fluid sphere in acoustical Bessel beams tweezers are evaluated. •The attraction or repulsion to an equilibrium position in the standing wave field is examined. •Potential applications are in particle manipulation using standing waves.« less

  14. Comparison Between Neck and Shoulder Stiffness Determined by Shear Wave Ultrasound Elastography and a Muscle Hardness Meter.

    PubMed

    Akagi, Ryota; Kusama, Saki

    2015-08-01

    The goals of this study were to compare neck and shoulder stiffness values determined by shear wave ultrasound elastography with those obtained with a muscle hardness meter and to verify the correspondence between objective and subjective stiffness in the neck and shoulder. Twenty-four young men and women participated in the study. Their neck and shoulder stiffness was determined at six sites. Before the start of the measurements, patients rated their present subjective symptoms of neck and shoulder stiffness on a 6-point verbal scale. At all measurement sites, the correlation coefficients between the values of muscle hardness indices determined by the muscle hardness meter and shear wave ultrasound elastography were not significant. Furthermore, individuals' subjective neck and shoulder stiffness did not correspond to their objective symptoms. These results suggest that the use of shear wave ultrasound elastography is essential to more precisely assess neck and shoulder stiffness. Copyright © 2015 World Federation for Ultrasound in Medicine & Biology. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  15. 10 GHz Standing-Wave Coplanar Stripline on LiNbO3 Crystal for Radio to Optical-Wave Conversion

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Darwis, F.; Wijayanto, Y. N.; Setiawan, A.; Mahmudin, D.; Rahman, A. N.; Daud, P.

    2018-04-01

    Recently, X-band radar systems are used widely for surveillance and navigation applications. Especially in archipelago or maritime country, the surveillance/navigation radar systems are required to monitoring critical areas and managing marine traffic. Accurate detection and fast analysis should be improved furthermore to provide security and safety condition. Therefore, several radar systems should be installed in many places to coverage the critical areas within radar networks. The radar network can be connected using optical fibers since it has extremely low propagation loss with optical-wave to carry-out the radar-wave. One important component in the scenario is a radio to optical-wave conversion component. In this paper, we report a 10 GHz radio to optical-wave conversion component using standing-wave coplanar stripline (CPS) on LiNbO3 optical crystal as the substrate. The standing-wave CPS electrodes with narrow slot are arranged in an array structure. An optical waveguide is located close to the narrow slot. The CPS electrodes were analysed using electromagnetic analysis software for 10 GHz operational frequency. Responses for slot width and electrode length variation are reported. As results, return loss of -14.580 dB and -19.517 dB are obtained for single and array CPS electrodes respectively. Optimization of the designed radio to optical-wave conversion devices was also done.

  16. Effect of Transport Coefficients on Excitation of Flare-induced Standing Slow-mode Waves in Coronal Loops

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Wang, Tongjiang; Ofman, Leon; Sun, Xudong; Solanki, Sami K.; Davila, Joseph M.

    2018-06-01

    Standing slow-mode waves have been recently observed in flaring loops by the Atmospheric Imaging Assembly of the Solar Dynamics Observatory. By means of the coronal seismology technique, transport coefficients in hot (∼10 MK) plasma were determined by Wang et al., revealing that thermal conductivity is nearly suppressed and compressive viscosity is enhanced by more than an order of magnitude. In this study, we use 1D nonlinear MHD simulations to validate the predicted results from the linear theory and investigate the standing slow-mode wave excitation mechanism. We first explore the wave trigger based on the magnetic field extrapolation and flare emission features. Using a flow pulse driven at one footpoint, we simulate the wave excitation in two types of loop models: Model 1 with the classical transport coefficients and Model 2 with the seismology-determined transport coefficients. We find that Model 2 can form the standing wave pattern (within about one period) from initial propagating disturbances much faster than Model 1, in better agreement with the observations. Simulations of the harmonic waves and the Fourier decomposition analysis show that the scaling law between damping time (τ) and wave period (P) follows τ ∝ P 2 in Model 2, while τ ∝ P in Model 1. This indicates that the largely enhanced viscosity efficiently increases the dissipation of higher harmonic components, favoring the quick formation of the fundamental standing mode. Our study suggests that observational constraints on the transport coefficients are important in understanding both the wave excitation and damping mechanisms.

  17. Particle scavenging in a cylindrical ultrasonic standing wave field using levitated drops

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Merrell, Tyler; Saylor, J. R.

    2015-11-01

    A cylindrical ultrasonic standing wave field was generated in a tube containing a flow of particles and fog. Both the particles and fog drops were concentrated in the nodes of the standing wave field where they combined and then grew large enough to fall out of the system. In this way particles were scavenged from the system, cleaning the air. While this approach has been attempted using a standing wave field established between disc-shaped transducers, a cylindrical resonator has not been used for this purpose heretofore. The resonator was constructed by bolting three Langevin transducers to an aluminum tube. The benefit of the cylindrical geometry is that the acoustic energy is focused. Furthermore, the residence time of the particle in the field can be increased by increasing the length of the resonator. An additional benefit of this approach is that tubes located downstream of the resonator were acoustically excited, acting as passive resonators that enhanced the scavenging process. The performance of this system on scavenging particles is presented as a function of particle diameter and volumetric flow rate. It is noted that, when operated without particles, the setup can be used to remove drops and shows promise for liquid aerosol retention from systems where these losses can be financially disadvantageous and/or hazardous.

  18. First Imaging Observation of Standing Slow Wave in Coronal Fan Loops

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

    Pant, V.; Tiwari, A.; Banerjee, D.

    2017-09-20

    We observe intensity oscillations along coronal fan loops associated with the active region AR 11428. The intensity oscillations were triggered by blast waves that were generated due to X-class flares in the distant active region AR 11429. To characterize the nature of oscillations, we created time–distance maps along the fan loops and noted that the intensity oscillations at two ends of the loops were out of phase. As we move along the fan loop, the amplitude of the oscillations first decreased and then increased. The out-of-phase nature together with the amplitude variation along the loop implies that these oscillations aremore » very likely to be standing waves. The period of the oscillations is estimated to be ∼27 minutes, damping time to be ∼45 minutes, and phase velocity projected in the plane of sky to be ∼65–83 km s{sup −1}. The projected phase speeds were in the range of the acoustic speed of coronal plasma at about 0.6 MK, which further indicates that these are slow waves. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first report on the existence of the standing slow waves in non-flaring fan loops.« less

  19. Illustrations and Supporting Texts for Sound Standing Waves of Air Columns in Pipes in Introductory Physics Textbooks

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Zeng, Liang; Smith, Chris; Poelzer, G. Herold; Rodriguez, Jennifer; Corpuz, Edgar; Yanev, George

    2014-01-01

    In our pilot studies, we found that many introductory physics textbook illustrations with supporting text for sound standing waves of air columns in open-open, open-closed, and closed-closed pipes inhibit student understanding of sound standing wave phenomena due to student misunderstanding of how air molecules move within these pipes. Based on…

  20. Geometry of a naked singularity created by standing waves near a Schwarzschild horizon, and its application to the binary black hole problem

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

    Mandel, Ilya

    The most promising way to compute the gravitational waves emitted by binary black holes (BBHs) in their last dozen orbits, where post-Newtonian techniques fail, is a quasistationary approximation introduced by Detweiler and being pursued by Price and others. In this approximation the outgoing gravitational waves at infinity and downgoing gravitational waves at the holes' horizons are replaced by standing waves so as to guarantee that the spacetime has a helical Killing vector field. Because the horizon generators will not, in general, be tidally locked to the holes' orbital motion, the standing waves will destroy the horizons, converting the black holesmore » into naked singularities that resemble black holes down to near the horizon radius. This paper uses a spherically symmetric, scalar-field model problem to explore in detail the following BBH issues: (i) The destruction of a horizon by the standing waves. (ii) The accuracy with which the resulting naked singularity resembles a black hole. (iii) The conversion of the standing-wave spacetime (with a destroyed horizon) into a spacetime with downgoing waves by the addition of a 'radiation-reaction field'. (iv) The accuracy with which the resulting downgoing waves agree with the downgoing waves of a true black-hole spacetime (with horizon). The model problem used to study these issues consists of a Schwarzschild black hole endowed with spherical standing waves of a scalar field, whose wave frequency and near-horizon energy density are chosen to match those of the standing gravitational waves of the BBH quasistationary approximation. It is found that the spacetime metric of the singular, standing-wave spacetime, and its radiation-reaction-field-constructed downgoing waves are quite close to those for a Schwarzschild black hole with downgoing waves--sufficiently close to make the BBH quasistationary approximation look promising for non-tidally-locked black holes.« less

  1. Acoustic radiation force on a rigid elliptical cylinder in plane (quasi)standing waves

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Mitri, F. G.

    2015-12-01

    The acoustic radiation force on a 2D elliptical (non-circular) cylinder centered on the axis of wave propagation of plane quasi-standing and standing waves is derived, based on the partial-wave series expansion (PWSE) method in cylindrical coordinates. A non-dimensional acoustic radiation force function, which is the radiation force per unit length, per characteristic energy density and per unit cross-sectional surface of the ellipse, is defined in terms of the scattering coefficients that are determined by applying the Neumann boundary condition for an immovable surface. A system of linear equations involving a single numerical integration procedure is solved by matrix inversion. Numerical simulations showing the transition from the quasi-standing to the (equi-amplitude) standing wave behaviour are performed with particular emphasis on the aspect ratio a/b, where a and b are the ellipse semi-axes, as well as the dimensionless size parameter kb (where k is the wavenumber), without the restriction to a particular range of frequencies. It is found that at high kb values > 1, the radiation force per length with broadside incidence is larger, whereas the opposite situation occurs in the long-wavelength limit (i.e., kb < 1). The results are particularly relevant in acoustic levitation of elliptical cylinders, the acoustic stabilization of liquid columns in a host medium, acousto-fluidics devices, and other particle dynamics applications to name a few. Moreover, the formalism presented here may be effectively applied to compute the acoustic radiation force on other 2D surfaces of arbitrary shape such as super-ellipses, Chebyshev cylindrical particles, or other non-circular geometries.

  2. Acoustic radiation force on a rigid elliptical cylinder in plane (quasi)standing waves

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

    Mitri, F. G., E-mail: F.G.Mitri@ieee.org

    2015-12-07

    The acoustic radiation force on a 2D elliptical (non-circular) cylinder centered on the axis of wave propagation of plane quasi-standing and standing waves is derived, based on the partial-wave series expansion (PWSE) method in cylindrical coordinates. A non-dimensional acoustic radiation force function, which is the radiation force per unit length, per characteristic energy density and per unit cross-sectional surface of the ellipse, is defined in terms of the scattering coefficients that are determined by applying the Neumann boundary condition for an immovable surface. A system of linear equations involving a single numerical integration procedure is solved by matrix inversion. Numericalmore » simulations showing the transition from the quasi-standing to the (equi-amplitude) standing wave behaviour are performed with particular emphasis on the aspect ratio a/b, where a and b are the ellipse semi-axes, as well as the dimensionless size parameter kb (where k is the wavenumber), without the restriction to a particular range of frequencies. It is found that at high kb values > 1, the radiation force per length with broadside incidence is larger, whereas the opposite situation occurs in the long-wavelength limit (i.e., kb < 1). The results are particularly relevant in acoustic levitation of elliptical cylinders, the acoustic stabilization of liquid columns in a host medium, acousto-fluidics devices, and other particle dynamics applications to name a few. Moreover, the formalism presented here may be effectively applied to compute the acoustic radiation force on other 2D surfaces of arbitrary shape such as super-ellipses, Chebyshev cylindrical particles, or other non-circular geometries.« less

  3. Ultrasound

    MedlinePlus

    Ultrasound is a type of imaging. It uses high-frequency sound waves to look at organs and ... liver, and other organs. During pregnancy, doctors use ultrasound to view the fetus. Unlike x-rays, ultrasound ...

  4. Towards ultrasound enhanced mid-IR spectroscopy for sensing bacteria in aqueous solutions

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Freitag, Stephan; Schwaighofer, Andreas; Radel, Stefan; Lendl, Bernhard

    2018-02-01

    We employ attenuated total reflection (ATR) mid-IR technology for sensing of bacteria present in aqueous solution. In ATR spectroscopy, the penetration depth of the evanescent field extends to approx. 1-2 micrometers into the aqueous solution depending on the refractive index of the employed materials (Si, ZnS, Ge) used as attenuated total reflection (ATR) element and the geometry of the optical set-up. Due to the flow profile in the microfluidic cell, an additional force is required to bring particles into the evanescent field for measurement. For that purpose, we employ standing ultrasound waves produced between a sound source vibrating at approx. 2 MHz and the ATR crystal acting as a reflector. This ultrasonic trap is integrated into the microfluidic channel. As aqueous solution is passing through that acoustofluidic cell, particles are concentrated in the nodal plane of the standing ultrasound wave, forming particle conglomerates. By selecting appropriate experimental conditions, it is then possible to press bacteria against the crystal surface for interaction with the evanescent wave (as well as to keep them away from the ATR element). Our current work aims at establishing a custommade US-ATR-IR setup for signal enhancement of bacteria (e.g. E. coli, P. aeruginosa as well as Salmonella) in drinking water.

  5. Ultrasound Technologies for the Spatial Patterning of Cells and Extracellular Matrix Proteins and the Vascularization of Engineered Tissue

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Garvin, Kelley A.

    Technological advancements in the field of tissue engineering could save the lives of thousands of organ transplant patients who die each year while waiting for donor organs. Currently, two of the primary challenges preventing tissue engineers from developing functional replacement tissues and organs are the need to recreate complex cell and extracellular microenvironments and to vascularize the tissue to maintain cell viability and function. Ultrasound is a form of mechanical energy that can noninvasively and nondestructively interact with tissues at the cell and protein level. In this thesis, novel ultrasound-based technologies were developed for the spatial patterning of cells and extracellular matrix proteins and the vascularization of three-dimensional engineered tissue constructs. Acoustic radiation forces associated with ultrasound standing wave fields were utilized to noninvasively control the spatial organization of cells and cell-bound extracellular matrix proteins within collagen-based engineered tissue. Additionally, ultrasound induced thermal mechanisms were exploited to site-specifically pattern various extracellular matrix collagen microstructures within a single engineered tissue construct. Finally, ultrasound standing wave field technology was used to promote the rapid and extensive vascularization of three-dimensional tissue constructs. As such, the ultrasound technologies developed in these studies have the potential to provide the field of tissue engineering with novel strategies to spatially pattern cells and extracellular matrix components and to vascularize engineered tissue, and thus, could advance the fabrication of functional replacement tissues and organs in the field of tissue engineering.

  6. Stability of standing spin wave in permalloy thin film studied by anisotropic magnetoresistance effect

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

    Yamanoi, K.; Yokotani, Y.; Cui, X.

    2015-12-21

    We have investigated the stability for the resonant spin precession under the strong microwave magnetic field by a specially developed detection method using the anisotropic magnetoresistance effect. The electrically separated excitation and detection circuits enable us to investigate the influence of the heating effect and the nonuniform spin dynamics independently. The large detecting current is found to induce the field shift of the resonant spectra because of the Joule heating. From the microwave power dependence, we found that the linear response regime for the standing spin wave is larger than that for the ferromagnetic resonance. This robust characteristic of themore » standing spin wave is an important advantage for the high power operation of the spin-wave device.« less

  7. [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

  8. Self-oscillation of standing spin wave in ring resonator with proportional-integral-derivative control

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

    Peng, B.; Urazuka, Y.; Chen, H.

    2014-05-07

    We report on numerical analysis on self-oscillation of standing spin wave excited in a nanostructured active ring resonator, consists of a ferromagnetic nanowire with perpendicular anisotropy. The confined resonant modes are along the nanowire length. A positive feedback with proportional-integral-derivative gain control was adopted in the active ring. Stable excitation of the 1st order standing spin wave has been demonstrated with micromagnetic simulations, taking into account the thermal effect with a random field model. The stationary standing spin wave with a pre-determined set variable of precession amplitude was attained within 20 ns by optimizing the proportional-integral-derivative gain control parameters. The resultmore » indicates that a monochromatic oscillation frequency f{sub osc} is extracted from the initial thermal fluctuation state and selectively amplified with the positive feedback loop. The obtained f{sub osc} value of 5.22 GHz practically agrees with the theoretical prediction from dispersion relation of the magneto static forward volume wave. It was also confirmed that the f{sub osc} change due to the temperature rise can be compensated with an external perpendicular bias field H{sub b}. The observed quick compensation time with an order of nano second suggests the fast operation speed in the practical device application.« less

  9. Illustrations and supporting texts for sound standing waves of air columns in pipes in introductory physics textbooks

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Zeng, Liang; Smith, Chris; Poelzer, G. Herold; Rodriguez, Jennifer; Corpuz, Edgar; Yanev, George

    2014-12-01

    In our pilot studies, we found that many introductory physics textbook illustrations with supporting text for sound standing waves of air columns in open-open, open-closed, and closed-closed pipes inhibit student understanding of sound standing wave phenomena due to student misunderstanding of how air molecules move within these pipes. Based on the construct of meaningful learning from cognitive psychology and semiotics, a quasiexperimental study was conducted to investigate the comparative effectiveness of two alternative approaches to student understanding: a traditional textbook illustration approach versus a newly designed air molecule motion illustration approach. Thirty volunteer students from introductory physics classes were randomly assigned to two groups of 15 each. Both groups were administered a presurvey. Then, group A read the air molecule motion illustration handout, and group B read a traditional textbook illustration handout; both groups were administered postsurveys. Subsequently, the procedure was reversed: group B read the air molecule motion illustration handout and group A read the traditional textbook illustration handout. This was followed by a second postsurvey along with an exit research questionnaire. The study found that the majority of students experienced meaningful learning and stated that they understood sound standing wave phenomena significantly better using the air molecule motion illustration approach. This finding provides a method for physics education researchers to design illustrations for abstract sound standing wave concepts, for publishers to improve their illustrations with supporting text, and for instructors to facilitate deeper learning in their students on sound standing waves.

  10. Effects of refraction by means flow velocity gradients on the standing wave pattern in three-dimensional, rectangular waveguides

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Hersh, A. S.

    1979-01-01

    The influence of a mean vortical flow on the connection between the standing wave pattern in a rectangular three dimensional waveguide and the corresponding duct axial impedance was determined analytically. The solution was derived using a perturbation scheme valid for low mean flow Mach numbers and plane wave sound frequencies. The results show that deviations of the standing wave pattern due to refraction by the mean flow gradients are small.

  11. 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

  12. 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

  13. Glycine and alanine synthesis from formaldehyde and hydroxylamine in the field of ultrasound waves.

    PubMed

    Sokolskaya, A

    1976-08-01

    High intensity ultrasound waves coupled with other form of energy obviously were initiators of pre-biochemical reactions; these reactions occurred in the water masses of the primordial Earth. Essential biological substances like formaldehyde, ammonia, hydrocyanic acid, and amino acids compounds similar to carbohydrates by their properties were synthesized in the field of ultrasound waves in model experiments. The main partners of these reactions are water and gases of reductional atomosphere: hydrogen, carbon monoxide, methane, nitrogen and argon. Formation of amino acids takes place in aqueous solutions of formaldehyde and hydroxylamine. The sonication yielded alanine and glycine, 2.0 X 10(-7) and 1.8 X 10(-7) molecules per 100 eV respectively.

  14. Lamb wave dispersion ultrasound vibrometry (LDUV) method for quantifying mechanical properties of viscoelastic solids.

    PubMed

    Nenadic, Ivan Z; Urban, Matthew W; Mitchell, Scott A; Greenleaf, James F

    2011-04-07

    Diastolic dysfunction is the inability of the left ventricle to supply sufficient stroke volumes under normal physiological conditions and is often accompanied by stiffening of the left-ventricular myocardium. A noninvasive technique capable of quantifying viscoelasticity of the myocardium would be beneficial in clinical settings. Our group has been investigating the use of shear wave dispersion ultrasound vibrometry (SDUV), a noninvasive ultrasound-based method for quantifying viscoelasticity of soft tissues. The primary motive of this study is the design and testing of viscoelastic materials suitable for validation of the Lamb wave dispersion ultrasound vibrometry (LDUV), an SDUV-based technique for measuring viscoelasticity of tissues with plate-like geometry. We report the results of quantifying viscoelasticity of urethane rubber and gelatin samples using LDUV and an embedded sphere method. The LDUV method was used to excite antisymmetric Lamb waves and measure the dispersion in urethane rubber and gelatin plates. An antisymmetric Lamb wave model was fitted to the wave speed dispersion data to estimate elasticity and viscosity of the materials. A finite element model of a viscoelastic plate submerged in water was used to study the appropriateness of the Lamb wave dispersion equations. An embedded sphere method was used as an independent measurement of the viscoelasticity of the urethane rubber and gelatin. The FEM dispersion data were in excellent agreement with the theoretical predictions. Viscoelasticity of the urethane rubber and gelatin obtained using the LDUV and embedded sphere methods agreed within one standard deviation. LDUV studies on excised porcine myocardium sample were performed to investigate the feasibility of the approach in preparation for open-chest in vivo studies. The results suggest that the LDUV technique can be used to quantify the mechanical properties of soft tissues with a plate-like geometry.

  15. Dynamic behavior of microscale particles controlled by standing bulk acoustic waves

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

    Greenhall, J.; Raeymaekers, B., E-mail: bart.raeymaekers@utah.edu; Guevara Vasquez, F.

    2014-10-06

    We analyze the dynamic behavior of a spherical microparticle submerged in a fluid medium, driven to the node of a standing bulk acoustic wave created by two opposing transducers. We derive the dynamics of the fluid-particle system taking into account the acoustic radiation force and the time-dependent and time-independent drag force acting on the particle. Using this dynamic model, we characterize the transient and steady-state behavior of the fluid-particle system as a function of the particle and fluid properties and the transducer operating parameters. The results show that the settling time and percent overshoot of the particle trajectory are dependentmore » on the ratio of the acoustic radiation force and time-independent damping force. In addition, we show that the particle oscillates around the node of the standing wave with an amplitude that depends on the ratio of the time-dependent drag forces and the particle inertia.« less

  16. Effect of particle-particle interactions on the acoustic radiation force in an ultrasonic standing wave

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Lipkens, Bart; Ilinskii, Yurii A.; Zabolotskaya, Evgenia A.

    2015-10-01

    Ultrasonic standing waves are widely used for separation applications. In MEMS applications, a half wavelength standing wave field is generated perpendicular to a laminar flow. The acoustic radiation force exerted on the particle drives the particle to the center of the MEMS channel, where concentrated particles are harvested. In macro-scale applications, the ultrasonic standing wave spans multiple wavelengths. Examples of such applications are oil/water emulsion splitting [1], and blood/lipid separation [2]. In macro-scale applications, particles are typically trapped in the standing wave, resulting in clumping or coalescence of particles/droplets. Subsequent gravitational settling results in separation of the secondary phase. An often used expression for the radiation force on a particle is that derived by Gorkov [3]. The assumptions are that the particle size is small relative to the wavelength, and therefore, only monopole and dipole scattering contributions are used to calculate the radiation force. This framework seems satisfactory for MEMS scale applications where each particle is treated separately by the standing wave, and concentrations are typically low. In macro-scale applications, particle concentration is high, and particle clumping or droplet coalescence results in particle sizes not necessarily small relative to the wavelength. Ilinskii et al. developed a framework for calculation of the acoustic radiation force valid for any size particle [4]. However, this model does not take into account particle to particle effects, which can become important as particle concentration increases. It is known that an acoustic radiation force on a particle or a droplet is determined by the local field. An acoustic radiation force expression is developed that includes the effect of particle to particle interaction. The case of two neighboring particles is considered. The approach is based on sound scattering by the particles. The acoustic field at the location of

  17. Effect of particle-particle interactions on the acoustic radiation force in an ultrasonic standing wave

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

    Lipkens, Bart, E-mail: blipkens@wne.edu; Ilinskii, Yurii A., E-mail: ilinskii@gmail.com; Zabolotskaya, Evgenia A., E-mail: zheniazabolotskaya@gmail.com

    Ultrasonic standing waves are widely used for separation applications. In MEMS applications, a half wavelength standing wave field is generated perpendicular to a laminar flow. The acoustic radiation force exerted on the particle drives the particle to the center of the MEMS channel, where concentrated particles are harvested. In macro-scale applications, the ultrasonic standing wave spans multiple wavelengths. Examples of such applications are oil/water emulsion splitting [1], and blood/lipid separation [2]. In macro-scale applications, particles are typically trapped in the standing wave, resulting in clumping or coalescence of particles/droplets. Subsequent gravitational settling results in separation of the secondary phase. Anmore » often used expression for the radiation force on a particle is that derived by Gorkov [3]. The assumptions are that the particle size is small relative to the wavelength, and therefore, only monopole and dipole scattering contributions are used to calculate the radiation force. This framework seems satisfactory for MEMS scale applications where each particle is treated separately by the standing wave, and concentrations are typically low. In macro-scale applications, particle concentration is high, and particle clumping or droplet coalescence results in particle sizes not necessarily small relative to the wavelength. Ilinskii et al. developed a framework for calculation of the acoustic radiation force valid for any size particle [4]. However, this model does not take into account particle to particle effects, which can become important as particle concentration increases. It is known that an acoustic radiation force on a particle or a droplet is determined by the local field. An acoustic radiation force expression is developed that includes the effect of particle to particle interaction. The case of two neighboring particles is considered. The approach is based on sound scattering by the particles. The acoustic field at the

  18. Observations of experimental and numerical waveforms of piezoelectric signals generated in bovine cancellous bone by ultrasound waves

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Hosokawa, Atsushi

    2018-07-01

    Experimental and numerical waveforms of piezoelectric signals generated in the bovine cancellous bone by ultrasound waves at 1.0 MHz were observed. The experimental observations were performed using a “piezoelectric cell (PE-cell)”, in which an air-saturated cancellous bone specimen was electrically shielded. The PE-cell was used to receive burst ultrasound waves. The numerical observations were performed using a piezoelectric finite-difference time-domain (PE-FDTD) method, which was an elastic FDTD method with piezoelectric constitutive equations. The cancellous bone model was reconstructed from the three-dimensional X-ray microcomputed tomographic image of the specimen used in the experiments. Both experimental and numerical results showed that the repetitive piezoelectric signals could be generated by the multireflected ultrasound waves within the cancellous bone specimen. Moreover, it was shown that the output piezoelectric signal in the PE-cell could be the overlap of the local signals in the trabecular elements at various depths (or thicknesses) in the cancellous bone specimen.

  19. Controlled tissue emulsification produced by high intensity focused ultrasound shock waves and millisecond boiling

    PubMed Central

    Khokhlova, Tatiana D.; Canney, Michael S.; Khokhlova, Vera A.; Sapozhnikov, Oleg A.; Crum, Lawrence A.; Bailey, Michael R.

    2011-01-01

    In high intensity focused ultrasound (HIFU) applications, tissue may be thermally necrosed by heating, emulsified by cavitation, or, as was recently discovered, emulsified using repetitive millisecond boiling caused by shock wave heating. Here, this last approach was further investigated. Experiments were performed in transparent gels and ex vivo bovine heart tissue using 1, 2, and 3 MHz focused transducers and different pulsing schemes in which the pressure, duty factor, and pulse duration were varied. A previously developed derating procedure to determine in situ shock amplitudes and the time-to-boil was refined. Treatments were monitored using B-mode ultrasound. Both inertial cavitation and boiling were observed during exposures, but emulsification occurred only when shocks and boiling were present. Emulsified lesions without thermal denaturation were produced with shock amplitudes sufficient to induce boiling in less than 20 ms, duty factors of less than 0.02, and pulse lengths shorter than 30 ms. Higher duty factors or longer pulses produced varying degrees of thermal denaturation combined with mechanical emulsification. Larger lesions were obtained using lower ultrasound frequencies. The results show that shock wave heating and millisecond boiling is an effective and reliable way to emulsify tissue while monitoring the treatment with ultrasound. PMID:22088025

  20. Brillouin-Mandelstam spectroscopy of standing spin waves in a ferrite waveguide

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Balinskiy, Michael; Kargar, Fariborz; Chiang, Howard; Balandin, Alexander A.; Khitun, Alexander G.

    2018-05-01

    This article reports results of experimental investigation of the spin wave interference over large distances in the Y3Fe2(FeO4)3 waveguide using Brillouin-Mandelstam spectroscopy. Two coherent spin waves are excited by the micro-antennas fabricated at the edges of the waveguide. The amplitudes of the input spin waves are adjusted to provide approximately the same intensity in the central region of the waveguide. The relative phase between the excited spin waves is controlled by the phase shifter. The change of the local intensity distribution in the standing spin wave is monitored using Brillouin-Mandelstam light scattering spectroscopy. Experimental data demonstrate the oscillation of the scattered light intensity depending on the relative phase of the interfering spin waves. The oscillations of the intensity, tunable via the relative phase shift, are observed as far as 7.5 mm away from the spin-wave generating antennas at room temperature. The obtained results are important for developing techniques for remote control of spin currents, with potential applications in spin-based memory and logic devices.

  1. Highly precise acoustic calibration method of ring-shaped ultrasound transducer array for plane-wave-based ultrasound tomography

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Terada, Takahide; Yamanaka, Kazuhiro; Suzuki, Atsuro; Tsubota, Yushi; Wu, Wenjing; Kawabata, Ken-ichi

    2017-07-01

    Ultrasound computed tomography (USCT) is promising for a non-invasive, painless, operator-independent and quantitative system for breast-cancer screening. Assembly error, production tolerance, and aging-degradation variations of the hardwire components, particularly of plane-wave-based USCT systems, may hamper cost effectiveness, precise imaging, and robust operation. The plane wave is transmitted from a ring-shaped transducer array for receiving the signal at a high signal-to-noise-ratio and fast aperture synthesis. There are four signal-delay components: response delays in the transmitters and receivers and propagation delays depending on the positions of the transducer elements and their directivity. We developed a highly precise calibration method for calibrating these delay components and evaluated it with our prototype plane-wave-based USCT system. Our calibration method was found to be effective in reducing delay errors. Gaps and curves were eliminated from the plane wave, and echo images of wires were sharpened in the entire imaging area.

  2. Fourier Transform Ultrasound Spectroscopy for the determination of wave propagation parameters.

    PubMed

    Pal, Barnana

    2017-01-01

    The reported results for ultrasonic wave attenuation constant (α) in pure water show noticeable inconsistency in magnitude. A "Propagating-Wave" model analysis of the most popular pulse-echo technique indicates that this is a consequence of the inherent wave propagation characteristics in a bounded medium. In the present work Fourier Transform Ultrasound Spectroscopy (FTUS) is adopted to determine ultrasonic wave propagation parameters, the wave number (k) and attenuation constant (α) at 1MHz frequency in tri-distilled water at room temperature (25°C). Pulse-echo signals obtained under same experimental conditions regarding the exciting input signal and reflecting boundary wall of the water container for various lengths of water columns are captured. The Fast Fourier Transform (FFT) components of the echo signals are taken to compute k, α and r, the reflection constant at the boundary, using Oak Ridge and Oxford method. The results are compared with existing literature values. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  3. Lamb Wave Dispersion Ultrasound Vibrometry (LDUV) Method for Quantifying Mechanical Properties of Viscoelastic Solids

    PubMed Central

    Nenadic, Ivan Z.; Urban, Matthew W.; Mitchell, Scott A.; Greenleaf, James F.

    2011-01-01

    Diastolic dysfunction is the inability of the left ventricle to supply sufficient stroke volumes under normal physiological conditions and is often accompanied by stiffening of the left-ventricular myocardium. A noninvasive technique capable of quantifying viscoelasticity of the myocardium would be beneficial in clinical settings. Our group has been investigating the use of Shearwave Dispersion Ultrasound Vibrometry (SDUV), a noninvasive ultrasound based method for quantifying viscoelasticity of soft tissues. The primary motive of this study is the design and testing of viscoelastic materials suitable for validation of the Lamb wave Dispersion Ultrasound Vibrometry (LDUV), an SDUV-based technique for measuring viscoelasticity of tissues with plate-like geometry. We report the results of quantifying viscoelasticity of urethane rubber and gelatin samples using LDUV and an embedded sphere method. The LDUV method was used to excite antisymmetric Lamb waves and measure the dispersion in urethane rubber and gelatin plates. An antisymmetric Lamb wave model was fitted to the wave speed dispersion data to estimate elasticity and viscosity of the materials. A finite element model of a viscoelastic plate submerged in water was used to study the appropriateness of the Lamb wave dispersion equations. An embedded sphere method was used as an independent measurement of the viscoelasticity of the urethane rubber and gelatin. The FEM dispersion data were in excellent agreement with the theoretical predictions. Viscoelasticity of the urethane rubber and gelatin obtained using the LDUV and embedded sphere methods agreed within one standard deviation. LDUV studies on excised porcine myocardium sample were performed to investigate the feasibility of the approach in preparation for open-chest in vivo studies. The results suggest that the LDUV technique can be used to quantify mechanical properties of soft tissues with a plate-like geometry. PMID:21403186

  4. One-dimensional acoustic standing waves in rectangular channels for flow cytometry.

    PubMed

    Austin Suthanthiraraj, Pearlson P; Piyasena, Menake E; Woods, Travis A; Naivar, Mark A; Lόpez, Gabriel P; Graves, Steven W

    2012-07-01

    Flow cytometry has become a powerful analytical tool for applications ranging from blood diagnostics to high throughput screening of molecular assemblies on microsphere arrays. However, instrument size, expense, throughput, and consumable use limit its use in resource poor areas of the world, as a component in environmental monitoring, and for detection of very rare cell populations. For these reasons, new technologies to improve the size and cost-to-performance ratio of flow cytometry are required. One such technology is the use of acoustic standing waves that efficiently concentrate cells and particles to the center of flow channels for analysis. The simplest form of this method uses one-dimensional acoustic standing waves to focus particles in rectangular channels. We have developed one-dimensional acoustic focusing flow channels that can be fabricated in simple capillary devices or easily microfabricated using photolithography and deep reactive ion etching. Image and video analysis demonstrates that these channels precisely focus single flowing streams of particles and cells for traditional flow cytometry analysis. Additionally, use of standing waves with increasing harmonics and in parallel microfabricated channels is shown to effectively create many parallel focused streams. Furthermore, we present the fabrication of an inexpensive optical platform for flow cytometry in rectangular channels and use of the system to provide precise analysis. The simplicity and low-cost of the acoustic focusing devices developed here promise to be effective for flow cytometers that have reduced size, cost, and consumable use. Finally, the straightforward path to parallel flow streams using one-dimensional multinode acoustic focusing, indicates that simple acoustic focusing in rectangular channels may also have a prominent role in high-throughput flow cytometry. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  5. Vibration of a single microcapsule with a hard plastic shell in an acoustic standing wave field.

    PubMed

    Koyama, Daisuke; Kotera, Hironori; Kitazawa, Natsuko; Yoshida, Kenji; Nakamura, Kentaro; Watanabe, Yoshiaki

    2011-04-01

    Observation techniques for measuring the small vibration of a single microcapsule of tens of nanometers in an acoustic standing wave field are discussed. First, simultaneous optical observation of a microbubble vibration by two methods is investigated, using a high-speed video camera, which permits two-dimensional observation of the bubble vibration, and a laser Doppler vibrometer (LDV), which can observe small bubble vibration amplitudes at high frequency. Bubbles of tens of micrometers size were trapped at the antinode of an acoustic standing wave generated in an observational cell. Bubble vibration at 27 kHz could be observed and the experimental results for the two methods showed good agreement. The radial vibration of microcapsules with a hard plastic shell was observed using the LDV and the measurement of the capsule vibration with radial oscillation amplitude of tens of nanometers was successful. The acoustic radiation force acting on microcapsules in the acoustic standing wave was measured from the trapped position of the standing wave and the radial oscillation amplitude of the capsules was estimated from the theoretical equation of the acoustic radiation force, giving results in good agreement with the LDV measurements. The radial oscillation amplitude of a capsule was found to be proportional to the amplitude of the driving sound pressure. A larger expansion ratio was observed for capsules closer to the resonance condition under the same driving sound pressure and frequency. © 2011 IEEE

  6. Investigation of the acute plantar fasciitis with contrast-enhanced ultrasound and shear wave elastography - first results.

    PubMed

    Putz, Franz Josef; Hautmann, Matthias G; Banas, Miriam C; Jung, Ernst Michael

    2017-01-01

    The plantar fasciitis is a common disease with a high prevalence in public and a frequent cause of heel pain. In our pilot study, we wanted to characterise the feasibility of shear-wave elastography and contrast-enhanced ultrasound (CEUS) in the assessment of the plantar fasciitis. 23 cases of painful heels were examined by B-Mode ultrasound, Power Doppler (PD), shear wave elastography and contrast-enhanced ultrasound before anti-inflammatory radiation. Time-intensity-curves were analysed by the integrated software. The results for area-under-the-curve (AUC), peak, time-to-peak (TTP) and mean-transit-time (MTT) were compared between the plantar fascia and the surrounding tissue. All cases showed thickening of the plantar fascia, in most cases with interstitial oedema (87.0%). Shear wave elastography showed inhomogeneous stiffness of the plantar fascia. 83.3% of cases showed a visible hyperperfusion in CEUS at the proximal plantar fascia in comparison to the surrounding tissue. This hyperperfusion could also be found in 75.0% of cases with no signs of vascularisation in PD. AUC (p = 0.0005) and peak (p = 0.037) were significantely higher in the plantar fascia than in the surrounding tissue. CEUS and shear wave elastography are new diagnostic tools in the assessment of plantar fasciitis and can provide quantitative parameters for monitoring therapy.

  7. The efficacy, safety, effectiveness, and cost-effectiveness of ultrasound and shock wave therapies for low back pain: a systematic review.

    PubMed

    Seco, Jesús; Kovacs, Francisco M; Urrutia, Gerard

    2011-10-01

    Shock wave and especially ultrasound are commonly used to treat low back pain (LBP) in routine practice. To assess the evidence on the efficacy, effectiveness, cost-effectiveness, and safety of ultrasound and shock wave to treat LBP. Systematic review. An electronic search was performed in MEDLINE, EMBASE, and the Cochrane Library databases up to July 2009 to identify randomized controlled trials (RCTs) comparing vibrotherapy with placebo or with other treatments for LBP. No language restrictions were applied. Additional data were requested from the authors of the original studies. The risk of bias of each study was assessed following the criteria recommended by the Cochrane Back Review Group. Thirteen studies were identified. The four RCTs complying with the inclusion criteria included 252 patients. Two of the three RCTs on ultrasound had a high risk of bias. For acute patients with LBP and leg pain attributed to disc herniation, ultrasound, traction, and low-power laser obtained similar results. For chronic LBP patients without leg pain, ultrasound was less effective than spinal manipulation, whereas a shock wave device and transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation led to similar results. Results from the only study comparing ultrasound versus a sham procedure are unreliable because of the inappropriateness of the sham procedure, low sample size, and lack of adjustment for potential confounders. No study assessed cost-effectiveness. No adverse events were reported. The available evidence does not support the effectiveness of ultrasound or shock wave for treating LBP. High-quality RCTs are needed to assess their efficacy versus appropriate sham procedures, and their effectiveness and cost-effectiveness versus other procedures shown to be effective for LBP. In the absence of such evidence, the clinical use of these forms of treatment is not justified and should be discouraged. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  8. Plastic deformation and wave formation on the interface of metals welded by ultrasound-assisted explosive welding

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Kuz'min, E. V.; Kuz'min, S. V.; Lysak, V. I.; Lata, A. N.

    2017-10-01

    This paper presents the influence of the effect of ultrasound on the wave formation and plastic deformation in the metals welded by ultrasound-assisted explosive welding. It has been established that the influence of high-frequency acoustic waves on the metal leads to a reduction of the dynamic yield stress, which in turn leads to changes in the properties of the surface layers of metal and in the conditions of bonding between the collided plates upon explosive welding. It has been shown that the changes in the length and amplitude of waves that arise in the weld joint upon the explosive welding with the simultaneous action of ultrasonic vibrations is connected with a decrease in the magnitude of the deforming pulse and time of action of the compressive stresses that exceed the dynamic yield stress behind the point of contact.

  9. A continuous-wave ultrasound system for displacement amplitude and phase measurement.

    PubMed

    Finneran, James J; Hastings, Mardi C

    2004-06-01

    A noninvasive, continuous-wave ultrasonic technique was developed to measure the displacement amplitude and phase of mechanical structures. The measurement system was based on a method developed by Rogers and Hastings ["Noninvasive vibration measurement system and method for measuring amplitude of vibration of tissue in an object being investigated," U.S. Patent No. 4,819,643 (1989)] and expanded to include phase measurement. A low-frequency sound source was used to generate harmonic vibrations in a target of interest. The target was simultaneously insonified by a low-power, continuous-wave ultrasonic source. Reflected ultrasound was phase modulated by the target motion and detected with a separate ultrasonic transducer. The target displacement amplitude was obtained directly from the received ultrasound frequency spectrum by comparing the carrier and sideband amplitudes. Phase information was obtained by demodulating the received signal using a double-balanced mixer and low-pass filter. A theoretical model for the ultrasonic receiver field is also presented. This model coupled existing models for focused piston radiators and for pulse-echo ultrasonic fields. Experimental measurements of the resulting receiver fields compared favorably with theoretical predictions.

  10. Slot-coupled CW standing wave accelerating cavity

    DOEpatents

    Wang, Shaoheng; Rimmer, Robert; Wang, Haipeng

    2017-05-16

    A slot-coupled CW standing wave multi-cell accelerating cavity. To achieve high efficiency graded beta acceleration, each cell in the multi-cell cavity may include different cell lengths. Alternatively, to achieve high efficiency with acceleration for particles with beta equal to 1, each cell in the multi-cell cavity may include the same cell design. Coupling between the cells is achieved with a plurality of axially aligned kidney-shaped slots on the wall between cells. The slot-coupling method makes the design very compact. The shape of the cell, including the slots and the cone, are optimized to maximize the power efficiency and minimize the peak power density on the surface. The slots are non-resonant, thereby enabling shorter slots and less power loss.

  11. Traveling and Standing Waves in Coupled Pendula and Newton's Cradle

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    García-Azpeitia, Carlos

    2016-12-01

    The existence of traveling and standing waves is investigated for chains of coupled pendula with periodic boundary conditions. The results are proven by applying topological methods to subspaces of symmetric solutions. The main advantage of this approach comes from the fact that only properties of the linearized forces are required. This allows to cover a wide range of models such as Newton's cradle, the Fermi-Pasta-Ulam lattice, and the Toda lattice.

  12. TH-A-207B-01: Basics and Current Implementations of Ultrasound Imaging of Shear Wave Speed and Elasticity

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

    Chen, S.

    Imaging of tissue elastic properties is a relatively new and powerful approach to one of the oldest and most important diagnostic tools. Imaging of shear wave speed with ultrasound is has been added to most high-end ultrasound systems. Understanding this exciting imaging mode aiding its most effective use in medicine can be a rewarding effort for medical physicists and other medical imaging and treatment professionals. Assuring consistent, quantitative measurements across the many ultrasound systems in a typical imaging department will constitute a major step toward realizing the great potential of this technique and other quantitative imaging. This session will targetmore » these two goals with two presentations. A. Basics and Current Implementations of Ultrasound Imaging of Shear Wave Speed and Elasticity - Shigao Chen, Ph.D. Learning objectives-To understand: Introduction: Importance of tissue elasticity measurement Strain vs. shear wave elastography (SWE), beneficial features of SWE The link between shear wave speed and material properties, influence of viscosity Generation of shear waves External vibration (Fibroscan) ultrasound radiation force Point push Supersonic push (Aixplorer) Comb push (GE Logiq E9) Detection of shear waves Motion detection from pulse-echo ultrasound Importance of frame rate for shear wave imaging Plane wave imaging detection How to achieve high effective frame rate using line-by-line scanners Shear wave speed calculation Time to peak Random sample consensus (RANSAC) Cross correlation Sources of bias and variation in SWE Tissue viscosity Transducer compression or internal pressure of organ Reflection of shear waves at boundaries B. Elasticity Imaging System Biomarker Qualification and User Testing of Systems – Brian Garra, M.D. Learning objectives-To understand: Goals Review the need for quantitative medical imaging Provide examples of quantitative imaging biomarkers Acquaint the participant with the purpose of the RSNA Quantitative

  13. Clinical acceptance testing and scanner comparison of ultrasound shear wave elastography.

    PubMed

    Long, Zaiyang; Tradup, Donald J; Song, Pengfei; Stekel, Scott F; Chen, Shigao; Glazebrook, Katrina N; Hangiandreou, Nicholas J

    2018-03-15

    Because of the rapidly growing use of ultrasound shear wave elastography (SWE) in clinical practices, there is a significant need for development of clinical physics performance assessment methods for this technology. This study aims to report two clinical medical physicists' tasks: (a) acceptance testing (AT) of SWE function on ten commercial ultrasound systems for clinical liver application and (b) comparison of SWE measurements of targets across vendors for clinical musculoskeletal application. For AT, ten GE LOGIQ E9 XDclear 2.0 scanners with ten C1-6-D and ten 9L-D transducers were studied using two commercial homogenous phantoms. Five measurements were acquired at two depths for each scanner/transducer pair by two operators. Additional tests were performed to access effects of different coupling media, phantom locations and operators. System deviations were less than 5% of group mean or three times standard deviation; therefore, all systems passed AT. A test protocol was provided based on results that no statistically significant difference was observed between using ultrasound gel and salt water for coupling, among different phantom locations, and that interoperator and intraoperator coefficient of variation was less than 3%. For SWE target measurements, two systems were compared - a Supersonic Aixplorer scanner with a SL10-2 and a SL15-4 transducer, and an abovementioned GE scanner with 9L-D transducer. Two stepped cylinders with diameters of 4.05-10.40 mm were measured both longitudinally and transaxially. Target shear wave speed quantification was performed using an in-house MATLAB program. Using the target shear wave speed deduced from phantom specs as a reference, SL15-4 performed the best at the measured depth. However, it was challenging to reliably measure a 4.05 mm target for either system. The reported test methods and results could provide important information when dealing with SWE-related tasks in the clinical environment. © 2018 The Authors

  14. Simulation studies on the standing and traveling wave thermoacoustic prime movers

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

    Skaria, Mathew; Rasheed, K. K. Abdul; Shafi, K. A.

    Thermoacoustic systems have been a focus of recent research due to its structural simplicity, high reliability due to absence of moving parts, and can be driven by low grade energy such as fuel, gas, solar energy, waste heat etc. There has been extensive research on both standing wave and traveling wave systems. Towards the development of such systems, simulations can be carried out by several methods such as (a) solving the energy equation, (b) enthalpy flow model, (c) DeltaEC, a free software available from LANL, USA (d) Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) etc. We present here the simulation studies of standingmore » wave and traveling wave thermoacoustic prime movers using CFD and DeltaEC. The CFD analysis is carried out using Fluent 6.3.26, incorporating the necessary boundary conditions with different working fluids at different operating pressures. The results obtained by CFD are compared with those obtained using DeltaEC. Also, the CFD simulation of the thermoacoustically driven refrigerator is presented.« less

  15. Ultrasound acoustic wave energy transfer and harvesting

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Shahab, Shima; Leadenham, Stephen; Guillot, François; Sabra, Karim; Erturk, Alper

    2014-04-01

    This paper investigates low-power electricity generation from ultrasound acoustic wave energy transfer combined with piezoelectric energy harvesting for wireless applications ranging from medical implants to naval sensor systems. The focus is placed on an underwater system that consists of a pulsating source for spherical wave generation and a harvester connected to an external resistive load for quantifying the electrical power output. An analytical electro-acoustic model is developed to relate the source strength to the electrical power output of the harvester located at a specific distance from the source. The model couples the energy harvester dynamics (piezoelectric device and electrical load) with the source strength through the acoustic-structure interaction at the harvester-fluid interface. Case studies are given for a detailed understanding of the coupled system dynamics under various conditions. Specifically the relationship between the electrical power output and system parameters, such as the distance of the harvester from the source, dimensions of the harvester, level of source strength, and electrical load resistance are explored. Sensitivity of the electrical power output to the excitation frequency in the neighborhood of the harvester's underwater resonance frequency is also reported.

  16. Interference-free ultrasound imaging during HIFU therapy, using software tools

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Vaezy, Shahram (Inventor); Held, Robert (Inventor); Sikdar, Siddhartha (Inventor); Managuli, Ravi (Inventor); Zderic, Vesna (Inventor)

    2010-01-01

    Disclosed herein is a method for obtaining a composite interference-free ultrasound image when non-imaging ultrasound waves would otherwise interfere with ultrasound imaging. A conventional ultrasound imaging system is used to collect frames of ultrasound image data in the presence of non-imaging ultrasound waves, such as high-intensity focused ultrasound (HIFU). The frames are directed to a processor that analyzes the frames to identify portions of the frame that are interference-free. Interference-free portions of a plurality of different ultrasound image frames are combined to generate a single composite interference-free ultrasound image that is displayed to a user. In this approach, a frequency of the non-imaging ultrasound waves is offset relative to a frequency of the ultrasound imaging waves, such that the interference introduced by the non-imaging ultrasound waves appears in a different portion of the frames.

  17. Comparison of ultrasound B-mode, strain imaging, acoustic radiation force impulse displacement and shear wave velocity imaging using real time clinical breast images

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Manickam, Kavitha; Machireddy, Ramasubba Reddy; Raghavan, Bagyam

    2016-04-01

    It has been observed that many pathological process increase the elastic modulus of soft tissue compared to normal. In order to image tissue stiffness using ultrasound, a mechanical compression is applied to tissues of interest and local tissue deformation is measured. Based on the mechanical excitation, ultrasound stiffness imaging methods are classified as compression or strain imaging which is based on external compression and Acoustic Radiation Force Impulse (ARFI) imaging which is based on force generated by focused ultrasound. When ultrasound is focused on tissue, shear wave is generated in lateral direction and shear wave velocity is proportional to stiffness of tissues. The work presented in this paper investigates strain elastography and ARFI imaging in clinical cancer diagnostics using real time patient data. Ultrasound B-mode imaging, strain imaging, ARFI displacement and ARFI shear wave velocity imaging were conducted on 50 patients (31 Benign and 23 malignant categories) using Siemens S2000 machine. True modulus contrast values were calculated from the measured shear wave velocities. For ultrasound B-mode, ARFI displacement imaging and strain imaging, observed image contrast and Contrast to Noise Ratio were calculated for benign and malignant cancers. Observed contrast values were compared based on the true modulus contrast values calculated from shear wave velocity imaging. In addition to that, student unpaired t-test was conducted for all the four techniques and box plots are presented. Results show that, strain imaging is better for malignant cancers whereas ARFI imaging is superior than strain imaging and B-mode for benign lesions representations.

  18. Light Diffraction by Large Amplitude Ultrasonic Waves in Liquids

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Adler, Laszlo; Cantrell, John H.; Yost, William T.

    2016-01-01

    Light diffraction from ultrasound, which can be used to investigate nonlinear acoustic phenomena in liquids, is reported for wave amplitudes larger than that typically reported in the literature. Large amplitude waves result in waveform distortion due to the nonlinearity of the medium that generates harmonics and produces asymmetries in the light diffraction pattern. For standing waves with amplitudes above a threshold value, subharmonics are generated in addition to the harmonics and produce additional diffraction orders of the incident light. With increasing drive amplitude above the threshold a cascade of period-doubling subharmonics are generated, terminating in a region characterized by a random, incoherent (chaotic) diffraction pattern. To explain the experimental results a toy model is introduced, which is derived from traveling wave solutions of the nonlinear wave equation corresponding to the fundamental and second harmonic standing waves. The toy model reduces the nonlinear partial differential equation to a mathematically more tractable nonlinear ordinary differential equation. The model predicts the experimentally observed cascade of period-doubling subharmonics terminating in chaos that occurs with increasing drive amplitudes above the threshold value. The calculated threshold amplitude is consistent with the value estimated from the experimental data.

  19. The Shadow Knows: Inferring the Density Distribution of a Nonuniform Medium from Its Standing Wave Pattern

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Binder, Philippe; Cunnyngham, Ian

    2012-01-01

    In a recent note in this journal, Gluck presents a beautiful demonstration of the standing wave generated by a strip of material with linearly varying width (a trapezoid). As expected, the resulting wave envelope (and its shadow) showed a varying wavelength--smaller as the strip width gets larger.

  20. Tunable Nanowire Patterning Using Standing Surface Acoustic Waves

    PubMed Central

    Chen, Yuchao; Ding, Xiaoyun; Lin, Sz-Chin Steven; Yang, Shikuan; Huang, Po-Hsun; Nama, Nitesh; Zhao, Yanhui; Nawaz, Ahmad Ahsan; Guo, Feng; Wang, Wei; Gu, Yeyi; Mallouk, Thomas E.; Huang, Tony Jun

    2014-01-01

    Patterning of nanowires in a controllable, tunable manner is important for the fabrication of functional nanodevices. Here we present a simple approach for tunable nanowire patterning using standing surface acoustic waves (SSAW). This technique allows for the construction of large-scale nanowire arrays with well-controlled patterning geometry and spacing within 5 seconds. In this approach, SSAWs were generated by interdigital transducers (IDTs), which induced a periodic alternating current (AC) electric field on the piezoelectric substrate and consequently patterned metallic nanowires in suspension. The patterns could be deposited onto the substrate after the liquid evaporated. By controlling the distribution of the SSAW field, metallic nanowires were assembled into different patterns including parallel and perpendicular arrays. The spacing of the nanowire arrays could be tuned by controlling the frequency of the surface acoustic waves. Additionally, we observed 3D spark-shape nanowire patterns in the SSAW field. The SSAW-based nanowire-patterning technique presented here possesses several advantages over alternative patterning approaches, including high versatility, tunability, and efficiency, making it promising for device applications. PMID:23540330

  1. Helium Speech: An Application of Standing Waves

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Wentworth, Christopher D.

    2011-04-01

    Taking a breath of helium gas and then speaking or singing to the class is a favorite demonstration for an introductory physics course, as it usually elicits appreciative laughter, which serves to energize the class session. Students will usually report that the helium speech "raises the frequency" of the voice. A more accurate description of the phenomenon requires that we distinguish between the frequencies of sound produced by the larynx and the filtering of those frequencies by the vocal tract. We will describe here an experiment done by introductory physics students that uses helium speech as a context for learning about the human vocal system and as an application of the standing sound-wave concept. Modern acoustic analysis software easily obtained by instructors for student use allows data to be obtained and analyzed quickly.

  2. Confining standing waves in optical corrals.

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

    Babayan, Y.; McMahon, J. M.; Li, S.

    2009-03-01

    Near-field scanning optical microscopy images of solid wall, circular, and elliptical microscale corrals show standing wave patterns confined inside the structures with a wavelength close to that of the incident light. The patterns inside the corrals can be tuned by changing the size and material of the walls, the wavelength of incident light, and polarization direction for elliptical corrals. Finite-difference time-domain calculations of the corral structures agree with the experimental observations and reveal that the electric and magnetic field intensities are out of phase inside the corral. A theoretical modal analysis indicates that the fields inside the corrals can bemore » attributed to p- and s-polarized waveguide modes, and that the superposition of the propagating and evanescent modes can explain the phase differences between the fields. These experimental and theoretical results demonstrate that electromagnetic fields on a dielectric surface can be controlled in a predictable manner.« less

  3. Analysis of coiled stator ultrasound motor: Fundamental study on analysis of wave propagation on acoustic waveguide for coiled stator

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Ozeki, Seiya; Kurita, Keisuke; Uehara, Choyu; Nakane, Noriaki; Sato, Toshio; Takeuchi, Shinichi

    2018-07-01

    In our research group, we previously developed a coiled stator ultrasound motor (CS-USM) for medical applications such as intravascular ultrasound (IVUS) devices. However, wave propagation on acoustic waveguides has not been investigated sufficiently in previous studies. In this study, we analyze the propagation velocity of elastic waves from the simulated the vibration displacement mode profile along a straight line acoustic waveguide via three-dimensional finite element method (FEM). Concerning results, elastic waves with vibration displacement along the thickness direction show dispersion characteristics corresponding to the a0 and a1 mode plate waves (Lamb waves) in the acoustic waveguide. Our theoretical hypotheses of the propagation velocities were closely borne out by experimental results. We further find that the dispersion characteristic is affected by the width of the acoustic waveguide. We believe that our findings can contribute to improved CS-USM designs for practical application.

  4. WE-E-9A-01: Ultrasound Elasticity

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

    Emelianov, S; Hall, T; Bouchard, R

    2014-06-15

    Principles and techniques of ultrasound-based elasticity imaging will be presented, including quasistatic strain imaging, shear wave elasticity imaging, and their implementations in available systems. Deeper exploration of quasistatic methods, including elastic relaxation, and their applications, advantages, artifacts and limitations will be discussed. Transient elastography based on progressive and standing shear waves will be explained in more depth, along with applications, advantages, artifacts and limitations, as will measurement of complex elastic moduli. Comparisons will be made between ultrasound radiation force techniques, MR elastography, and the simple A mode plus mechanical plunger technique. Progress in efforts, such as that by the Quantitativemore » Imaging Biomarkers Alliance, to reduce the differences in the elastic modulus reported by different commercial systems will be explained. Dr. Hall is on an Advisory Board for Siemens Ultrasound and has a research collaboration with them, including joint funding by R01CA140271 for nonlinear elasticity imaging. Learning Objectives: Be reminded of the long history of palpation of tissue elasticity for critical medical diagnosis and the relatively recent advances to be able to image tissue strain in response to an applied force. Understand the differences between shear wave speed elasticity measurement and imaging and understand the factors affecting measurement and image frame repletion rates. Understand shear wave propagation effects that can affect measurements, such as essentially lack of propagation in fluids and boundary effects, so important in thin layers. Know characteristics of available elasticity imaging phantoms, their uses and limitations. Understand thermal and cavitational limitations affecting radiation force-based shear wave imaging. Have learning and references adequate to for you to use in teaching elasticity imaging to residents and technologists. Be able to explain how elasticity

  5. Equations for description of nonlinear standing waves in constant-cross-sectioned resonators.

    PubMed

    Bednarik, Michal; Cervenka, Milan

    2014-03-01

    This work is focused on investigation of applicability of two widely used model equations for description of nonlinear standing waves in constant-cross-sectioned resonators. The investigation is based on the comparison of numerical solutions of these model equations with solutions of more accurate model equations whose validity has been verified experimentally in a number of published papers.

  6. Stable optical trapping and sensitive characterization of nanostructures using standing-wave Raman tweezers

    PubMed Central

    Wu, Mu-ying; Ling, Dong-xiong; Ling, Lin; Li, William; Li, Yong-qing

    2017-01-01

    Optical manipulation and label-free characterization of nanoscale structures open up new possibilities for assembly and control of nanodevices and biomolecules. Optical tweezers integrated with Raman spectroscopy allows analyzing a single trapped particle, but is generally less effective for individual nanoparticles. The main challenge is the weak gradient force on nanoparticles that is insufficient to overcome the destabilizing effect of scattering force and Brownian motion. Here, we present standing-wave Raman tweezers for stable trapping and sensitive characterization of single isolated nanostructures with a low laser power by combining a standing-wave optical trap with confocal Raman spectroscopy. This scheme has stronger intensity gradients and balanced scattering forces, and thus can be used to analyze many nanoparticles that cannot be measured with single-beam Raman tweezers, including individual single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWCNT), graphene flakes, biological particles, SERS-active metal nanoparticles, and high-refractive semiconductor nanoparticles. This would enable sorting and characterization of specific SWCNTs and other nanoparticles based on their increased Raman fingerprints. PMID:28211526

  7. Effects of transport coefficients on excitation of flare-induced standing slow-mode waves

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Wang, Tongjiang; Ofman, Leon; Davila, Joseph

    2017-08-01

    The flare-excited longitudinal intensity oscillations in hot flaring loops have been recently detected by SDO/AIA, and interpreted as the slow-mode standing waves. By means of the seismology technique we have, for the first time, determined the transport coefficients in the hot (>9 MK) flare plasma, and found that thermal conductivity is suppressed by at least 3 times and viscosity coefficient is enhanced by a factor of 15 as the upper limit (Wang et al. 2015, ApJL, 811, L13). In this presentation, we first discuss possible causes for conduction suppression and viscosity enhancements. Then we use the nonlinear MHD simulations to validate the seismology method that is based on linear analytical analysis, and demonstrate the inversion scheme for determining transport coefficients using numerical parametric study. Finally, we show how the seismologically-determined transport coefficients are crucial for understanding the excitation of the observed standing slow-mode waves in coronal loops and the heating of the loop plasma by a footpoint flare.

  8. Superficial Ultrasound Shear Wave Speed Measurements in Soft and Hard Elasticity Phantoms: Repeatability and Reproducibility Using Two Different Ultrasound Systems

    PubMed Central

    Dillman, Jonathan R.; Chen, Shigao; Davenport, Matthew S.; Zhao, Heng; Urban, Matthew W.; Song, Pengfei; Watcharotone, Kuanwong; Carson, Paul L.

    2014-01-01

    Background There is a paucity of data available regarding the repeatability and reproducibility of superficial shear wave speed (SWS) measurements at imaging depths relevant to the pediatric population. Purpose To assess the repeatability and reproducibility of superficial shear wave speed (SWS) measurements acquired from elasticity phantoms at varying imaging depths using three different imaging methods, two different ultrasound systems, and multiple operators. Methods and Materials Soft and hard elasticity phantoms manufactured by Computerized Imaging Reference Systems, Inc. (Norfolk, VA) were utilized for our investigation. Institution #1 used an Acuson S3000 ultrasound system (Siemens Medical Solutions USA, Inc.) and three different shear wave imaging method/transducer combinations, while institution #2 used an Aixplorer ultrasound system (Supersonic Imagine) and two different transducers. Ten stiffness measurements were acquired from each phantom at three depths (1.0, 2.5, and 4.0 cm) by four operators at each institution. Student’s t-test was used to compare SWS measurements between imaging techniques, while SWS measurement agreement was assessed with two-way random effects single measure intra-class correlation coefficients and coefficients of variation. Mixed model regression analysis determined the effect of predictor variables on SWS measurements. Results For the soft phantom, the average of mean SWS measurements across the various imaging methods and depths was 0.84 ± 0.04 m/s (mean ± standard deviation) for the Acuson S3000 system and 0.90 ± 0.02 m/s for the Aixplorer system (p=0.003). For the hard phantom, the average of mean SWS measurements across the various imaging methods and depths was 2.14 ± 0.08 m/s for the Acuson S3000 system and 2.07 ± 0.03 m/s Aixplorer system (p>0.05). The coefficients of variation were low (0.5–6.8%), and inter-operator agreement was near-perfect (ICCs ≥0.99). Shear wave imaging method and imaging depth

  9. Autonomous motion of metallic microrods propelled by ultrasound.

    PubMed

    Wang, Wei; Castro, Luz Angelica; Hoyos, Mauricio; Mallouk, Thomas E

    2012-07-24

    Autonomously moving micro-objects, or micromotors, have attracted the attention of the scientific community over the past decade, but the incompatibility of phoretic motors with solutions of high ionic strength and the use of toxic fuels have limited their applications in biologically relevant media. In this letter we demonstrate that ultrasonic standing waves in the MHz frequency range can levitate, propel, rotate, align, and assemble metallic microrods (2 μm long and 330 nm diameter) in water as well as in solutions of high ionic strength. Metallic rods levitated to the midpoint plane of a cylindrical cell when the ultrasonic frequency was tuned to create a vertical standing wave. Fast axial motion of metallic microrods at ~200 μm/s was observed at the resonant frequency using continuous or pulsed ultrasound. Segmented metal rods (AuRu or AuPt) were propelled unidirectionally with one end (Ru or Pt, respectively) consistently forward. A self-acoustophoresis mechanism based on the shape asymmetry of the metallic rods is proposed to explain this axial propulsion. Metallic rods also aligned and self-assembled into long spinning chains, which in the case of bimetallic rods had a head-to-tail alternating structure. These chains formed ring or streak patterns in the levitation plane. The diameter or distance between streaks was roughly half the wavelength of the ultrasonic excitation. The ultrasonically driven movement of metallic rods was insensitive to the addition of salt to the solution, opening the possibility of driving and controlling metallic micromotors in biologically relevant media using ultrasound.

  10. What is ultrasound?

    PubMed

    Leighton, Timothy G

    2007-01-01

    This paper is based on material presented at the start of a Health Protection Agency meeting on ultrasound and infrasound. In answering the question 'what is ultrasound?', it shows that the simple description of a wave which transports mechanical energy through the local vibration of particles at frequencies of 20 kHz or more, with no net transport of the particles themselves, can in every respect be misleading or even incorrect. To explain the complexities responsible for this, the description of ultrasound is first built up from the fundamental properties of these local particle vibrations. This progresses through an exposition of the characteristics of linear waves, in order to explain the propensity for, and properties of, the nonlinear propagation which occurs in many practical ultrasonic fields. Given the Health Protection environment which framed the original presentation, explanation and examples are given of how these complexities affect issues of practical importance. These issues include the measurement and description of fields and exposures, and the ability of ultrasound to affect tissue (through microstreaming, streaming, cavitation, heating, etc.). It is noted that there are two very distinct regimes, in terms of wave characteristics and potential for bioeffect. The first concerns the use of ultrasound in liquids/solids, for measurement or material processing. For biomedical applications (where these two processes are termed diagnosis and therapy, respectively), the issue of hazard has been studied in depth, although this has not been done to such a degree for industrial uses of ultrasound in liquids/solids (sonar, non-destructive testing, ultrasonic processing etc.). However, in the second regime, that of the use of ultrasound in air, although the waves in question tend to be of much lower intensities than those used in liquids/solids, there is a greater mismatch between the extent to which hazard has been studied, and the growth in commercial

  11. 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.

  12. Spherical Harmonics Reveal Standing EEG Waves and Long-Range Neural Synchronization during Non-REM Sleep.

    PubMed

    Sivakumar, Siddharth S; Namath, Amalia G; Galán, Roberto F

    2016-01-01

    Previous work from our lab has demonstrated how the connectivity of brain circuits constrains the repertoire of activity patterns that those circuits can display. Specifically, we have shown that the principal components of spontaneous neural activity are uniquely determined by the underlying circuit connections, and that although the principal components do not uniquely resolve the circuit structure, they do reveal important features about it. Expanding upon this framework on a larger scale of neural dynamics, we have analyzed EEG data recorded with the standard 10-20 electrode system from 41 neurologically normal children and adolescents during stage 2, non-REM sleep. We show that the principal components of EEG spindles, or sigma waves (10-16 Hz), reveal non-propagating, standing waves in the form of spherical harmonics. We mathematically demonstrate that standing EEG waves exist when the spatial covariance and the Laplacian operator on the head's surface commute. This in turn implies that the covariance between two EEG channels decreases as the inverse of their relative distance; a relationship that we corroborate with empirical data. Using volume conduction theory, we then demonstrate that superficial current sources are more synchronized at larger distances, and determine the characteristic length of large-scale neural synchronization as 1.31 times the head radius, on average. Moreover, consistent with the hypothesis that EEG spindles are driven by thalamo-cortical rather than cortico-cortical loops, we also show that 8 additional patients with hypoplasia or complete agenesis of the corpus callosum, i.e., with deficient or no connectivity between cortical hemispheres, similarly exhibit standing EEG waves in the form of spherical harmonics. We conclude that spherical harmonics are a hallmark of spontaneous, large-scale synchronization of neural activity in the brain, which are associated with unconscious, light sleep. The analogy with spherical harmonics in

  13. Spherical Harmonics Reveal Standing EEG Waves and Long-Range Neural Synchronization during Non-REM Sleep

    PubMed Central

    Sivakumar, Siddharth S.; Namath, Amalia G.; Galán, Roberto F.

    2016-01-01

    Previous work from our lab has demonstrated how the connectivity of brain circuits constrains the repertoire of activity patterns that those circuits can display. Specifically, we have shown that the principal components of spontaneous neural activity are uniquely determined by the underlying circuit connections, and that although the principal components do not uniquely resolve the circuit structure, they do reveal important features about it. Expanding upon this framework on a larger scale of neural dynamics, we have analyzed EEG data recorded with the standard 10–20 electrode system from 41 neurologically normal children and adolescents during stage 2, non-REM sleep. We show that the principal components of EEG spindles, or sigma waves (10–16 Hz), reveal non-propagating, standing waves in the form of spherical harmonics. We mathematically demonstrate that standing EEG waves exist when the spatial covariance and the Laplacian operator on the head's surface commute. This in turn implies that the covariance between two EEG channels decreases as the inverse of their relative distance; a relationship that we corroborate with empirical data. Using volume conduction theory, we then demonstrate that superficial current sources are more synchronized at larger distances, and determine the characteristic length of large-scale neural synchronization as 1.31 times the head radius, on average. Moreover, consistent with the hypothesis that EEG spindles are driven by thalamo-cortical rather than cortico-cortical loops, we also show that 8 additional patients with hypoplasia or complete agenesis of the corpus callosum, i.e., with deficient or no connectivity between cortical hemispheres, similarly exhibit standing EEG waves in the form of spherical harmonics. We conclude that spherical harmonics are a hallmark of spontaneous, large-scale synchronization of neural activity in the brain, which are associated with unconscious, light sleep. The analogy with spherical harmonics

  14. Wide forbidden band induced by the interference of different transverse acoustic standing-wave modes

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Tao, Zhiyong; He, Weiyu; Xiao, Yumeng; Wang, Xinlong

    2008-03-01

    A non-Bragg nature forbidden band is experimentally observed in an axially symmetric hard-walled duct with a periodically varying cross section. Unlike the familiar Bragg ones, the observed bandgap is found to result from the interference of sound wave modes having different transverse standing-wave profiles, the so-called non-Bragg resonance. The experiments also show that the non-Bragg band can be comparably wider than the Bragg one; furthermore, the sound transmission loss within the band can be much more effective, exhibiting the great significance of the non-Bragg resonance in wave propagation in periodic waveguides.

  15. Secondary Bifurcation and Change of Type for Three Dimensional Standing Waves in Shallow Water.

    DTIC Science & Technology

    1986-02-01

    field of standing K-P waves. A set of two non-interacting (to first order) solutions of the K-P equation ( Kadomtsev - Petviashvili 1970). The K-P equation ...P equation was first derived by Kadomtsev & Petviashvili (1970) in their study of the stability of solitary waves to transverse perturbations. A...Scientists, Springer-Verlag 6. B.A. Dubrovin (1981), "Theta Functions and Non-linear Equations ", Russian Mat. Surveys, 36, 11-92 7 B.B. Kadomtsev

  16. A standing wave linear ultrasonic motor operating in in-plane expanding and bending modes.

    PubMed

    Chen, Zhijiang; Li, Xiaotian; Ci, Penghong; Liu, Guoxi; Dong, Shuxiang

    2015-03-01

    A novel standing wave linear ultrasonic motor operating in in-plane expanding and bending modes was proposed in this study. The stator (or actuator) of the linear motor was made of a simple single Lead Zirconate Titanate (PZT) ceramic square plate (15 × 15 × 2 mm(3)) with a circular hole (D = 6.7 mm) in the center. The geometric parameters of the stator were computed with the finite element analysis to produce in-plane bi-mode standing wave vibration. The calculated results predicted that a driving tip attached at midpoint of one edge of the stator can produce two orthogonal, approximate straight-line trajectories, which can be used to move a slider in linear motion via frictional forces in forward or reverse direction. The investigations showed that the proposed linear motor can produce a six times higher power density than that of a previously reported square plate motor.

  17. The effect of standing acoustic waves on the formation of laser-induced air plasmas.

    PubMed

    Craig, Stephanie M; Brownell, Kara; O'Leary, Brendon; Malfitano, Christopher; Kelley, Jude A

    2013-03-01

    The expected location of an air plasma produced by a focused YAG laser pulse has been found to be influenced by the acoustics of the surrounding environment. In open air, the expected location of a laser-induced air plasma is centered close to the focal point of the lens focusing the laser beam. When confining the same beam coaxially along the interior of a quartz tube, the expected location of the air plasma shifts away from the focal point, toward the focusing lens, in a region of less laser fluence. This shift is caused by an interaction between standing acoustic waves (formed from sound waves produced by previous laser-induced plasmas) and the impinging laser pulse. Standing acoustic waves in a tube produce areas (antinodes) of slightly higher and slightly lower pressure than ambient atmospheric conditions, that in turn have a noticeable affect on the probability of creating an air plasma at a given location. This leads to two observed phenomena: Increased probability of air plasma formation before the optical focal point is reached, and the formation of distinct (separate) air plasmas at the antinodes themselves.

  18. Detection and Evaluation of Renal Injury in Burst Wave Lithotripsy Using Ultrasound and Magnetic Resonance Imaging.

    PubMed

    May, Philip C; Kreider, Wayne; Maxwell, Adam D; Wang, Yak-Nam; Cunitz, Bryan W; Blomgren, Philip M; Johnson, Cynthia D; Park, Joshua S H; Bailey, Michael R; Lee, Donghoon; Harper, Jonathan D; Sorensen, Mathew D

    2017-08-01

    Burst wave lithotripsy (BWL) is a transcutaneous technique with potential to safely and effectively fragment renal stones. Preclinical investigations of BWL require the assessment of potential renal injury. This study evaluates the capabilities of real-time ultrasound and MRI to detect and evaluate BWL injury that was induced in porcine kidneys. Ten kidneys from five female farm pigs were treated with either a 170 or 335 kHz BWL transducer using variable treatment parameters and monitored in real-time with ultrasound. Eight kidneys were perfusion fixed and scanned with a 3-Tesla MRI scanner (T1-weighted, T2-weighted, and susceptibility-weighted imaging), followed by processing via an established histomorphometric technique for injury quantification. In addition, two kidneys were separately evaluated for histologic characterization of injury quality. Observed B-mode hyperechoes on ultrasound consistent with cavitation predicted the presence of BWL-induced renal injury with a sensitivity and specificity of 100% in comparison to the histomorphometric technique. Similarly, MRI detected renal injury with a sensitivity of 90% and specificity of 100% and was able to identify the scale of lesion volumes. The injuries purposefully generated with BWL were histologically similar to those formed by shock wave lithotripsy. BWL-induced renal injury can be detected with a high degree of sensitivity and specificity by real-time ultrasound and post-treatment ex vivo MRI. No injury occurred in this study without cavitation detected on ultrasound. Such capabilities for injury detection and lesion volume quantification on MRI can be used for preclinical testing of BWL.

  19. Finite-size radiation force correction for inviscid spheres in standing waves.

    PubMed

    Marston, Philip L

    2017-09-01

    Yosioka and Kawasima gave a widely used approximation for the acoustic radiation force on small liquid spheres surrounded by an immiscible liquid in 1955. Considering the liquids to be inviscid with negligible thermal dissipation, in their approximation the force on the sphere is proportional to the sphere's volume and the levitation position in a vertical standing wave becomes independent of the size. The analysis given here introduces a small correction term proportional to the square of the sphere's radius relative to the aforementioned small-sphere force. The significance of this term also depends on the relative density and sound velocity of the sphere. The improved approximation is supported by comparison with the exact partial-wave-series based radiation force for ideal fluid spheres in ideal fluids.

  20. Acoustic evaluation of wood quality in standing trees. Part I, Acoustic wave behavior

    Treesearch

    Xiping Wang; Robert J. Ross; Peter Carter

    2007-01-01

    Acoustic wave velocities in standing trees or live softwood species were measured by the time-of-flight (TOF) method. Tree velocities were compared with acoustic velocities measured in corresponding butt logs through a resonance acoustic method. The experimental data showed a skewed relationship between tree and log acoustic measurements. For most trees tested,...

  1. Radiation pressure of standing waves on liquid columns and small diffusion flames

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Thiessen, David B.; Marr-Lyon, Mark J.; Wei, Wei; Marston, Philip L.

    2002-11-01

    The radiation pressure of standing ultrasonic waves in air is demonstrated in this investigation to influence the dynamics of liquid columns and small flames. With the appropriate choice of the acoustic amplitude and wavelength, the natural tendency of long columns to break because of surface tension was suppressed in reduced gravity [M. J. Marr-Lyon, D. B. Thiessen, and P. L. Marston, Phys. Rev. Lett. 86, 2293-2296 (2001); 87(20), 9001(E) (2001)]. Evaluation of the radiation force shows that narrow liquid columns are attracted to velocity antinodes. The response of a small vertical diffusion flame to ultrasonic radiation pressure in a horizontal standing wave was observed in normal gravity. In agreement with our predictions of the distribution of ultrasonic radiation stress on the flame, the flame is attracted to a pressure antinode and becomes slightly elliptical with the major axis in the plane of the antinode. The radiation pressure distribution and the direction of the radiation force follow from the dominance of the dipole scattering for small flames. Understanding radiation stress on flames is relevant to the control of hot fluid objects. [Work supported by NASA.

  2. Improved heating efficiency with High-Intensity Focused Ultrasound using a new ultrasound source excitation.

    PubMed

    Bigelow, Timothy A

    2009-01-01

    High-Intensity Focused Ultrasound (HIFU) is quickly becoming one of the best methods to thermally ablate tissue noninvasively. Unlike RF or Laser ablation, the tissue can be destroyed without inserting any probes into the body minimizing the risk of secondary complications such as infections. In this study, the heating efficiency of HIFU sources is improved by altering the excitation of the ultrasound source to take advantage of nonlinear propagation. For ultrasound, the phase velocity of the ultrasound wave depends on the amplitude of the wave resulting in the generation of higher harmonics. These higher harmonics are more efficiently converted into heat in the body due to the frequency dependence of the ultrasound absorption in tissue. In our study, the generation of the higher harmonics by nonlinear propagation is enhanced by transmitting an ultrasound wave with both the fundamental and a higher harmonic component included. Computer simulations demonstrated up to a 300% increase in temperature increase compared to transmitting at only the fundamental for the same acoustic power transmitted by the source.

  3. Modeling transversely isotropic, viscoelastic, incompressible tissue-like materials with application in ultrasound shear wave elastography

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Qiang, Bo; Brigham, John C.; Aristizabal, Sara; Greenleaf, James F.; Zhang, Xiaoming; Urban, Matthew W.

    2015-02-01

    In this paper, we propose a method to model the shear wave propagation in transversely isotropic, viscoelastic and incompressible media. The targeted application is ultrasound-based shear wave elastography for viscoelasticity measurements in anisotropic tissues such as the kidney and skeletal muscles. The proposed model predicts that if the viscoelastic parameters both across and along fiber directions can be characterized as a Voigt material, then the spatial phase velocity at any angle is also governed by a Voigt material model. Further, with the aid of Taylor expansions, it is shown that the spatial group velocity at any angle is close to a Voigt type for weakly attenuative materials within a certain bandwidth. The model is implemented in a finite element code by a time domain explicit integration scheme and shear wave simulations are conducted. The results of the simulations are analyzed to extract the shear wave elasticity and viscosity for both the spatial phase and group velocities. The estimated values match well with theoretical predictions. The proposed theory is further verified by an ex vivo tissue experiment measured in a porcine skeletal muscle by an ultrasound shear wave elastography method. The applicability of the Taylor expansion to analyze the spatial velocities is also discussed. We demonstrate that the approximations from the Taylor expansions are subject to errors when the viscosities across or along the fiber directions are large or the maximum frequency considered is beyond the bandwidth defined by radii of convergence of the Taylor expansions.

  4. Prospects for laser-driven ion acceleration through controlled displacement of electrons by standing waves

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Magnusson, J.; Mackenroth, F.; Marklund, M.; Gonoskov, A.

    2018-05-01

    During the interaction of intense femtosecond laser pulses with various targets, the natural mechanisms of laser energy transformation inherently lack temporal control and thus commonly do not provide opportunities for a controlled generation of a well-collimated, high-charge beam of ions with a given energy of particular interest. In an effort to alleviate this problem, it was recently proposed that the ions can be dragged by an electron bunch trapped in a controllably moving potential well formed by laser radiation. Such standing-wave acceleration (SWA) can be achieved through reflection of a chirped laser pulse from a mirror, which has been formulated as the concept of chirped-standing-wave acceleration (CSWA). Here, we analyse general feasibility aspects of the SWA approach and demonstrate its reasonable robustness against field structure imperfections, such as those caused by misalignment, ellipticity, and limited contrast. Using this, we also identify prospects and limitations of the CSWA concept.

  5. Numerical evaluation of the skull for human neuromodulation with transcranial focused ultrasound

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Mueller, Jerel K.; Ai, Leo; Bansal, Priya; Legon, Wynn

    2017-12-01

    Objective. Transcranial focused ultrasound is an emerging field for human non-invasive neuromodulation, but its dosing in humans is difficult to know due to the skull. The objective of the present study was to establish modeling methods based on medical images to assess skull differences between individuals on the wave propagation of ultrasound. Approach. Computational models of transcranial focused ultrasound were constructed using CT and MR scans to solve for intracranial pressure. We explored the effect of including the skull base in models, different transducer placements on the head, and differences between 250 kHz or 500 kHz acoustic frequency for both female and male models. We further tested these features using linear, nonlinear, and elastic simulations. To better understand inter-subject skull thickness and composition effects we evaluated the intracranial pressure maps between twelve individuals at two different skull sites. Main results. Nonlinear acoustic simulations resulted in virtually identical intracranial pressure maps with linear acoustic simulations. Elastic simulations showed a difference in max pressures and full width half maximum volumes of 15% at most. Ultrasound at an acoustic frequency of 250 kHz resulted in the creation of more prominent intracranial standing waves compared to 500 kHz. Finally, across twelve model human skulls, a significant linear relationship to characterize intracranial pressure maps was not found. Significance. Despite its appeal, an inherent problem with the use of a noninvasive transcranial ultrasound method is the difficulty of knowing intracranial effects because of the skull. Here we develop detailed computational models derived from medical images of individuals to simulate the propagation of neuromodulatory ultrasound across the skull and solve for intracranial pressure maps. These methods allow for a much better understanding of the intracranial effects of ultrasound for an individual in order to

  6. Assessment of decay in standing timber using stress wave timing nondestructive evaluation tools : a guide for use and interpretation

    Treesearch

    Xiping Wang; Ferenc Divos; Crystal Pilon; Brian K. Brashaw; Robert J. Ross; Roy F. Pellerin

    2004-01-01

    This guide was prepared to assist field foresters in the use of stress wave timing instruments to locate and define areas of decay in standing timber. The first three sections provide background information, the principles of stress wave nondestructive testing, and measurement techniques for stress wave nondestructive testing. The last section is a detailed description...

  7. Synergistic effect of the combination of triethylene-glycol modified Fe3O4 nanoparticles and ultrasound wave on MCF-7 cells

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Ebrahimi Fard, Ali; Zarepour, Atefeh; Zarrabi, Ali; Shanei, Ahmad; Salehi, Hossein

    2015-11-01

    Cancer is a group of disease characterized by uncontrolled growth and spread of abnormal cells in the body. The clinical treatments for cancer include surgery, chemotherapy and radiotherapy. Currently, employing new approaches for treatment has attracted more attentions. One of these approaches is sonodynamic therapy, which is an analogous approach based on the synergistic effect of ultrasound and a chemical component referred to as sonosensitizer. Recent years applications of nanotechnology have witnessed a tremendous expansion of research in medicine especially in treatment of cancers. The combination of sonodynamic therapy and nanotechnology can introduce a new way for cancer therapy. In this study, we used therapeutic ultrasonic waves with intensity of 1 MHz and different concentrations of Fe3O4 nanoparticles, as sonosensitizer, to investigate their combination effect on MCF-7 cell line. Briefly, we divided cells into four different groups; control, cells which got in touch with nanoparticles, cells that with exposure to ultrasound waves and cells which were influenced with combination of nanoparticles and ultrasonic waves. Finally, cell viability assay was used for detection of cytotoxicity effects. Experimental results revealed a significant decrease in viability of cells, which were affected by the combined action of ultrasound field and Fe3O4 nanoparticles, compared to the separate exposure of Fe3O4 nanoparticles or ultrasonic field. The synergic effect of ultrasound waves and Fe ions might be due to the production of toxic free radicals.

  8. Value of ultrasound shear wave elastography in the diagnosis of adenomyosis.

    PubMed

    Acar, S; Millar, E; Mitkova, M; Mitkov, V

    2016-11-01

    The aim of the study was to assess the accuracy of ultrasound shear wave elastography in the diagnosis of adenomyosis. One hundred and fifty three patients were examined. Ninety-seven patients were with suspected adenomyosis and 56 patients were with unremarkable myometrium. Adenomyosis was confirmed in 39 cases (A subgroup) and excluded in 14 cases (B subgroup) in the main group based on morphological examination. All patients underwent ultrasound examination using an Aixplorer (Supersonic Imagine, France) scanner with application of shear wave elastography during transvaginal scanning. Retrospective analysis of the elastography criteria against the findings from morphological/histological examination was performed. The following values of Young's modulus were found in subgroup A (adenomyosis): Emean - 72.7 (22.6-274.2) kPa (median, 5-95th percentiles), Emax - 94.8 (29.3-300.0) kPa, SD - 9.9 (2.6-26.3) kPa; in subgroup B (non adenomyosis) - 28.3 (12.7-59.5) kPa, 33.6 (16.0-80.8) kPa, 3.0 (1.4-15.6) kPa; in the control group - 24.4 (17.9-32.4) kPa, 29.8 (21.6-40.8) kPa, 2.3 (1.3-6.1) kPa, respectively (P < 0.05 for all comparison with subgroup В and the control group). The Emean cut-off value for adenomyosis diagnosis was 34.6 kPa. The sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value, negative predictive value and area under curve (AUC) were 89.7%, 92.9%, 97.2%, 76.5% and 0.908. The Emax cut-off value was 45.4 kPa (89.7%, 92.9%, 97.2%, 76.5% and 0.907, respectively). This study showed a significant increase of the myometrial stiffness estimated with shear wave elastography use in patients with adenomyosis.

  9. Abdominal ultrasound (image)

    MedlinePlus

    Abdominal ultrasound is a scanning technique used to image the interior of the abdomen. Like the X-ray, MRI, ... it has its place as a diagnostic tool. Ultrasound scans use high frequency sound waves to produce ...

  10. Physics and instrumentation of ultrasound.

    PubMed

    Lawrence, John P

    2007-08-01

    A thorough understanding of the physics of ultrasound waves and the instrumentation will provide the user with a better understanding of the capabilities and limitations of ultrasound equipment. The ultrasound machine combines two technologies: image production (M-mode and 2-dimensional imaging) with Doppler assessment (continuous and pulse wave as well as color-flow mapping). These distinct technologies have been combined to provide the examiner with the ability to make accurate and comprehensive diagnoses and guide therapeutic intervention.

  11. Sonoporation of adherent cells under regulated ultrasound cavitation conditions.

    PubMed

    Muleki Seya, Pauline; Fouqueray, Manuela; Ngo, Jacqueline; Poizat, Adrien; Inserra, Claude; Béra, Jean-Christophe

    2015-04-01

    A sonoporation device dedicated to the adherent cell monolayer has been implemented with a regulation process allowing the real-time monitoring and control of inertial cavitation activity. Use of the cavitation-regulated device revealed first that adherent cell sonoporation efficiency is related to inertial cavitation activity, without inducing additional cell mortality. Reproducibility is enhanced for the highest sonoporation rates (up to 17%); sonoporation efficiency can reach 26% when advantage is taken of the standing wave acoustic configuration by applying a frequency sweep with ultrasound frequency tuned to the modal acoustic modes of the cavity. This device allows sonoporation of adherent and suspended cells, and the use of regulation allows some environmental parameters such as the temperature of the medium to be overcome, resulting in the possibility of cell sonoporation even at ambient temperature. Copyright © 2015 World Federation for Ultrasound in Medicine & Biology. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  12. Standing wave performance test of IDT-SAW transducer prepared by silk-screen printing

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Wang, Ziping; Jiang, Zhengxuan; Chen, Liangbin; Li, Yefei; Li, Meixia; Wang, Shaohan

    2018-05-01

    With the advantages of high performance and low loss, interdigital surface acoustic wave (IDT-SAW) transducers are widely used in the fields of nondestructive testing, communication and broadcasting. The production, performance and application of surface acoustic wave (SAW) actuators has become a research hotspot. Based on the basic principle of SAW, an IDT-SAW transducer is designed and fabricated using silk-screen printing in this work. The experiment results show that in terms of SAW performance, the fabricated IDT-SAW transducer can generate standing wave fields comparable to those generated using traditional fabrication methods. The resonant frequency response of the IDT-SAW transducer and SAW attenuation coefficient were obtained by experiments. It has provided a method to test the transducer sensing performance by using fabricated IDT-SAW transducer.

  13. Influence of the frequency detuning on the four-wave mixing efficiency in three-level system coupled by standing-wave

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Zhou, Hai-Tao; Che, Shao-Na; Han, Yu-Hong; Wang, Dan

    2018-05-01

    In a Λ-type three-level atomic system coupled by an off-resonant standing-wave, the reflected four-wave mixing (FWM) spectrum is studied. It shows that the maximum reflection efficiency occurs when both of the coupling and probe fields are tuned off resonances from the atomic transitions. The essence of enhanced reflection is that the nonlinear efficiency of the FWM based on coherent atoms is improved due to the significant reduction of phase mismatch. The theoretical analysis shows good agreement with the experimental results. Furthermore, the influence of the atomic number density on the coupling frequency detuning of the optimum reflection efficiency and the linewidth are also investigated.

  14. Ultrasound Pulsed-Wave Doppler Detects an Intrathecal Location of an Epidural Catheter Tip: A Case Report.

    PubMed

    Elsharkawy, Hesham; Saasouh, Wael; Patel, Bimal; Babazade, Rovnat

    2018-04-01

    Currently, no gold standard method exists for localization of an epidural catheter after placement. The technique described in this report uses pulsed-wave Doppler (PWD) ultrasound to identify intrathecal location of an epidural catheter. A thoracic epidural catheter was inserted after multiple trials with inconclusive aspiration and test dose. Ultrasound PWD confirmed no flow in the epidural space and positive flow in the intrathecal space. A fluid aspirate was positive for glucose, reconfirming intrathecal placement. PWD is a potential tool that can be used to locate the tip of an epidural catheter.

  15. Effects of acoustic radiation force and shear waves for absorption and stiffness sensing in ultrasound modulated optical tomography.

    PubMed

    Li, Rui; Elson, Daniel S; Dunsby, Chris; Eckersley, Robert; Tang, Meng-Xing

    2011-04-11

    Ultrasound-modulated optical tomography (UOT) combines optical contrast with ultrasound spatial resolution and has great potential for soft tissue functional imaging. One current problem with this technique is the weak optical modulation signal, primarily due to strong optical scattering in diffuse media and minimal acoustically induced modulation. The acoustic radiation force (ARF) can create large particle displacements in tissue and has been shown to be able to improve optical modulation signals. However, shear wave propagation induced by the ARF can be a significant source of nonlocal optical modulation which may reduce UOT spatial resolution and contrast. In this paper, the time evolution of shear waves was examined on tissue mimicking-phantoms exposed to 5 MHz ultrasound and 532 nm optical radiation and measured with a CCD camera. It has been demonstrated that by generating an ARF with an acoustic burst and adjusting both the timing and the exposure time of the CCD measurement, optical contrast and spatial resolution can be improved by ~110% and ~40% respectively when using the ARF rather than 5 MHz ultrasound alone. Furthermore, it has been demonstrated that this technique simultaneously detects both optical and mechanical contrast in the medium and the optical and mechanical contrast can be distinguished by adjusting the CCD exposure time. © 2011 Optical Society of America

  16. Biliary lithotripsy can be enhanced with proper ultrasound probe position.

    PubMed

    Affronti, J; Flournoy, T; Akers, S; Baillie, J

    1992-04-01

    We have demonstrated in our in vitro system that an extracorporeal lithotripter utilizing a movable ultrasound probe can fragment gallstones more effectively when the ultrasound probe is not partially blocking shock waves. Using a pressure transducer we measured the pressures in the focal volume of a Wolf Piezolith 2300 lithotripter with the ultrasound probe fully extended and fully retracted. We also chose 12 pairs of twin gallstones, each taken from the same gallbladder. One stone from each pair was subjected to shock waves while the ultrasound probe was fully extended and the other treated while the probe was fully retracted. Shock wave pressures (which are converted to a measurable voltage output by our transducer) were clearly lower when the ultrasound probe was extended (5.45 volts; SEM = 0.10 volts) as compared to when the ultrasound scanner was retracted (6.7 volts: SEM = 0.08 volts). Significantly more shock waves were required to completely fragment stones when the ultrasound scanner was extended than when it was retracted (p = 0.01 using the nonparametric Wilcoxon's signed rank test). These results show that, in the lithotripter tested, an extended in-line ultrasound scanner can partially block shock waves. Retraction of an extendible ultrasound probe may enhance stone fragmentation when operating at the highest shock wave intensity.

  17. The Application of Ultrasound in 3D Bio-Printing.

    PubMed

    Zhou, Yufeng

    2016-05-05

    Three-dimensional (3D) bioprinting is an emerging and promising technology in tissue engineering to construct tissues and organs for implantation. Alignment of self-assembly cell spheroids that are used as bioink could be very accurate after droplet ejection from bioprinter. Complex and heterogeneous tissue structures could be built using rapid additive manufacture technology and multiple cell lines. Effective vascularization in the engineered tissue samples is critical in any clinical application. In this review paper, the current technologies and processing steps (such as printing, preparation of bioink, cross-linking, tissue fusion and maturation) in 3D bio-printing are introduced, and their specifications are compared with each other. In addition, the application of ultrasound in this novel field is also introduced. Cells experience acoustic radiation force in ultrasound standing wave field (USWF) and then accumulate at the pressure node at low acoustic pressure. Formation of cell spheroids by this method is within minutes with uniform size and homogeneous cell distribution. Neovessel formation from USWF-induced endothelial cell spheroids is significant. Low-intensity ultrasound could enhance the proliferation and differentiation of stem cells. Its use is at low cost and compatible with current bioreactor. In summary, ultrasound application in 3D bio-printing may solve some challenges and enhance the outcomes.

  18. Mobile Ultrasound Plane Wave Beamforming on iPhone or iPad using Metal- based GPU Processing

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Hewener, Holger J.; Tretbar, Steffen H.

    Mobile and cost effective ultrasound devices are being used in point of care scenarios or the drama room. To reduce the costs of such devices we already presented the possibilities of consumer devices like the Apple iPad for full signal processing of raw data for ultrasound image generation. Using technologies like plane wave imaging to generate a full image with only one excitation/reception event the acquisition times and power consumption of ultrasound imaging can be reduced for low power mobile devices based on consumer electronics realizing the transition from FPGA or ASIC based beamforming into more flexible software beamforming. The massive parallel beamforming processing can be done with the Apple framework "Metal" for advanced graphics and general purpose GPU processing for the iOS platform. We were able to integrate the beamforming reconstruction into our mobile ultrasound processing application with imaging rates up to 70 Hz on iPad Air 2 hardware.

  19. Guiding tissue regeneration with ultrasound in vitro and in vivo

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Dalecki, Diane; Comeau, Eric S.; Raeman, Carol H.; Child, Sally Z.; Hobbs, Laura; Hocking, Denise C.

    2015-05-01

    Developing new technologies that enable the repair or replacement of injured or diseased tissues is a major focus of regenerative medicine. This paper will discuss three ultrasound technologies under development in our laboratories to guide tissue regeneration both in vitro and in vivo. A critical obstacle in tissue engineering is the need for rapid and effective tissue vascularization strategies. To address this challenge, we are developing acoustic patterning techniques for microvascular tissue engineering. Acoustic radiation forces associated with ultrasound standing wave fields provide a rapid, non-invasive approach to spatially pattern cells in three dimensions without affecting cell viability. Acoustic patterning of endothelial cells leads to the rapid formation of microvascular networks throughout the volumes of three-dimensional hydrogels, and the morphology of the resultant microvessel networks can be controlled by design of the ultrasound field. A second technology under development uses ultrasound to noninvasively control the microstructure of collagen fibers within engineered tissues. The microstructure of extracellular matrix proteins provides signals that direct cell functions critical to tissue regeneration. Thus, controlling collagen microfiber structure with ultrasound provides a noninvasive approach to regulate the mechanical properties of biomaterials and control cellular responses. The third technology employs therapeutic ultrasound to enhance the healing of chronic wounds. Recent studies demonstrate increased granulation tissue thickness and collagen deposition in murine dermal wounds exposed to pulsed ultrasound. In summary, ultrasound technologies offer noninvasive approaches to control cell behaviors and extracellular matrix organization and thus hold great promise to advance tissue regeneration in vitro and in vivo.

  20. Optical trapping and Raman spectroscopy of single nanostructures using standing-wave Raman tweezers

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Wu, Mu-ying; He, Lin; Chen, Gui-hua; Yang, Guang; Li, Yong-qing

    2017-08-01

    Optical tweezers integrated with Raman spectroscopy allows analyzing a single trapped micro-particle, but is generally less effective for individual nano-sized objects in the 10-100 nm range. The main challenge is the weak gradient force on nanoparticles that is insufficient to overcome the destabilizing effect of scattering force and Brownian motion. Here, we present standing-wave Raman tweezers for stable trapping and sensitive characterization of single isolated nanostructures with a low laser power by combining a standing-wave optical trap (SWOT) with confocal Raman spectroscopy. This scheme has stronger intensity gradients and balanced scattering forces, and thus is more stable and sensitive in measuring nanoparticles in liquid with 4-8 fold increase in the Raman signals. It can be used to analyze many nanoparticles that cannot be measured with single-beam Raman tweezers, including individual single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWCNT), graphene flakes, biological particles, polystyrene beads (100 nm), SERS-active metal nanoparticles, and high-refractive semiconductor nanoparticles with a low laser power of a few milliwatts. This would enable sorting and characterization of specific SWCNTs and other nanoparticles based on their increased Raman fingerprints.

  1. Transportation of single cell and microbubbles by phase-shift introduced to standing leaky surface acoustic waves

    PubMed Central

    Meng, Long; Cai, Feiyan; Zhang, Zidong; Niu, Lili; Jin, Qiaofeng; Yan, Fei; Wu, Junru; Wang, Zhanhui; Zheng, Hairong

    2011-01-01

    A microfluidic device was developed to precisely transport a single cell or multiple microbubbles by introducing phase-shifts to a standing leaky surface acoustic wave (SLSAW). The device consists of a polydimethyl-siloxane (PDMS) microchannel and two phase-tunable interdigital transducers (IDTs) for the generation of the relative phase for the pair of surface acoustic waves (SAW) propagating along the opposite directions forming a standing wave. When the SAW contacts the fluid medium inside the microchannel, some of SAW energy is coupled to the fluid and the SAW becomes the leaky surface wave. By modulating the relative phase between two IDTs, the positions of pressure nodes of the SLSAW in the microchannel change linearly resulting in the transportation of a single cell or microbubbles. The results also reveal that there is a good linear relationship between the relative phase and the displacement of a single cell or microbubbles. Furthermore, the single cell and the microbubbles can be transported over a predetermined distance continuously until they reach the targeted locations. This technique has its distinct advantages, such as precise position-manipulation, simple to implement, miniature size, and noninvasive character, which may provide an effective method for the position-manipulation of a single cell and microbubbles in many biological and biomedical applications. PMID:22662056

  2. Communication: Development of standing evanescent-wave fluorescence correlation spectroscopy and its application to the lateral diffusion of lipids in a supported lipid bilayer

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Otosu, Takuhiro; Yamaguchi, Shoichi

    2017-07-01

    We present standing evanescent-wave fluorescence correlation spectroscopy (SEW-FCS). This technique utilizes the interference of two evanescent waves which generates a standing evanescent-wave. Fringe-pattern illumination created by a standing evanescent-wave enables us to measure the diffusion coefficients of molecules with a super-resolution corresponding to one fringe width. Because the fringe width can be reliably estimated by a simple procedure, utilization of fringes is beneficial to quantitatively analyze the slow diffusion of molecules in a supported lipid bilayer (SLB), a model biomembrane formed on a solid substrate, with the timescale relevant for reliable FCS analysis. Furthermore, comparison of the data between SEW-FCS and conventional total-internal reflection FCS, which can also be performed by the SEW-FCS instrument, effectively eliminates the artifact due to afterpulsing of the photodiode detector. The versatility of SEW-FCS is demonstrated by its application to various SLBs.

  3. Standing spin-wave mode structure and linewidth in partially disordered hexagonal arrays of perpendicularly magnetized sub-micron Permalloy discs

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

    Ross, N., E-mail: rossn2282@gmail.com; Kostylev, M., E-mail: mikhail.kostylev@uwa.edu.au; Stamps, R. L.

    2014-09-21

    Standing spin wave mode frequencies and linewidths in partially disordered perpendicular magnetized arrays of sub-micron Permalloy discs are measured using broadband ferromagnetic resonance and compared to analytical results from a single, isolated disc. The measured mode structure qualitatively reproduces the structure expected from the theory. Fitted demagnetizing parameters decrease with increasing array disorder. The frequency difference between the first and second radial modes is found to be higher in the measured array systems than predicted by theory for an isolated disc. The relative frequencies between successive spin wave modes are unaffected by reduction of the long-range ordering of discs inmore » the array. An increase in standing spin wave resonance linewidth at low applied magnetic fields is observed and grows more severe with increased array disorder.« less

  4. Ultrasound shear wave imaging

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Ye, Shigong; Wu, Junru

    2000-05-01

    Shear wave propagation properties including phase velocity and attenuation coefficient are indispensable information in materials characterization and nondestructive evaluation. A computer controlled scanning shear-wave ultrasonic imaging system has been developed. It consists of a pair of focusing broadband pvdf transducers of central frequency of 50 MHz immersed in distilled water. Shear waves in a solid specimen are generated by mode-conversion. When ultrasonic waves generated by one of the pvdf transducers impinge upon a solid specimen from water with angle of incidence of θ that is greater than θcr, the critical angle of the longitudinal wave in the solid, only shear waves can propagate in the solid and longitudinal waves become evanescent waves. The shear waves pass through the specimen and received by the other pvdf transducer. Meanwhile, the specimen was scanned by a stepped motor of a step of 10 μm. The system was used to generated shear waves amplitude and phase velocity images of bone specimen of 1280 μm and they are compared with their longitudinal wave counterparts. The results have shown shear wave images can provide additional shear modulus and shear viscous information that longitudinal waves can't provide. The lateral resolution of 60 μm was achieved using shear wave imaging technique applied in bone sample.

  5. Measurement of carotid pulse wave velocity using ultrafast ultrasound imaging in hypertensive patients.

    PubMed

    Li, Xiaopeng; Jiang, Jue; Zhang, Hong; Wang, Hua; Han, Donggang; Zhou, Qi; Gao, Ya; Yu, Shanshan; Qi, Yanhua

    2017-04-01

    The study aimed to assess the utility of ultrafast ultrasound imaging for evaluation of carotid pulse wave velocity (PWV) in newly diagnosed hypertension patients. This prospective non-randomized study enrolled 90 hypertensive patients in our hospital from September to December 2013 as a hypertension group. An age- and sex-matched cohort of 50 healthy adults in our hospital from September to December 2013 was also included in the study as a control group. Carotid PWV at the beginning and at the end of systole (PWV-BS and PWV-ES, respectively) and intima-media thickness (IMT) were measured by ultrafast ultrasound imaging technology. The associations of PWV-BS, PWV-ES, and IMT with hypertension stage were evaluated by Spearman correlation analysis. PWV-BS and PWV-ES in the hypertension group were significantly elevated compared with those in control group. Different hypertension stages significantly differed in PWV-BS and PWV-ES. PWV-BS and PWV-ES appeared to increase with the hypertension stage. Moreover, IMT, PWV-BS, and PWV-ES were positively correlated with the hypertension stage in hypertensive patients. Ultrafast ultrasound imaging was a valid and convenient method for the measurement of carotid PWV in hypertensive patients. Ultrafast ultrasound imaging might be recommended as a promising alternative method for early detection of arterial abnormality in clinical practice.

  6. Nonlinear standing wave excitation by series resonance-enhanced harmonics in low pressure capacitive discharges

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Lieberman, M. A.; Lichtenberg, A. J.; Kawamura, Emi; Marakhtanov, A. M.

    2015-09-01

    It is well known that standing waves having radially center-high rf voltage profiles exist in high frequency capacitive discharges. It is also known that in radially uniform discharges, the capacitive sheath nonlinearities excite strong nonlinear series resonance harmonics that enhance the electron power deposition. In this work, we consider the coupling of the series resonance-enhanced harmonics to the standing waves. A one-dimensional, asymmetric radial transmission line model is developed incorporating the wave and nonlinear sheath physics and a self-consistent dc potential. The resulting coupled pde equation set is solved numerically to determine the discharge voltages and currents. A 10 mT argon base case is chosen with plasma density 2 ×1016 m-3, gap width 2 cm and conducting electrode radius 15 cm, driven by a high frequency 500 V source with source resistance 0.5 ohms. We find that nearby resonances lead to an enhanced ratio of 4.5 of the electron power per unit area on axis, compared to the average. The radial dependence of electron power with frequency shows significant variations, with the central enhancement and sharpness of the spatial resonances depending in a complicated way on the harmonic structure. Work supported by DOE Fusion Energy Science Contract DE-SC000193 and by a gift from the Lam Research Corporation.

  7. Added value of Virtual Touch IQ shear wave elastography in the ultrasound assessment of breast lesions.

    PubMed

    Ianculescu, Victor; Ciolovan, Laura Maria; Dunant, Ariane; Vielh, Philippe; Mazouni, Chafika; Delaloge, Suzette; Dromain, Clarisse; Blidaru, Alexandru; Balleyguier, Corinne

    2014-05-01

    To determine the diagnostic performance of Acoustic Radiation Force Impulse (ARFI) Virtual Touch IQ shear wave elastography in the discrimination of benign and malignant breast lesions. Conventional B-mode and elasticity imaging were used to evaluate 110 breast lesions. Elastographic assessment of breast tissue abnormalities was done using a shear wave based technique, Virtual Touch IQ (VTIQ), implemented on a Siemens Acuson S3000 ultrasound machine. Tissue mechanical properties were interpreted as two-dimensional qualitative and quantitative colour maps displaying relative shear wave velocity. Wave speed measurements in m/s were possible at operator defined regions of interest. The pathologic diagnosis was established on samples obtained by ultrasound guided core biopsy or fine needle aspiration. BIRADS based B-mode evaluation of the 48 benign and 62 malignant lesions achieved 92% sensitivity and 62.5% specificity. Subsequently performed VTIQ elastography relying on visual interpretation of the colour overlay displaying relative shear wave velocities managed similar standalone diagnostic performance with 92% sensitivity and 64.6% specificity. Lesion and surrounding tissue shear wave speed values were calculated and a significant difference was found between the benign and malignant populations (Mann-Whitney U test, p<0.0001). By selecting a lesion cut-off value of 3.31m/s we achieved 80.4% sensitivity and 73% specificity. Applying this threshold only to BIRADS 4a masses, we reached overall levels of 92% sensitivity and 72.9% specificity. VTIQ qualitative and quantitative elastography has the potential to further characterise B-mode detected breast lesions, increasing specificity and reducing the number of unnecessary biopsies. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

  8. 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.

  9. Experimental investigation of standing wave effect in dual-frequency capacitively coupled argon discharges: role of a low-frequency source

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Zhao, Kai; Liu, Yong-Xin; Kawamura, E.; Wen, De-Qi; Lieberman, M. A.; Wang, You-Nian

    2018-05-01

    It is well known that the plasma non-uniformity caused by the standing wave effect has brought about great challenges for plasma material processing. To improve the plasma uniformity, a low-frequency (LF) power source is introduced into a 100 MHz very-high-frequency (VHF) capacitively coupled argon plasma reactor. The effect of the LF parameters (LF voltage amplitude ϕ L and LF source f L) on the radial profile of plasma density has been investigated by utilizing a hairpin probe. The result at a low pressure (1 Pa) is compared to the one obtained by a 2D fluid-analytical capacitively coupled plasma model, showing good agreement in the plasma density radial profile. The experimental results show that the plasma density profile exhibits different dependences on ϕ L and f L at different gas pressures/electrode driven types (i.e., the two rf sources are applied on one electrode (case I) and separate electrodes (case II)). At low pressures (e.g., 8 Pa), the pronounced standing wave effect revealed in a VHF discharge can be suppressed at a relatively high ϕ L or a low f L in case I, because the HF sheath heating is largely weakened due to strong modulation by the LF source. By contrast, ϕ L and f L play insignificant roles in suppressing the standing wave effect in case II. At high pressures (e.g., 20 Pa), the opposite is true. The plasma density radial profile is more sensitive to ϕ L and f L in case II than in case I. In case II, the standing wave effect is surprisingly enhanced with increasing ϕ L at higher pressures; however, the center-high density profile caused by the standing wave effect can be compensated by increasing f L due to the enhanced electrostatic edge effect dominated by the LF source. In contrast, the density radial profile shows a much weaker dependence on ϕ L and f L in case I at higher pressures. To understand the different roles of ϕ L and f L, the electron excitation dynamics in each case are analyzed based on the measured spatio

  10. Arterial wave intensity and ventricular-arterial coupling by vascular ultrasound: rationale and methods for the automated analysis of forwards and backwards running waves.

    PubMed

    Rakebrandt, F; Palombo, C; Swampillai, J; Schön, F; Donald, A; Kozàkovà, M; Kato, K; Fraser, A G

    2009-02-01

    Wave intensity (WI) in the circulation is estimated noninvasively as the product of instantaneous changes in pressure and velocity. We recorded diameter as a surrogate for pressure, and velocity in the right common carotid artery using an Aloka SSD-5500 ultrasound scanner. We developed automated software, applying the water hammer equation to obtain local wave speed from the slope of a pressure/velocity loop during early systole to separate net WI into individual forwards and backwards-running waves. A quality index was developed to test for noisy data. The timing, duration, peak amplitude and net energy of separated WI components were measured in healthy subjects with a wide age range. Age and arterial stiffness were independent predictors of local wave speed, whereas backwards-travelling waves correlated more strongly with ventricular systolic function than with age-related changes in arterial stiffness. Separated WI offers detailed insight into ventricular-arterial interactions that may be useful for assessing the relative contributions of ventricular and vascular function to wave travel.

  11. Fast decomposition of two ultrasound longitudinal waves in cancellous bone using a phase rotation parameter for bone quality assessment: Simulation study.

    PubMed

    Taki, Hirofumi; Nagatani, Yoshiki; Matsukawa, Mami; Kanai, Hiroshi; Izumi, Shin-Ichi

    2017-10-01

    Ultrasound signals that pass through cancellous bone may be considered to consist of two longitudinal waves, which are called fast and slow waves. Accurate decomposition of these fast and slow waves is considered to be highly beneficial in determination of the characteristics of cancellous bone. In the present study, a fast decomposition method using a wave transfer function with a phase rotation parameter was applied to received signals that have passed through bovine bone specimens with various bone volume to total volume (BV/TV) ratios in a simulation study, where the elastic finite-difference time-domain method is used and the ultrasound wave propagated parallel to the bone axes. The proposed method succeeded to decompose both fast and slow waves accurately; the normalized residual intensity was less than -19.5 dB when the specimen thickness ranged from 4 to 7 mm and the BV/TV value ranged from 0.144 to 0.226. There was a strong relationship between the phase rotation value and the BV/TV value. The ratio of the peak envelope amplitude of the decomposed fast wave to that of the slow wave increased monotonically with increasing BV/TV ratio, indicating the high performance of the proposed method in estimation of the BV/TV value in cancellous bone.

  12. Digital data-acquisition system for measuring the free decay of acoustical standing waves in a resonant tube

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Meredith, R. W.; Zuckerwar, A. J.

    1984-01-01

    A low-cost digital system based on an 8-bit Apple II microcomputer has been designed to provide on-line control, data acquisition, and evaluation of sound absorption measurements in gases. The measurements are conducted in a resonant tube, in which an acoustical standing wave is excited, the excitation removed, and the sound absorption evaluated from the free decay envelope. The free decay is initiated from the computer keyboard after the standing wave is established, and the microphone response signal is the source of the analog signal for the A/D converter. The acquisition software is written in ASSEMBLY language and the evaluation software in BASIC. This paper describes the acoustical measurement, hardware, software, and system performance and presents measurements of sound absorption in air as an example.

  13. Streaming flow from ultrasound contrast agents by acoustic waves in a blood vessel model.

    PubMed

    Cho, Eunjin; Chung, Sang Kug; Rhee, Kyehan

    2015-09-01

    To elucidate the effects of streaming flow on ultrasound contrast agent (UCA)-assisted drug delivery, streaming velocity fields from sonicated UCA microbubbles were measured using particle image velocimetry (PIV) in a blood vessel model. At the beginning of ultrasound sonication, the UCA bubbles formed clusters and translated in the direction of the ultrasound field. Bubble cluster formation and translation were faster with 2.25MHz sonication, a frequency close to the resonance frequency of the UCA. Translation of bubble clusters induced streaming jet flow that impinged on the vessel wall, forming symmetric vortices. The maximum streaming velocity was about 60mm/s at 2.25MHz and decreased to 15mm/s at 1.0MHz for the same acoustic pressure amplitude. The effect of the ultrasound frequency on wall shear stress was more noticeable. Maximum wall shear stress decreased from 0.84 to 0.1Pa as the ultrasound frequency decreased from 2.25 to 1.0MHz. The maximum spatial gradient of the wall shear stress also decreased from 1.0 to 0.1Pa/mm. This study showed that streaming flow was induced by bubble cluster formation and translation and was stronger upon sonication by an acoustic wave with a frequency near the UCA resonance frequency. Therefore, the secondary radiant force, which is much stronger at the resonance frequency, should play an important role in UCA-assisted drug delivery. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  14. Diffusing-wave spectroscopy in an inhomogeneous object: Local viscoelastic spectra from ultrasound-assisted measurement of correlation decay arising from the ultrasound focal volume

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Chandran, R. Sriram; Sarkar, Saikat; Kanhirodan, Rajan; Roy, Debasish; Vasu, Ram Mohan

    2014-07-01

    We demonstrate diffusing-wave spectroscopy (DWS) in a localized region of a viscoelastically inhomogeneous object by measurement of the intensity autocorrelation [g2(τ)] that captures only the decay introduced by the temperature-induced Brownian motion in the region. The region is roughly specified by the focal volume of an ultrasound transducer which introduces region specific mechanical vibration owing to insonification. Essential characteristics of the localized non-Markovian dynamics are contained in the decay of the modulation depth [M(τ)], introduced by the ultrasound forcing in the focal volume selected, on g2(τ). The modulation depth M (τi) at any delay time τi can be measured by short-time Fourier transform of g2(τ) and measurement of the magnitude of the spectrum at the ultrasound drive frequency. By following the established theoretical framework of DWS, we are able to connect the decay in M (τ) to the mean-squared displacement (MSD) of scattering centers and the MSD to G*(ω), the complex viscoelastic spectrum. A two-region composite polyvinyl alcohol phantom with different viscoelastic properties is selected for demonstrating local DWS-based recovery of G*(ω) corresponding to these regions from the measured region specific M (τi)vsτi. The ultrasound-assisted measurement of MSD is verified by simulating, using a generalized Langevin equation (GLE), the dynamics of the particles in the region selected as well as by the usual DWS experiment without the ultrasound. It is shown that whereas the MSD obtained by solving the GLE without the ultrasound forcing agreed with its experimental counterpart covering small and large values of τ, the match was good only in the initial transients in regard to experimental measurements with ultrasound.

  15. An experimental study on the coalescence process of binary droplets in oil under ultrasonic standing waves.

    PubMed

    Luo, Xiaoming; Cao, Juhang; He, Limin; Wang, Hongping; Yan, Haipeng; Qin, Yahua

    2017-01-01

    The coalescence process of binary droplets in oil under ultrasonic standing waves was investigated with high-speed photography. Three motion models of binary droplets in coalescence process were illustrated: (1) slight translational oscillation; (2) sinusoidal translational oscillation; (3) migration along with acoustic streaming. To reveal the droplets coalescence mechanisms, the influence of main factors (such as acoustic intensity, droplet size, viscosity and interfacial tension, etc) on the motion and coalescence of binary droplets was studied under ultrasonic standing waves. Results indicate that the shortest coalescence time is achieved when binary droplets show sinusoidal translational oscillation. The corresponding acoustic intensity in this case is the optimum acoustic intensity. Under the optimum acoustic intensity, drop size decrease will bring about coalescence time decrease by enhancing the binary droplets oscillation. Moreover, there is an optimum interfacial tension to achieve the shortest coalescence time. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  16. Modeling of shock wave propagation in large amplitude ultrasound.

    PubMed

    Pinton, Gianmarco F; Trahey, Gregg E

    2008-01-01

    The Rankine-Hugoniot relation for shock wave propagation describes the shock speed of a nonlinear wave. This paper investigates time-domain numerical methods that solve the nonlinear parabolic wave equation, or the Khokhlov-Zabolotskaya-Kuznetsov (KZK) equation, and the conditions they require to satisfy the Rankine-Hugoniot relation. Two numerical methods commonly used in hyperbolic conservation laws are adapted to solve the KZK equation: Godunov's method and the monotonic upwind scheme for conservation laws (MUSCL). It is shown that they satisfy the Rankine-Hugoniot relation regardless of attenuation. These two methods are compared with the current implicit solution based method. When the attenuation is small, such as in water, the current method requires a degree of grid refinement that is computationally impractical. All three numerical methods are compared in simulations for lithotripters and high intensity focused ultrasound (HIFU) where the attenuation is small compared to the nonlinearity because much of the propagation occurs in water. The simulations are performed on grid sizes that are consistent with present-day computational resources but are not sufficiently refined for the current method to satisfy the Rankine-Hugoniot condition. It is shown that satisfying the Rankine-Hugoniot conditions has a significant impact on metrics relevant to lithotripsy (such as peak pressures) and HIFU (intensity). Because the Godunov and MUSCL schemes satisfy the Rankine-Hugoniot conditions on coarse grids, they are particularly advantageous for three-dimensional simulations.

  17. Ring modulators with enhanced efficiency based on standing-wave operation on a field-matched, interdigitated p-n junction.

    PubMed

    Pavanello, Fabio; Zeng, Xiaoge; Wade, Mark T; Popović, Miloš A

    2016-11-28

    We propose ring modulators based on interdigitated p-n junctions that exploit standing rather than traveling-wave resonant modes to improve modulation efficiency, insertion loss and speed. Matching the longitudinal nodes and antinodes of a standing-wave mode with high (contacts) and low (depletion regions) carrier density regions, respectively, simultaneously lowers loss and increases sensitivity significantly. This approach permits further to relax optical constraints on contacts placement and can lead to lower device capacitance. Such structures are well-matched to fabrication in advanced microelectronics CMOS processes. Device architectures that exploit this concept are presented along with their benefits and drawbacks. A temporal coupled mode theory model is used to investigate the static and dynamic response. We show that modulation efficiencies or loss Q factors up to 2 times higher than in previous traveling-wave geometries can be achieved leading to much larger extinction ratios. Finally, we discuss more complex doping geometries that can improve carrier dynamics for higher modulation speeds in this context.

  18. Improved Plane-Wave Ultrasound Beamforming by Incorporating Angular Weighting and Coherent Compounding in Fourier Domain.

    PubMed

    Chen, Chuan; Hendriks, Gijs A G M; van Sloun, Ruud J G; Hansen, Hendrik H G; de Korte, Chris L

    2018-05-01

    In this paper, a novel processing framework is introduced for Fourier-domain beamforming of plane-wave ultrasound data, which incorporates coherent compounding and angular weighting in the Fourier domain. Angular weighting implies spectral weighting by a 2-D steering-angle-dependent filtering template. The design of this filter is also optimized as part of this paper. Two widely used Fourier-domain plane-wave ultrasound beamforming methods, i.e., Lu's f-k and Stolt's f-k methods, were integrated in the framework. To enable coherent compounding in Fourier domain for the Stolt's f-k method, the original Stolt's f-k method was modified to achieve alignment of the spectra for different steering angles in k-space. The performance of the framework was compared for both methods with and without angular weighting using experimentally obtained data sets (phantom and in vivo), and data sets (phantom) provided by the IEEE IUS 2016 plane-wave beamforming challenge. The addition of angular weighting enhanced the image contrast while preserving image resolution. This resulted in images of equal quality as those obtained by conventionally used delay-and-sum (DAS) beamforming with apodization and coherent compounding. Given the lower computational load of the proposed framework compared to DAS, to our knowledge it can, therefore, be concluded that it outperforms commonly used beamforming methods such as Stolt's f-k, Lu's f-k, and DAS.

  19. Properties of TEM standing waves with E||B

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Zaghloul, H.; Buckmaster, H. A.

    This paper summarizes the known properties of E∥B TEM standing waves and shows that for such waves (i) E and B cannot be linearly polarized, (ii) E ≠ αB where α is a constant (iii) it is impossible to find a Lorentz frame where E>B, (iv) direction of the propagation vector cannot be inferred from the fields at one point of the space, (v) their behaviour under Lorentz, parity, time-reversal and gauge transformations is proper, (vi) both Lorentz invariants E2 - B2 and E·B are nonzero, (vii) the magnetic helicity may be nonzero, (viii) the magnetic field may be force-free, and (ix) kμFμv ≠ 0. It also shows how electromagnetic waves can be classified using Lorentz invariants. Cet article résume les qualités connues des ondes stationnaires E∥B TEM et montre que pour des ondes parallèles (i) E et B ne peuvent pas être polarisées linéairement, (ii) E ≠ αB où a est une constante, (iii) il est impossible de trouver une construction de Lorentz où E>B, (iv) la direction de propagation d'un vecteur ne peut pas être déduite des opérations à un point d'intervalle, (v) leur conduite sous Lorentz, parité, temps inverse et transformations de jauge est propre, (vi) les deux invariants de Lorentz E2 - B2 et E·B sont non nulles (vii) l'hélice magnétique peut être non nulle (viii) l'opération magnétique peut être de force libre et (ix) KμFμ v ≠ 0. Ceci montre aussi comment les ondes électromagnétiques peuvent être classifiées, en employant les invariants de Lorentz.

  20. Value of ultrasound shear wave elastography in the diagnosis of adenomyosis

    PubMed Central

    Millar, E; Mitkova, M; Mitkov, V

    2016-01-01

    Background The aim of the study was to assess the accuracy of ultrasound shear wave elastography in the diagnosis of adenomyosis. Methods One hundred and fifty three patients were examined. Ninety-seven patients were with suspected adenomyosis and 56 patients were with unremarkable myometrium. Adenomyosis was confirmed in 39 cases (A subgroup) and excluded in 14 cases (B subgroup) in the main group based on morphological examination. All patients underwent ultrasound examination using an Aixplorer (Supersonic Imagine, France) scanner with application of shear wave elastography during transvaginal scanning. Retrospective analysis of the elastography criteria against the findings from morphological/histological examination was performed. Results The following values of Young’s modulus were found in subgroup A (adenomyosis): Emean – 72.7 (22.6–274.2) kPa (median, 5–95th percentiles), Emax – 94.8 (29.3–300.0) kPa, SD – 9.9 (2.6–26.3) kPa; in subgroup B (non adenomyosis) – 28.3 (12.7–59.5) kPa, 33.6 (16.0–80.8) kPa, 3.0 (1.4–15.6) kPa; in the control group – 24.4 (17.9–32.4) kPa, 29.8 (21.6–40.8) kPa, 2.3 (1.3–6.1) kPa, respectively (P < 0.05 for all comparison with subgroup В and the control group). The Emean cut-off value for adenomyosis diagnosis was 34.6 kPa. The sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value, negative predictive value and area under curve (AUC) were 89.7%, 92.9%, 97.2%, 76.5% and 0.908. The Emax cut-off value was 45.4 kPa (89.7%, 92.9%, 97.2%, 76.5% and 0.907, respectively). Conclusion This study showed a significant increase of the myometrial stiffness estimated with shear wave elastography use in patients with adenomyosis. PMID:27847535

  1. Differentiating benign from malignant solid breast masses: value of shear wave elastography according to lesion stiffness combined with greyscale ultrasound according to BI-RADS classification.

    PubMed

    Evans, A; Whelehan, P; Thomson, K; Brauer, K; Jordan, L; Purdie, C; McLean, D; Baker, L; Vinnicombe, S; Thompson, A

    2012-07-10

    The aim of this study was to assess the performance of shear wave elastography combined with BI-RADS classification of greyscale ultrasound images for benign/malignant differentiation in a large group of patients. One hundred and seventy-five consecutive patients with solid breast masses on routine ultrasonography undergoing percutaneous biopsy had the greyscale findings classified according to the American College of Radiology BI-RADS. The mean elasticity values from four shear wave images were obtained. For mean elasticity vs greyscale BI-RADS, the performance results against histology were sensitivity: 95% vs 95%, specificity: 77% vs 69%, Positive Predictive Value (PPV): 88% vs 84%, Negative Predictive Value (NPV): 90% vs 91%, and accuracy: 89% vs 86% (all P>0.05). The results for the combination (positive result from either modality counted as malignant) were sensitivity 100%, specificity 61%, PPV 82%, NPV 100%, and accuracy 86%. The combination of BI-RADS greyscale and shear wave elastography yielded superior sensitivity to BI-RADS alone (P=0.03) or shear wave alone (P=0.03). The NPV was superior in combination compared with either alone (BI-RADS P=0.01 and shear wave P=0.02). Together, BI-RADS assessment of greyscale ultrasound images and shear wave ultrasound elastography are extremely sensitive for detection of malignancy.

  2. Acoustic radiation force on an air bubble and soft fluid spheres in ideal liquids: example of a high-order Bessel beam of quasi-standing waves.

    PubMed

    Mitri, F G

    2009-04-01

    The partial wave series for the scattering of a high-order Bessel beam (HOBB) of acoustic quasi-standing waves by an air bubble and fluid spheres immersed in water and centered on the axis of the beam is applied to the calculation of the acoustic radiation force. A HOBB refers to a type of beam having an axial amplitude null and an azimuthal phase gradient. Radiation force examples obtained through numerical evaluation of the radiation force function are computed for an air bubble, a hexane, a red blood and mercury fluid spheres in water. The examples were selected to illustrate conditions having progressive, standing and quasi-standing waves with appropriate selection of the waves' amplitude ratio. An especially noteworthy result is the lack of a specific vibrational mode contribution to the radiation force determined by appropriate selection of the HOBB parameters.

  3. X-ray standing wave analysis of nanostructures using partially coherent radiation

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

    Tiwari, M. K., E-mail: mktiwari@rrcat.gov.in; Das, Gangadhar; Bedzyk, M. J.

    2015-09-07

    The effect of longitudinal (or temporal) coherence on total reflection assisted x-ray standing wave (TR-XSW) analysis of nanoscale materials is quantitatively demonstrated by showing how the XSW fringe visibility can be strongly damped by decreasing the spectral resolution of the incident x-ray beam. The correction for nonzero wavelength dispersion (δλ ≠ 0) of the incident x-ray wave field is accounted for in the model computations of TR-XSW assisted angle dependent fluorescence yields of the nanostructure coatings on x-ray mirror surfaces. Given examples include 90 nm diameter Au nanospheres deposited on a Si(100) surface and a 3 nm thick Zn layer trapped on top amore » 100 nm Langmuir-Blodgett film coating on a Au mirror surface. Present method opens up important applications, such as enabling XSW studies of large dimensioned nanostructures using conventional laboratory based partially coherent x-ray sources.« less

  4. Van Allen Probes Observations of Second Harmonic Poloidal Standing Alfvén Waves

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Takahashi, Kazue; Oimatsu, Satoshi; Nosé, Masahito; Min, Kyungguk; Claudepierre, Seth G.; Chan, Anthony; Wygant, John; Kim, Hyomin

    2018-01-01

    Long-lasting second-harmonic poloidal standing Alfvén waves (P2 waves) were observed by the twin Van Allen Probes (Radiation Belt Storm Probes, or RBSP) spacecraft in the noon sector of the plasmasphere, when the spacecraft were close to the magnetic equator and had a small azimuthal separation. Oscillations of proton fluxes at the wave frequency (˜10 mHz) were also observed in the energy (W) range 50-300 keV. Using the unique RBSP orbital configuration, we determined the phase delay of magnetic field perturbations between the spacecraft with a 2nπ ambiguity. We then used finite gyroradius effects seen in the proton flux oscillations to remove the ambiguity and found that the waves were propagating westward with an azimuthal wave number (m) of ˜-200. The phase of the proton flux oscillations relative to the radial component of the wave magnetic field progresses with W, crossing 0 (northward moving protons) or 180° (southward moving protons) at W ˜ 120 keV. This feature is explained by drift-bounce resonance (mωd ˜ ωb) of ˜120 keV protons with the waves, where ωd and ωb are the proton drift and bounce frequencies. At lower energies, the proton phase space density (FH+) exhibits a bump-on-tail structure with ∂FH+/∂W>0 occurring in the 1-10 keV energy range. This FH+ is unstable and can excite P2 waves through bounce resonance (ω ˜ ωb), where ω is the wave frequency.

  5. Comb-push Ultrasound Shear Elastography (CUSE) with Various Ultrasound Push Beams

    PubMed Central

    Song, Pengfei; Urban, Matthew W.; Manduca, Armando; Zhao, Heng; Greenleaf, James F.; Chen, Shigao

    2013-01-01

    Comb-push Ultrasound Shear Elastography (CUSE) has recently been shown to be a fast and accurate two-dimensional (2D) elasticity imaging technique that can provide a full field-of- view (FOV) shear wave speed map with only one rapid data acquisition. The initial version of CUSE was termed U-CUSE because unfocused ultrasound push beams were used. In this paper, we present two new versions of CUSE – Focused CUSE (F-CUSE) and Marching CUSE (M-CUSE), which use focused ultrasound push beams to improve acoustic radiation force penetration and produce stronger shear waves in deep tissues (e.g. kidney and liver). F-CUSE divides transducer elements into several subgroups which transmit multiple focused ultrasound beams simultaneously. M-CUSE uses more elements for each focused push beam and laterally marches the push beams. Both F-CUSE and M-CUSE can generate comb-shaped shear wave fields that have shear wave motion at each imaging pixel location so that a full FOV 2D shear wave speed map can be reconstructed with only one data acquisition. Homogeneous phantom experiments showed that U-CUSE, F-CUSE and M-CUSE can all produce smooth shear wave speed maps with accurate shear wave speed estimates. An inclusion phantom experiment showed that all CUSE methods could provide good contrast between the inclusion and background with sharp boundaries while F-CUSE and M-CUSE require shorter push durations to achieve shear wave speed maps with comparable SNR to U-CUSE. A more challenging inclusion phantom experiment with a very stiff and deep inclusion shows that better shear wave penetration could be gained by using F-CUSE and M-CUSE. Finally, a shallow inclusion experiment showed that good preservations of inclusion shapes could be achieved by both U-CUSE and F-CUSE in the near field. Safety measurements showed that all safety parameters are below FDA regulatory limits for all CUSE methods. These promising results suggest that, using various push beams, CUSE is capable of

  6. Comb-push ultrasound shear elastography (CUSE) with various ultrasound push beams.

    PubMed

    Song, Pengfei; Urban, Matthew W; Manduca, Armando; Zhao, Heng; Greenleaf, James F; Chen, Shigao

    2013-08-01

    Comb-push ultrasound shear elastography (CUSE) has recently been shown to be a fast and accurate 2-D elasticity imaging technique that can provide a full field-of-view (FOV) shear wave speed map with only one rapid data acquisition. The initial version of CUSE was termed U-CUSE because unfocused ultrasound push beams were used. In this paper, we present two new versions of CUSE-focused CUSE (F-CUSE) and marching CUSE (M-CUSE), which use focused ultrasound push beams to improve acoustic radiation force penetration and produce stronger shear waves in deep tissues (e.g., kidney and liver). F-CUSE divides transducer elements into several subgroups which transmit multiple focused ultrasound beams simultaneously. M-CUSE uses more elements for each focused push beam and laterally marches the push beams. Both F-CUSE and M-CUSE can generate comb-shaped shear wave fields that have shear wave motion at each imaging pixel location so that a full FOV 2-D shear wave speed map can be reconstructed with only one data acquisition. Homogeneous phantom experiments showed that U-CUSE, F-CUSE, and M-CUSE can all produce smooth shear wave speed maps with accurate shear wave speed estimates. An inclusion phantom experiment showed that all CUSE methods could provide good contrast between the inclusion and background with sharp boundaries while F-CUSE and M-CUSE require shorter push durations to achieve shear wave speed maps with comparable SNR to U-CUSE. A more challenging inclusion phantom experiment with a very stiff and deep inclusion shows that better shear wave penetration could be gained by using F-CUSE and M-CUSE. Finally, a shallow inclusion experiment showed that good preservations of inclusion shapes could be achieved by both U-CUSE and F-CUSE in the near field. Safety measurements showed that all safety parameters are below FDA regulatory limits for all CUSE methods. These promising results suggest that, using various push beams, CUSE is capable of reconstructing a 2-D full FOV

  7. Development of a bi-directional standing wave linear piezoelectric actuator with four driving feet.

    PubMed

    Liu, Yingxiang; Shi, Shengjun; Li, Chunhong; Chen, Weishan; Wang, Liang; Liu, Junkao

    2018-03-01

    A bi-directional standing wave linear piezoelectric ultrasonic actuator with four driving feet is proposed in this work. Two sandwich type transducers operated in longitudinal-bending hybrid modes are set parallelly. The working mode of the transducer is not simple hybrid vibrations of a longitudinal one and a bending one, but a special coupling vibration mode contained both longitudinal and bending components. Two transducers with the same structure and unsymmetrical boundary conditions are set parallelly to accomplish the bi-directional driving: the first transducer can push the runner forward, while the other one produces the backward driving. In the experiments, two voltages with different amplitudes are applied on the two transducers, respectively: the one with higher voltage serves as the actuator, whereas the other one applied with lower voltage is used to reduce the frictional force. The prototype achieves maximum no-load speed and thrust force of 244 mm/s and 9.8 N. This work gives a new idea for the construction of standing wave piezoelectric ultrasonic actuator with bi-directional driving ability. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  8. Dynamics of Ultrasound Contrast Agents and Nonlinear Acoustic Waves: Experiments, Modeling, and Theories

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Xia, Lang

    Bubbles occur in many natural and biological flows as well as in numerous industrial phenomena, such as pumps, propellers, turbines, and chemical processing plants. They have been widely studied in the past leading to a large body of literature. However, bubbles appearing in different situations differ significantly in their physical characteristics and behaviors. Recently, bubbles of diameter less than 10 micrometers have found applications in diagnostic ultrasound imaging. These microbubble-based ultrasound contrast agents (UCA) are intravenously administered in patients before ultrasound imaging. Due to the compressive gas core, they generate substantial ultrasound echoes leading to significant enhancement of image quality and contrast. Free bubbles of a micrometer diameter experience a large surface tension induced Laplace pressure leading to their quick dissolution in milliseconds. UCAs are stabilized by coating them with a shell of lipids, polymers, proteins, and other surface-active materials and changing the gas content from air to a high molecular weight low solubility gas such as perfluorocarbon. The past literature of bubble dynamics are mostly restricted to free bubbles. The stabilizing shell of UCAs, however, critically affects their dynamics. In this thesis, we performed acoustic characterization of several UCAs coated with polymer and lipids. We experimentally measured their acoustic attenuation and scattering, of which the data were used in mathematical models to determine shell properties and nonlinear dynamics. Several different interfacial rheological models were employed. Experimental acoustic characterization was also extended to a novel type of nanoparticle suspension--polymersomes, vesicles encapsulated by amphiphilic polymers. The later part of the thesis is devoted to modeling the effects of the presence of coated microbubbles to the overall effective bulk properties of bubbly liquids. Introduction of microbubbles in the liquids does not

  9. Comparison of shear wave velocities on ultrasound elastography between different machines, transducers, and acquisition depths: a phantom study.

    PubMed

    Shin, Hyun Joo; Kim, Myung-Joon; Kim, Ha Yan; Roh, Yun Ho; Lee, Mi-Jung

    2016-10-01

    To investigate consistency in shear wave velocities (SWVs) on ultrasound elastography using different machines, transducers and acquisition depths. The SWVs were measured using an elasticity phantom with a Young's modulus of 16.9 kPa, with three recently introduced ultrasound elastography machines (A, B and C from different vendors) and two transducers (low and high frequencies) at four depths (2, 3, 4 and 5 cm). Mean SWVs from 15 measurements and coefficient of variations (CVs) were compared between three machines, two transducers and four acquisition depths. The SWVs using the high frequency transducer were not acquired at 5 cm depth in machine B, and a high frequency transducer was not available in machine C. The mean SWVs in the three machines were different (p ≤ 0.002). The CVs were 0-0.09 in three machines. The mean SWVs between the two transducers were different (p < 0.001) except at 4 and 5 cm depths in machine A. The SWVs were affected by the acquisition depths in all conditions (p < 0.001). There is considerable difference in SWVs on ultrasound elastography depending on different machines, transducers and acquisition depths. Caution is needed when using the cutoff values of SWVs in different conditions. • The shear wave velocities (SWVs) are different between different ultrasound elastography machines • The SWVs are also different between different transducers and acquisition depths • Caution is needed when using the cutoff SWVs measured under different conditions.

  10. Ultrasound: Abdomen (For Parents)

    MedlinePlus

    ... the computer screen. A technician (sonographer) trained in ultrasound imaging will spread a clear, warm gel on the skin of the abdomen. This gel helps with the transmission of the sound waves. The ... abdominal ultrasound is painless. Your child may feel a slight ...

  11. Differentiating benign from malignant solid breast masses: value of shear wave elastography according to lesion stiffness combined with greyscale ultrasound according to BI-RADS classification

    PubMed Central

    Evans, A; Whelehan, P; Thomson, K; Brauer, K; Jordan, L; Purdie, C; McLean, D; Baker, L; Vinnicombe, S; Thompson, A

    2012-01-01

    Background: The aim of this study was to assess the performance of shear wave elastography combined with BI-RADS classification of greyscale ultrasound images for benign/malignant differentiation in a large group of patients. Methods: One hundred and seventy-five consecutive patients with solid breast masses on routine ultrasonography undergoing percutaneous biopsy had the greyscale findings classified according to the American College of Radiology BI-RADS. The mean elasticity values from four shear wave images were obtained. Results: For mean elasticity vs greyscale BI-RADS, the performance results against histology were sensitivity: 95% vs 95%, specificity: 77% vs 69%, Positive Predictive Value (PPV): 88% vs 84%, Negative Predictive Value (NPV): 90% vs 91%, and accuracy: 89% vs 86% (all P>0.05). The results for the combination (positive result from either modality counted as malignant) were sensitivity 100%, specificity 61%, PPV 82%, NPV 100%, and accuracy 86%. The combination of BI-RADS greyscale and shear wave elastography yielded superior sensitivity to BI-RADS alone (P=0.03) or shear wave alone (P=0.03). The NPV was superior in combination compared with either alone (BI-RADS P=0.01 and shear wave P=0.02). Conclusion: Together, BI-RADS assessment of greyscale ultrasound images and shear wave ultrasound elastography are extremely sensitive for detection of malignancy. PMID:22691969

  12. Full polarimetric millimetre wave radar for stand-off security screening

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Blackhurst, Eddie; Salmon, Neil; Southgate, Matthew

    2017-10-01

    The development and measurements are described of a frequency modulated continuous wave (FMCW) mono-static millimetre wave full polarimetric radar, operating at k-band (18 to 26 GHz). The system has been designed to explore the feasibility of using full polarimetry for the detection of concealed weapons, and person borne improvised explosive devices (PBIED). The philosophy of this scheme is a means to extract the maximum information content from a target which is normally in the single spatial pixel (sometimes sub-pixel) configuration in stand-off (tens of metres) and crowd surveillance scenarios. The radar comprises a vector network analyser (VNA), an orthomode transducer and a conical horn antenna. A calibration strategy is discussed and demonstrated using a variety of known calibration targets with known reflective properties, including a flat metal plate, dihedral reflector, metal sphere, helix and dipole. The orthomode transducer is based on a high performance linear polarizer of the turnstile type with isolation better than - 35dB between orthogonal polarisations. The calibration enables the polarimetric Sinclair scattering matrix to be measured at each frequency for coherent polarimetry, and this can be extended using multiple measurements via the Kennaugh matrix to investigate incoherent full polarimetry.

  13. The electric field standing wave effect in infrared transflection spectroscopy

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Mayerhöfer, Thomas G.; Popp, Jürgen

    2018-02-01

    We show that an electric field standing wave effect is responsible for the oscillations and the non-linear dependence of the absorbance on the layer thickness in thin layers on a reflective surface. This effect is connected to the occurrence of interference inside these layers. Consequently, the absorptance undergoes a maximum electric field intensity enhancement at spectral positions close to those where corresponding non-absorbing layers on a metal show minima in the reflectance. The effect leads to changes of peak maxima ratios with layer thickness and shows the same periodicity as oscillations in the peak positions. These peculiarities are fully based on and described by Maxwell's equations but cannot be understood and described if the strongly simplifying model centered on reflectance absorbance is employed.

  14. Ultrasound

    MedlinePlus

    ... reflect off body structures. A computer receives the waves and uses them to create a picture. Unlike with an x-ray or CT scan, this test does not use ionizing radiation. The test is done in the ultrasound ...

  15. [Occupational risk caused by ultrasound in medicine].

    PubMed

    Magnavita, N; Fileni, A

    1994-01-01

    Ultrasound (US) is extensively used in the medical field for its therapeutic and diagnostic applications. US units are commonly found in hospitals and clinics of all sizes, and a growing number of medical staff such as doctors and nurses are exposed to hand-transmitted ultrasound waves in their work-place. This review discusses the available information on the occupational risk of the operators using diagnostic and therapeutic ultrasound devices. The new occupational groups of medical workers who use ultrasound (diagnostic, surgical, sterilization, and physiotherapeutic) equipment are exposed to contact ultrasound waves. Contact ultrasound -- i.e., no airspace between the energy source and the biological tissue -- is much more hazardous than exposure to airborne ultrasound because air transmits less than one percent of this kind of energy. In spite of being a non-ionizing radiation with an excellent safety record, US is likely to induce some changes in the exposed organ. Recent Russian studies indicate that the hospital workers who have been long exposed to ultrasound at work may develop neurovascular dose-dependent disorders of the peripheral nervous system in the form of the angiodystonic syndrome of vegetative polyneuritis of the hands. In some Scandinavian studies, female physiotherapists (exposed to ultrasound and short waves) exhibit increased rate of spontaneous abortions and congenital malformations, but no definite conclusion can be drawn on the basis of these results alone. Trends in exposure for diagnostic ultrasound equipment over the last two decades show a continuous increase. While there is no reason for alarm, there is a growing need for avoiding unnecessary exposure to medical workers.

  16. Three-dimensional continuous particle focusing in a microfluidic channel via standing surface acoustic waves (SSAW).

    PubMed

    Shi, Jinjie; Yazdi, Shahrzad; Lin, Sz-Chin Steven; Ding, Xiaoyun; Chiang, I-Kao; Sharp, Kendra; Huang, Tony Jun

    2011-07-21

    Three-dimensional (3D) continuous microparticle focusing has been achieved in a single-layer polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) microfluidic channel using a standing surface acoustic wave (SSAW). The SSAW was generated by the interference of two identical surface acoustic waves (SAWs) created by two parallel interdigital transducers (IDTs) on a piezoelectric substrate with a microchannel precisely bonded between them. To understand the working principle of the SSAW-based 3D focusing and investigate the position of the focal point, we computed longitudinal waves, generated by the SAWs and radiated into the fluid media from opposite sides of the microchannel, and the resultant pressure and velocity fields due to the interference and reflection of the longitudinal waves. Simulation results predict the existence of a focusing point which is in good agreement with our experimental observations. Compared with other 3D focusing techniques, this method is non-invasive, robust, energy-efficient, easy to implement, and applicable to nearly all types of microparticles.

  17. Advances in high frequency ultrasound separation of particulates from biomass.

    PubMed

    Juliano, Pablo; Augustin, Mary Ann; Xu, Xin-Qing; Mawson, Raymond; Knoerzer, Kai

    2017-03-01

    In recent years the use of high frequency ultrasound standing waves (megasonics) for droplet or cell separation from biomass has emerged beyond the microfluidics scale into the litre to industrial scale applications. The principle for this separation technology relies on the differential positioning of individual droplets or particles across an ultrasonic standing wave field within the reactor and subsequent biomass material predisposition for separation via rapid droplet agglomeration or coalescence into larger entities. Large scale transducers have been characterised with sonochemiluminescence and hydrophones to enable better reactor designs. High frequency enhanced separation technology has been demonstrated at industrial scale for oil recovery in the palm oil industry and at litre scale to assist olive oil, coconut oil and milk fat separation. Other applications include algal cell dewatering and milk fat globule fractionation. Frequency selection depends on the material properties and structure in the biomass mixture. Higher frequencies (1 and 2MHz) have proven preferable for better separation of materials with smaller sized droplets such as milk fat globules. For palm oil and olive oil, separation has been demonstrated within the 400-600kHz region, which has high radical production, without detectable impact on product quality. Crown Copyright © 2016. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  18. Ultrafast ultrasound localization microscopy for deep super-resolution vascular imaging

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Errico, Claudia; Pierre, Juliette; Pezet, Sophie; Desailly, Yann; Lenkei, Zsolt; Couture, Olivier; Tanter, Mickael

    2015-11-01

    Non-invasive imaging deep into organs at microscopic scales remains an open quest in biomedical imaging. Although optical microscopy is still limited to surface imaging owing to optical wave diffusion and fast decorrelation in tissue, revolutionary approaches such as fluorescence photo-activated localization microscopy led to a striking increase in resolution by more than an order of magnitude in the last decade. In contrast with optics, ultrasonic waves propagate deep into organs without losing their coherence and are much less affected by in vivo decorrelation processes. However, their resolution is impeded by the fundamental limits of diffraction, which impose a long-standing trade-off between resolution and penetration. This limits clinical and preclinical ultrasound imaging to a sub-millimetre scale. Here we demonstrate in vivo that ultrasound imaging at ultrafast frame rates (more than 500 frames per second) provides an analogue to optical localization microscopy by capturing the transient signal decorrelation of contrast agents—inert gas microbubbles. Ultrafast ultrasound localization microscopy allowed both non-invasive sub-wavelength structural imaging and haemodynamic quantification of rodent cerebral microvessels (less than ten micrometres in diameter) more than ten millimetres below the tissue surface, leading to transcranial whole-brain imaging within short acquisition times (tens of seconds). After intravenous injection, single echoes from individual microbubbles were detected through ultrafast imaging. Their localization, not limited by diffraction, was accumulated over 75,000 images, yielding 1,000,000 events per coronal plane and statistically independent pixels of ten micrometres in size. Precise temporal tracking of microbubble positions allowed us to extract accurately in-plane velocities of the blood flow with a large dynamic range (from one millimetre per second to several centimetres per second). These results pave the way for deep non

  19. Ultrafast ultrasound localization microscopy for deep super-resolution vascular imaging.

    PubMed

    Errico, Claudia; Pierre, Juliette; Pezet, Sophie; Desailly, Yann; Lenkei, Zsolt; Couture, Olivier; Tanter, Mickael

    2015-11-26

    Non-invasive imaging deep into organs at microscopic scales remains an open quest in biomedical imaging. Although optical microscopy is still limited to surface imaging owing to optical wave diffusion and fast decorrelation in tissue, revolutionary approaches such as fluorescence photo-activated localization microscopy led to a striking increase in resolution by more than an order of magnitude in the last decade. In contrast with optics, ultrasonic waves propagate deep into organs without losing their coherence and are much less affected by in vivo decorrelation processes. However, their resolution is impeded by the fundamental limits of diffraction, which impose a long-standing trade-off between resolution and penetration. This limits clinical and preclinical ultrasound imaging to a sub-millimetre scale. Here we demonstrate in vivo that ultrasound imaging at ultrafast frame rates (more than 500 frames per second) provides an analogue to optical localization microscopy by capturing the transient signal decorrelation of contrast agents--inert gas microbubbles. Ultrafast ultrasound localization microscopy allowed both non-invasive sub-wavelength structural imaging and haemodynamic quantification of rodent cerebral microvessels (less than ten micrometres in diameter) more than ten millimetres below the tissue surface, leading to transcranial whole-brain imaging within short acquisition times (tens of seconds). After intravenous injection, single echoes from individual microbubbles were detected through ultrafast imaging. Their localization, not limited by diffraction, was accumulated over 75,000 images, yielding 1,000,000 events per coronal plane and statistically independent pixels of ten micrometres in size. Precise temporal tracking of microbubble positions allowed us to extract accurately in-plane velocities of the blood flow with a large dynamic range (from one millimetre per second to several centimetres per second). These results pave the way for deep non

  20. Application of the shaped electrode technique to a large area rectangular capacitively coupled plasma reactor to suppress standing wave nonuniformity

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

    Sansonnens, L.; Schmidt, H.; Howling, A.A.

    The electromagnetic standing wave effect can become the main source of nonuniformity limiting the use of very high frequency in large area reactors exceeding 1 m{sup 2} required for industrial applications. Recently, it has been proposed and shown experimentally in a cylindrical reactor that a shaped electrode in place of the conventional flat electrode can be used in order to suppress the electromagnetic standing wave nonuniformity. In this study, we show experimental measurements demonstrating that the shaped electrode technique can also be applied in large area rectangular reactors. We also present results of electromagnetic screening by a conducting substrate whichmore » has important consequences for industrial application of the shaped electrode technique.« less

  1. Calculation of the acoustic radiation force on coated spherical shells in progressive and standing plane waves.

    PubMed

    Mitri, F G

    2006-07-01

    In this paper, analytical equations are derived for the time-averaged radiation force induced by progressive and standing acoustic waves incident on elastic spherical shells covered with a layer of viscoelastic and sound-absorbing material. The fluid surrounding the shells is considered compressible and nonviscous. The incident field is assumed to be moderate so that the scattered field from the shells is taken to linear approximation. The analytical results are illustrated by means of a numerical example in which the radiation force function curves are displayed, with particular emphasis on the coating thickness and the content of the hollow region of the shells. The fluid-loading on the radiation force function curves is analysed as well. This study attempts to generalize the various treatments of radiation force due to both progressive and standing waves on spherically-shaped structures immersed in ideal fluids. The results show that various ways can be effectively used for damping resonance peaks, such as by changing the fluid in the interior hollow region of the shells or by changing the coating thickness.

  2. Measurement of viscoelastic properties of in vivo swine myocardium using Lamb Wave Dispersion Ultrasound Vibrometry (LDUV)

    PubMed Central

    Urban, Matthew W.; Pislaru, Cristina; Nenadic, Ivan Z.; Kinnick, Randall R.; Greenleaf, James F.

    2012-01-01

    Viscoelastic properties of the myocardium are important for normal cardiac function and may be altered by disease. Thus, quantification of these properties may aid with evaluation of the health of the heart. Lamb Wave Dispersion Ultrasound Vibrometry (LDUV) is a shear wave-based method that uses wave velocity dispersion to measure the underlying viscoelastic material properties of soft tissue with plate-like geometries. We tested this method in eight pigs in an open-chest preparation. A mechanical actuator was used to create harmonic, propagating mechanical waves in the myocardial wall. The motion was tracked using a high frame rate acquisition sequence, typically 2500 Hz. The velocities of wave propagation were measured over the 50–400 Hz frequency range in 50 Hz increments. Data were acquired over several cardiac cycles. Dispersion curves were fit with a viscoelastic, anti-symmetric Lamb wave model to obtain estimates of the shear elasticity, μ1, and viscosity, μ2 as defined by the Kelvin-Voigt rheological model. The sensitivity of the Lamb wave model was also studied using simulated data. We demonstrated that wave velocity measurements and Lamb wave theory allow one to estimate the variation of viscoelastic moduli of the myocardial walls in vivo throughout the course of the cardiac cycle. PMID:23060325

  3. Dynamic patterns in a supported lipid bilayer driven by standing surface acoustic waves.

    PubMed

    Hennig, Martin; Neumann, Jürgen; Wixforth, Achim; Rädler, Joachim O; Schneider, Matthias F

    2009-11-07

    In the past decades supported lipid bilayers (SLBs) have been an important tool in order to study the physical properties of biological membranes and cells. So far, controlled manipulation of SLBs is very limited. Here we present a new technology to create lateral patterns in lipid membranes controllable in both space and time. Surface acoustic waves (SAWs) are used to generate lateral standing waves on a piezoelectric substrate which create local "traps" in the lipid bilayer and lead to a lateral modulation in lipid concentration. We demonstrate that pattern formation is reversible and does not affect the integrity of the lipid bilayer as shown by extracting the diffusion constant of fluid membranes. The described method could possibly be used to design switchable interfaces for the lateral transport and organization of membrane bound macromolecules to create dynamic bioarrays and control biofilm formation.

  4. Observation of Landau quantization and standing waves in HfSiS

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Jiao, L.; Xu, Q. N.; Qi, Y. P.; Wu, S.-C.; Sun, Y.; Felser, C.; Wirth, S.

    2018-05-01

    Recently, HfSiS was found to be a new type of Dirac semimetal with a line of Dirac nodes in the band structure. Meanwhile, Rashba-split surface states are also pronounced in this compound. Here we report a systematic study of HfSiS by scanning tunneling microscopy/spectroscopy at low temperature and high magnetic field. The Rashba-split surface states are characterized by measuring Landau quantization and standing waves, which reveal a quasilinear dispersive band structure. First-principles calculations based on density-functional theory are conducted and compared with the experimental results. Based on these investigations, the properties of the Rashba-split surface states and their interplay with defects and collective modes are discussed.

  5. Lamb wave dispersion and anisotropy profiling of composite plates via non-contact air-coupled and laser ultrasound

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Harb, M. S.; Yuan, F. G.

    2015-03-01

    Conventional ultrasound inspection has been a standard non-destructive testing method for providing an in-service evaluation and noninvasive means of probing the interior of a structure. In particular, measurement of the propagation characteristics of Lamb waves allows inspection of plates that are typical components in aerospace industry. A rapid, complete non-contact hybrid approach for excitation and detection of Lamb waves is presented and applied for non-destructive evaluation of composites. An air-coupled transducer (ACT) excites ultrasonic waves on the surface of a composite plate, generating different propagating Lamb wave modes and a laser Doppler vibrometer (LDV) is used to measure the out-of-plane velocity of the plate. This technology, based on direct waveform imaging, focuses on measuring dispersive curves for A0 mode in a composite laminate and its anisotropy. A two-dimensional fast Fourier transform (2D-FFT) is applied to out-of-plane velocity data captured experimentally using LDV to go from the time-spatial domain to frequency-wavenumber domain. The result is a 2D array of amplitudes at discrete frequencies and wavenumbers for A0 mode in a given propagation direction along the composite. The peak values of the curve are then used to construct frequency wavenumber and phase velocity dispersion curves, which are also obtained directly using Snell's law and the incident angle of the excited ultrasonic waves. A high resolution and strong correlation between numerical and experimental results are observed for dispersive curves with Snell's law method in comparison to 2D-FFT method. Dispersion curves as well as velocity curves for the composite plate along different directions of wave propagation are measured. The visual read-out of the dispersion curves at different propagation directions as well as the phase velocity curves provide profiling and measurements of the composite anisotropy. The results proved a high sensitivity of the air-coupled and laser

  6. The relationship between experimental geometry, heat rate, and ultrasound wave speed measurement while observing phase changes in highly attenuative materials

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Moore, David G.; Stair, Sarah L.; Jack, David A.

    2018-04-01

    Ultrasound techniques are capable of monitoring changes in the time-of-flight as a material is exposed to different thermal environments. The focus of the present study is to identify the phase of a material via ultrasound compression wave measurements in a through transmission experimental setup as the material is heated from a solid to a liquid and then allowed to re-solidify. The present work seeks to expand upon the authors' previous research, which proved this through transmission phase monitoring technique was possible, by considering different experimental geometries. The relationship between geometry, the measured speed of sound, and the temperature profile is presented. The use of different volumes helps in establishing a baseline understanding of which aspects of the experiment are geometry dependent and which are independent. The present study also investigates the relationship between the heating rate observed in the experiment and the measured speed of sound. The trends identified between the experimental geometry, heat rate and ultrasound wave speed measurement assist in providing a baseline understanding of the applicability of this technique to various industries, including the polymer industry and the oil industry.

  7. The Relationship Between Experimental Geometry Heat Rate and Ultrasound Wave Speed Measurement While Observing Phase Changes in Highly Attenuative Materials

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

    Moore, David G.; Stair, Sarah Louise; Jack, David A.

    Ultrasound techniques are capable of monitoring changes in the time-of-flight as a material is exposed to different thermal environments. The focus of the present study is to identify the phase of a material via ultrasound compression wave measurements in a through transmission experimental setup as the material is heated from a solid to a liquid and then allowed to re-solidify. The present work seeks to expand upon the authors’ previous research, which proved this through transmission phase monitoring technique was possible, by considering different experimental geometries. The relationship between geometry, the measured speed of sound, and the temperature profile ismore » presented. The use of different volumes helps in establishing a baseline understanding of which aspects of the experiment are geometry dependent and which are independent. The present study also investigates the relationship between the heating rate observed in the experiment and the measured speed of sound. Lastly, the trends identified between the experimental geometry, heat rate and ultrasound wave speed measurement assist in providing a baseline understanding of the applicability of this technique to various industries, including the polymer industry and the oil industry.« less

  8. The Relationship Between Experimental Geometry Heat Rate and Ultrasound Wave Speed Measurement While Observing Phase Changes in Highly Attenuative Materials

    DOE PAGES

    Moore, David G.; Stair, Sarah Louise; Jack, David A.

    2018-04-01

    Ultrasound techniques are capable of monitoring changes in the time-of-flight as a material is exposed to different thermal environments. The focus of the present study is to identify the phase of a material via ultrasound compression wave measurements in a through transmission experimental setup as the material is heated from a solid to a liquid and then allowed to re-solidify. The present work seeks to expand upon the authors’ previous research, which proved this through transmission phase monitoring technique was possible, by considering different experimental geometries. The relationship between geometry, the measured speed of sound, and the temperature profile ismore » presented. The use of different volumes helps in establishing a baseline understanding of which aspects of the experiment are geometry dependent and which are independent. The present study also investigates the relationship between the heating rate observed in the experiment and the measured speed of sound. Lastly, the trends identified between the experimental geometry, heat rate and ultrasound wave speed measurement assist in providing a baseline understanding of the applicability of this technique to various industries, including the polymer industry and the oil industry.« less

  9. Medical Imaging with Ultrasound: Some Basic Physics.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Gosling, R.

    1989-01-01

    Discussed are medical applications of ultrasound. The physics of the wave nature of ultrasound including its propagation and production, return by the body, spatial and contrast resolution, attenuation, image formation using pulsed echo ultrasound techniques, measurement of velocity and duplex scanning are described. (YP)

  10. Educational Analysis of a First Year Engineering Physics Experiment on Standing Waves: Based on the ACELL Approach

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Bhathal, Ragbir; Sharma, Manjula D.; Mendez, Alberto

    2010-01-01

    This paper describes an educational analysis of a first year physics experiment on standing waves for engineering students. The educational analysis is based on the ACELL (Advancing Chemistry by Enhancing Learning in the Laboratory) approach which includes a statement of educational objectives and an analysis of student learning experiences. The…

  11. From antinode clusters to node clusters: the concentration-dependent transition of floaters on a standing Faraday wave.

    PubMed

    Sanlı, Ceyda; Lohse, Detlef; van der Meer, Devaraj

    2014-05-01

    A hydrophilic floating sphere that is denser than water drifts to an amplitude maximum (antinode) of a surface standing wave. A few identical floaters therefore organize into antinode clusters. However, beyond a transitional value of the floater concentration ϕ, we observe that the same spheres spontaneously accumulate at the nodal lines, completely inverting the self-organized particle pattern on the wave. From a potential energy estimate we show (i) that at low ϕ antinode clusters are energetically favorable over nodal ones and (ii) how this situation reverses at high ϕ, in agreement with the experiment.

  12. Measurements of the force fields within an acoustic standing wave using holographic optical tweezers

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

    Bassindale, P. G.; Drinkwater, B. W.; Phillips, D. B.

    2014-04-21

    Direct measurement of the forces experienced by micro-spheres in an acoustic standing wave device have been obtained using calibrated optical traps generated with holographic optical tweezers. A micro-sphere, which is optically trapped in three dimensions, can be moved through the acoustic device to measure forces acting upon it. When the micro-sphere is subjected to acoustic forces, it's equilibrium position is displaced to a position where the acoustic forces and optical forces are balanced. Once the optical trapping stiffness has been calibrated, observation of this displacement enables a direct measurement of the forces acting upon the micro-sphere. The measured forces aremore » separated into a spatially oscillating component, attributed to the acoustic radiation force, and a constant force, attributed to fluid streaming. As the drive conditions of the acoustic device were varied, oscillating forces (>2.5 pN{sub pp}) and streaming forces (<0.2 pN) were measured. A 5 μm silica micro-sphere was used to characterise a 6.8 MHz standing wave, λ = 220 μm, to a spatial resolution limited by the uncertainty in the positioning of the micro-sphere (here to within 2 nm) and with a force resolution on the order of 10 fN. The results have application in the design and testing of acoustic manipulation devices.« less

  13. 40 MHz high-frequency ultrafast ultrasound imaging.

    PubMed

    Huang, Chih-Chung; Chen, Pei-Yu; Peng, Po-Hsun; Lee, Po-Yang

    2017-06-01

    Ultrafast high-frame-rate ultrasound imaging based on coherent-plane-wave compounding has been developed for many biomedical applications. Most coherent-plane-wave compounding systems typically operate at 3-15 MHz, and the image resolution for this frequency range is not sufficient for visualizing microstructure tissues. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to implement a high-frequency ultrafast ultrasound imaging operating at 40 MHz. The plane-wave compounding imaging and conventional multifocus B-mode imaging were performed using the Field II toolbox of MATLAB in simulation study. In experiments, plane-wave compounding images were obtained from a 256 channel ultrasound research platform with a 40 MHz array transducer. All images were produced by point-spread functions and cyst phantoms. The in vivo experiment was performed from zebrafish. Since high-frequency ultrasound exhibits a lower penetration, chirp excitation was applied to increase the imaging depth in simulation. The simulation results showed that a lateral resolution of up to 66.93 μm and a contrast of up to 56.41 dB were achieved when using 75-angles plane waves in compounding imaging. The experimental results showed that a lateral resolution of up to 74.83 μm and a contrast of up to 44.62 dB were achieved when using 75-angles plane waves in compounding imaging. The dead zone and compounding noise are about 1.2 mm and 2.0 mm in depth for experimental compounding imaging, respectively. The structure of zebrafish heart was observed clearly using plane-wave compounding imaging. The use of fewer than 23 angles for compounding allowed a frame rate higher than 1000 frames per second. However, the compounding imaging exhibits a similar lateral resolution of about 72 μm as the angle of plane wave is higher than 10 angles. This study shows the highest operational frequency for ultrafast high-frame-rate ultrasound imaging. © 2017 American Association of Physicists in Medicine.

  14. Basic study on apoptosis induction into cancer cells U-937 and EL-4 by ultrasound exposure.

    PubMed

    Takeuchi, Shinichi; Udagawa, Yoshiko; Oku, Yumiko; Fujii, Takuma; Nishimura, Hiroyuki; Kawashima, Norimichi

    2006-12-22

    Recently, the low invasive cancer treatments with small aftereffects have been considered. We are studying on the suppression methods of cancer cell proliferation with ultrasound. Cancer cells of mouse T lymphoma (EL-4) have been used in our study. The human histitocytic lymphoma cells (U-937) was used in this time. The cancer cells were cultured in a culture medium of RPMI1640. The standing wave acoustic field was formed in a water tank of our ultrasound exposure system by a vibrating plate driven with a Langevine type transducer. The U-937 and EL-4 were exposed to ultrasound in the acoustic field with spatial average acoustic intensity of 350 mW/cm(2) at 150 kHz. The viable rate of EL-4 decreased with the lapse of culture time after ultrasound exposure. U-937 did not show the remarkable decrease tendency. The proliferation of U-937 which exposed to ultrasound with 700 mW/cm(2) was suppressed. It can be thought that apoptosis was induced in the cancer cells in this condition. We observed the morphological change on the U-937 exposed to ultrasound with this condition. The morphological changes by apoptosis like the shrink of cells, formation of apoptotic bodies etc. can be observed with an optical microscope and a phase contrast microscope.

  15. Experimental research of high frequency standing wave thermoacoustic refrigerator driven by loudspeaker

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Chunping, Zhang; Wei, Liu; Zhichun, Yang; Zhengyu, Li; Xiaoqing, Zhang; Feng, Wu

    2012-05-01

    A small size standing wave thermoacoustic refrigerator driven by a high frequency loudspeaker has been experimentally studied. Instead of water cooling, the cold heat exchanger of the refrigerator was cooled by air through fins on it. By working at 600-700 Hz and adjusting the position of the thermoacoustic core components including the stack and adjacent exchangers, the influences of it on the capability of refrigeration were experimentally investigated. The lowest temperature of 4.1 °C in the cold heat exchanger with the highest temperature difference of 21.5 °C between two heat exchangers were obtained. And the maximum cooling power of 9.7 W has been achieved.

  16. Acoustic tweezers: patterning cells and microparticles using standing surface acoustic waves (SSAW).

    PubMed

    Shi, Jinjie; Ahmed, Daniel; Mao, Xiaole; Lin, Sz-Chin Steven; Lawit, Aitan; Huang, Tony Jun

    2009-10-21

    Here we present an active patterning technique named "acoustic tweezers" that utilizes standing surface acoustic wave (SSAW) to manipulate and pattern cells and microparticles. This technique is capable of patterning cells and microparticles regardless of shape, size, charge or polarity. Its power intensity, approximately 5x10(5) times lower than that of optical tweezers, compares favorably with those of other active patterning methods. Flow cytometry studies have revealed it to be non-invasive. The aforementioned advantages, along with this technique's simple design and ability to be miniaturized, render the "acoustic tweezers" technique a promising tool for various applications in biology, chemistry, engineering, and materials science.

  17. Stimulation of bone repair with ultrasound: a review of the possible mechanic effects.

    PubMed

    Padilla, Frédéric; Puts, Regina; Vico, Laurence; Raum, Kay

    2014-07-01

    dish walls and the formation of standing waves will greatly affect the local type and amplitude of the stimulus exerted on the cells. A future engineering challenge is therefore the design of dedicated experimental set-ups, in which the different mechanical phenomena induced by ultrasound can be controlled. This is a prerequisite to evaluate the biological effects of the different phenomena with respect to particular parameters, like intensity, frequency, or duty cycle. By relating the variations of these parameters to the induced physical effects and to the biological responses, it will become possible to derive an 'acoustic dose' and propose a quantification and cross-calibration of the different experimental systems. Improvements in bone healing management will probably also come from a combination of ultrasound with a 'biologic' components, e.g. growth factors, scaffolds, gene therapies, or drug delivery vehicles, the effects of which being potentiated by the ultrasound. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  18. Removal of residual nuclei following a cavitation event using low-amplitude ultrasound.

    PubMed

    Duryea, Alexander P; Cain, Charles A; Tamaddoni, Hedieh A; Roberts, William W; Hall, Timothy L

    2014-10-01

    Microscopic residual bubble nuclei can persist on the order of 1 s following a cavitation event. These bubbles can limit the efficacy of ultrasound therapies such as shock wave lithotripsy and histotripsy, because they attenuate pulses that arrive subsequent to their formation and seed repetitive cavitation activity at a discrete set of sites (cavitation memory). Here, we explore a strategy for the removal of these residual bubbles following a cavitation event, using low-amplitude ultrasound pulses to stimulate bubble coalescence. All experiments were conducted in degassed water and monitored using high-speed photography. In each case, a 2-MHz histotripsy transducer was used to initiate cavitation activity (a cavitational bubble cloud), the collapse of which generated a population of residual bubble nuclei. This residual nuclei population was then sonicated using a 1 ms pulse from a separate 500-kHz transducer, which we term the bubble removal pulse. Bubble removal pulse amplitudes ranging from 0 to 1.7 MPa were tested, and the backlit area of shadow from bubbles remaining in the field following bubble removal was calculated to quantify efficacy. It was found that an ideal amplitude range exists (roughly 180 to 570 kPa) in which bubble removal pulses stimulate the aggregation and subsequent coalescence of residual bubble nuclei, effectively removing them from the field. Further optimization of bubble removal pulse sequences stands to provide an adjunct to cavitation-based ultrasound therapies such as shock wave lithotripsy and histotripsy, mitigating the effects of residual bubble nuclei that currently limit their efficacy.

  19. Revised model for the radiation force exerted by standing surface acoustic waves on a rigid cylinder

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Liang, Shen; Chaohui, Wang

    2018-03-01

    In this paper, a model for the radiation force exerted by standing surface acoustic waves (SSAWs) on a rigid cylinder in inviscid fluids is extended to account for the dependence on the Rayleigh angle. The conventional model for the radiation force used in the SSAW-based applications is developed in plane standing waves, which fails to predict the movement of the cylinder in the SSAW. Our revised model reveals that, in the direction normal to the piezoelectric substrate on which the SSAW is generated, acoustic radiation force can be large enough to drive the cylinder even in the long-wavelength limit. Furthermore, the force in this direction can not only push the cylinder away, but also pull it back toward the substrate. In the direction parallel to the substrate, the equilibrium positions for particles can be actively tuned by changing Rayleigh angle. As an example considered in the paper, with the reduction of Rayleigh angle the equilibrium positions for steel cylinders in water change from pressure nodes to pressure antinodes. The model can thus be used in the design of SSAWs for particle manipulations.

  20. Attenuation of standing waves in a large water tank using arrays of large tethered encapsulated bubbles.

    PubMed

    Lee, Kevin M; Wilson, Preston S; Wochner, Mark S

    2014-04-01

    The use of bubble resonance effects to attenuate low-frequency underwater sound was investigated experimentally in a large water tank. A compact electromechanical sound source was used to excite standing wave fields at frequencies ranging between 50 and 200 Hz in the tank. The source was then surrounded by a stationary array of tethered encapsulated air bubbles, and reduction in standing wave amplitude by as much as 26 dB was observed. The bubbles consisted of either thin-shelled latex balloons with approximately 5 cm radii or thicker-shelled vinyl boat fenders with 6.9 cm radii. The effects of changing the material and thickness of the bubble shells were found to be in qualitative agreement with predictions from Church's model for sound propagation in a liquid containing encapsulated bubbles [J. Acoust. Soc. Am. 97, 1510-1521 (1995)]. Although demonstrated here for low frequency noise abatement within a tank, which is useful for quieting acoustic test facilities and large tanks used for marine life husbandry, the eventual aim of this work is to use stationary arrays of large tethered encapsulated bubbles to abate low frequency underwater noise from anthropogenic sources in the marine environment.

  1. Meshless bubble filter using ultrasound for extracorporeal circulation and its effect on blood.

    PubMed

    Mino, Koji; Imura, Masato; Koyama, Daisuke; Omori, Masayoshi; Kawarabata, Shigeki; Sato, Masafumi; Watanabe, Yoshiaki

    2015-02-01

    A bubble filter with no mesh structure for extracorporeal circulation using ultrasound was developed. Hemolysis was evaluated by measuring free hemoglobin (FHb). FHb in 120 mL of bovine blood was measured in acoustic standing-wave fields. With a sound pressure amplitude of 60 kPa at driving frequencies of 1 MHz, 500 kHz and 27 kHz for 15 min. FHb values were 641.6, 2575 and 8903 mg/dL, respectively. Thus, hemolysis was inhibited with higher driving frequencies when the same sound pressure amplitude was applied. An ultrasound bubble filter with a resonance frequency of 1 MHz was designed. The filtering characteristics of the flowing microbubbles were investigated with a circulation system using bovine blood with a flow rate of 5.0 L/min. Approximately 99.1% of microbubbles were filtered with 250 kPa and a flow of 5.0 L/min. Hemolysis decreased as the sound pressure decreased; FHb values were 225.8 and 490.7 mg/dL when using 150 and 200 kPa, respectively. Copyright © 2015 World Federation for Ultrasound in Medicine & Biology. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  2. Coded Excitation Plane Wave Imaging for Shear Wave Motion Detection

    PubMed Central

    Song, Pengfei; Urban, Matthew W.; Manduca, Armando; Greenleaf, James F.; Chen, Shigao

    2015-01-01

    Plane wave imaging has greatly advanced the field of shear wave elastography thanks to its ultrafast imaging frame rate and the large field-of-view (FOV). However, plane wave imaging also has decreased penetration due to lack of transmit focusing, which makes it challenging to use plane waves for shear wave detection in deep tissues and in obese patients. This study investigated the feasibility of implementing coded excitation in plane wave imaging for shear wave detection, with the hypothesis that coded ultrasound signals can provide superior detection penetration and shear wave signal-to-noise-ratio (SNR) compared to conventional ultrasound signals. Both phase encoding (Barker code) and frequency encoding (chirp code) methods were studied. A first phantom experiment showed an approximate penetration gain of 2-4 cm for the coded pulses. Two subsequent phantom studies showed that all coded pulses outperformed the conventional short imaging pulse by providing superior sensitivity to small motion and robustness to weak ultrasound signals. Finally, an in vivo liver case study on an obese subject (Body Mass Index = 40) demonstrated the feasibility of using the proposed method for in vivo applications, and showed that all coded pulses could provide higher SNR shear wave signals than the conventional short pulse. These findings indicate that by using coded excitation shear wave detection, one can benefit from the ultrafast imaging frame rate and large FOV provided by plane wave imaging while preserving good penetration and shear wave signal quality, which is essential for obtaining robust shear elasticity measurements of tissue. PMID:26168181

  3. Application of analyzer based X-ray imaging technique for detection of ultrasound induced cavitation bubbles from a physical therapy unit.

    PubMed

    Izadifar, Zahra; Belev, George; Babyn, Paul; Chapman, Dean

    2015-10-19

    The observation of ultrasound generated cavitation bubbles deep in tissue is very difficult. The development of an imaging method capable of investigating cavitation bubbles in tissue would improve the efficiency and application of ultrasound in the clinic. Among the previous imaging modalities capable of detecting cavitation bubbles in vivo, the acoustic detection technique has the positive aspect of in vivo application. However the size of the initial cavitation bubble and the amplitude of the ultrasound that produced the cavitation bubbles, affect the timing and amplitude of the cavitation bubbles' emissions. The spatial distribution of cavitation bubbles, driven by 0.8835 MHz therapeutic ultrasound system at output power of 14 Watt, was studied in water using a synchrotron X-ray imaging technique, Analyzer Based Imaging (ABI). The cavitation bubble distribution was investigated by repeated application of the ultrasound and imaging the water tank. The spatial frequency of the cavitation bubble pattern was evaluated by Fourier analysis. Acoustic cavitation was imaged at four different locations through the acoustic beam in water at a fixed power level. The pattern of cavitation bubbles in water was detected by synchrotron X-ray ABI. The spatial distribution of cavitation bubbles driven by the therapeutic ultrasound system was observed using ABI X-ray imaging technique. It was observed that the cavitation bubbles appeared in a periodic pattern. The calculated distance between intervals revealed that the distance of frequent cavitation lines (intervals) is one-half of the acoustic wave length consistent with standing waves. This set of experiments demonstrates the utility of synchrotron ABI for visualizing cavitation bubbles formed in water by clinical ultrasound systems working at high frequency and output powers as low as a therapeutic system.

  4. Precise and programmable manipulation of microbubbles by two-dimensional standing surface acoustic waves

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Meng, Long; Cai, Feiyan; Chen, Juanjuan; Niu, Lili; Li, Yanming; Wu, Junru; Zheng, Hairong

    2012-04-01

    A microfluidic device is developed to transport microbubbles (MBs) along a desired trajectory in fluid by introducing the phase-shift to a planar standing surface acoustic wave (SSAW). The radiation force of SSAW due to the acoustic pressure gradient modulated by a phase-shift can move MBs to anticipated potential wells in a programmable manner. The resolution of the transportation is approximately 2.2 µm and the estimated radiation force on the MBs is on the order of 10-9 N. This device can be used for manipulation of bioparticles, cell sorting, tissue engineering, and other biomedical applications.

  5. Cell separation using tilted-angle standing surface acoustic waves

    PubMed Central

    Ding, Xiaoyun; Peng, Zhangli; Lin, Sz-Chin Steven; Geri, Michela; Li, Sixing; Li, Peng; Chen, Yuchao; Dao, Ming; Suresh, Subra; Huang, Tony Jun

    2014-01-01

    Separation of cells is a critical process for studying cell properties, disease diagnostics, and therapeutics. Cell sorting by acoustic waves offers a means to separate cells on the basis of their size and physical properties in a label-free, contactless, and biocompatible manner. The separation sensitivity and efficiency of currently available acoustic-based approaches, however, are limited, thereby restricting their widespread application in research and health diagnostics. In this work, we introduce a unique configuration of tilted-angle standing surface acoustic waves (taSSAW), which are oriented at an optimally designed inclination to the flow direction in the microfluidic channel. We demonstrate that this design significantly improves the efficiency and sensitivity of acoustic separation techniques. To optimize our device design, we carried out systematic simulations of cell trajectories, matching closely with experimental results. Using numerically optimized design of taSSAW, we successfully separated 2- and 10-µm-diameter polystyrene beads with a separation efficiency of ∼99%, and separated 7.3- and 9.9-µm-polystyrene beads with an efficiency of ∼97%. We illustrate that taSSAW is capable of effectively separating particles–cells of approximately the same size and density but different compressibility. Finally, we demonstrate the effectiveness of the present technique for biological–biomedical applications by sorting MCF-7 human breast cancer cells from nonmalignant leukocytes, while preserving the integrity of the separated cells. The method introduced here thus offers a unique route for separating circulating tumor cells, and for label-free cell separation with potential applications in biological research, disease diagnostics, and clinical practice. PMID:25157150

  6. Cell separation using tilted-angle standing surface acoustic waves.

    PubMed

    Ding, Xiaoyun; Peng, Zhangli; Lin, Sz-Chin Steven; Geri, Michela; Li, Sixing; Li, Peng; Chen, Yuchao; Dao, Ming; Suresh, Subra; Huang, Tony Jun

    2014-09-09

    Separation of cells is a critical process for studying cell properties, disease diagnostics, and therapeutics. Cell sorting by acoustic waves offers a means to separate cells on the basis of their size and physical properties in a label-free, contactless, and biocompatible manner. The separation sensitivity and efficiency of currently available acoustic-based approaches, however, are limited, thereby restricting their widespread application in research and health diagnostics. In this work, we introduce a unique configuration of tilted-angle standing surface acoustic waves (taSSAW), which are oriented at an optimally designed inclination to the flow direction in the microfluidic channel. We demonstrate that this design significantly improves the efficiency and sensitivity of acoustic separation techniques. To optimize our device design, we carried out systematic simulations of cell trajectories, matching closely with experimental results. Using numerically optimized design of taSSAW, we successfully separated 2- and 10-µm-diameter polystyrene beads with a separation efficiency of ∼ 99%, and separated 7.3- and 9.9-µm-polystyrene beads with an efficiency of ∼ 97%. We illustrate that taSSAW is capable of effectively separating particles-cells of approximately the same size and density but different compressibility. Finally, we demonstrate the effectiveness of the present technique for biological-biomedical applications by sorting MCF-7 human breast cancer cells from nonmalignant leukocytes, while preserving the integrity of the separated cells. The method introduced here thus offers a unique route for separating circulating tumor cells, and for label-free cell separation with potential applications in biological research, disease diagnostics, and clinical practice.

  7. Diagnostic and interventional musculoskeletal ultrasound: part 1. Fundamentals.

    PubMed

    Smith, Jay; Finnoff, Jonathan T

    2009-01-01

    Musculoskeletal ultrasound involves the use of high-frequency sound waves to image soft tissues and bony structures in the body for the purposes of diagnosing pathology or guiding real-time interventional procedures. Recently, an increasing number of physicians have integrated musculoskeletal ultrasound into their practices to facilitate patient care. Technological advancements, improved portability, and reduced costs continue to drive the proliferation of ultrasound in clinical medicine. This increased interest creates a need for education pertaining to all aspects of musculoskeletal ultrasound. The primary purpose of this article is to review diagnostic ultrasound technology and its potential clinical applications in the evaluation and treatment of patients with neurologic and musculoskeletal disorders. After reviewing this article, physicians should be able to (1) list the advantages and disadvantages of ultrasound compared with other available imaging modalities, (2) describe how ultrasound machines produce images using sound waves, (3) discuss the steps necessary to acquire and optimize an ultrasound image, (4) understand the different ultrasound appearances of tendons, nerves, muscles, ligaments, blood vessels, and bones, and (5) identify multiple applications for diagnostic and interventional musculoskeletal ultrasound in musculoskeletal practice. Part 1 of this 2-part article reviews the fundamentals of clinical ultrasonographic imaging, including relevant physics, equipment, training, image optimization, and scanning principles for diagnostic and interventional purposes.

  8. Droplets, Bubbles and Ultrasound Interactions.

    PubMed

    Shpak, Oleksandr; Verweij, Martin; de Jong, Nico; Versluis, Michel

    2016-01-01

    The interaction of droplets and bubbles with ultrasound has been studied extensively in the last 25 years. Microbubbles are broadly used in diagnostic and therapeutic medical applications, for instance, as ultrasound contrast agents. They have a similar size as red blood cells, and thus are able to circulate within blood vessels. Perfluorocarbon liquid droplets can be a potential new generation of microbubble agents as ultrasound can trigger their conversion into gas bubbles. Prior to activation, they are at least five times smaller in diameter than the resulting bubbles. Together with the violent nature of the phase-transition, the droplets can be used for local drug delivery, embolotherapy, HIFU enhancement and tumor imaging. Here we explain the basics of bubble dynamics, described by the Rayleigh-Plesset equation, bubble resonance frequency, damping and quality factor. We show the elegant calculation of the above characteristics for the case of small amplitude oscillations by linearizing the equations. The effect and importance of a bubble coating and effective surface tension are also discussed. We give the main characteristics of the power spectrum of bubble oscillations. Preceding bubble dynamics, ultrasound propagation is introduced. We explain the speed of sound, nonlinearity and attenuation terms. We examine bubble ultrasound scattering and how it depends on the wave-shape of the incident wave. Finally, we introduce droplet interaction with ultrasound. We elucidate the ultrasound-focusing concept within a droplets sphere, droplet shaking due to media compressibility and droplet phase-conversion dynamics.

  9. Ultrasound Elastography: Review of Techniques and Clinical Applications

    PubMed Central

    Sigrist, Rosa M.S.; Liau, Joy; Kaffas, Ahmed El; Chammas, Maria Cristina; Willmann, Juergen K.

    2017-01-01

    Elastography-based imaging techniques have received substantial attention in recent years for non-invasive assessment of tissue mechanical properties. These techniques take advantage of changed soft tissue elasticity in various pathologies to yield qualitative and quantitative information that can be used for diagnostic purposes. Measurements are acquired in specialized imaging modes that can detect tissue stiffness in response to an applied mechanical force (compression or shear wave). Ultrasound-based methods are of particular interest due to its many inherent advantages, such as wide availability including at the bedside and relatively low cost. Several ultrasound elastography techniques using different excitation methods have been developed. In general, these can be classified into strain imaging methods that use internal or external compression stimuli, and shear wave imaging that use ultrasound-generated traveling shear wave stimuli. While ultrasound elastography has shown promising results for non-invasive assessment of liver fibrosis, new applications in breast, thyroid, prostate, kidney and lymph node imaging are emerging. Here, we review the basic principles, foundation physics, and limitations of ultrasound elastography and summarize its current clinical use and ongoing developments in various clinical applications. PMID:28435467

  10. Characterization of free-standing InAs quantum membranes by standing wave hard x-ray photoemission spectroscopy

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Conti, G.; Nemšák, S.; Kuo, C.-T.; Gehlmann, M.; Conlon, C.; Keqi, A.; Rattanachata, A.; Karslıoǧlu, O.; Mueller, J.; Sethian, J.; Bluhm, H.; Rault, J. E.; Rueff, J. P.; Fang, H.; Javey, A.; Fadley, C. S.

    2018-05-01

    Free-standing nanoribbons of InAs quantum membranes (QMs) transferred onto a (Si/Mo) multilayer mirror substrate are characterized by hard x-ray photoemission spectroscopy (HXPS) and by standing-wave HXPS (SW-HXPS). Information on the chemical composition and on the chemical states of the elements within the nanoribbons was obtained by HXPS and on the quantitative depth profiles by SW-HXPS. By comparing the experimental SW-HXPS rocking curves to x-ray optical calculations, the chemical depth profile of the InAs(QM) and its interfaces were quantitatively derived with ångström precision. We determined that (i) the exposure to air induced the formation of an InAsO4 layer on top of the stoichiometric InAs(QM); (ii) the top interface between the air-side InAsO4 and the InAs(QM) is not sharp, indicating that interdiffusion occurs between these two layers; (iii) the bottom interface between the InAs(QM) and the native oxide SiO2 on top of the (Si/Mo) substrate is abrupt. In addition, the valence band offset (VBO) between the InAs(QM) and the SiO2/(Si/Mo) substrate was determined by HXPS. The value of VBO = 0.2 ± 0.04 eV is in good agreement with literature results obtained by electrical characterization, giving a clear indication of the formation of a well-defined and abrupt InAs/SiO2 heterojunction. We have demonstrated that HXPS and SW-HXPS are non-destructive, powerful methods for characterizing interfaces and for providing chemical depth profiles of nanostructures, quantum membranes, and 2D layered materials.

  11. Noninvasive measurement of regional pulse wave velocity in human ascending aorta with ultrasound imaging: an in-vivo feasibility study.

    PubMed

    Huang, Chengwu; Guo, Dong; Lan, Feng; Zhang, Hongjia; Luo, Jianwen

    2016-10-01

    Accurate and noninvasive techniques for measurement of local/regional pulse wave velocity (PWV), instead of global PWV, is desired for quantifying localized arterial stiffness and improving cardiovascular disease assessment. This study aimed at investigating the feasibility of regional PWV measurement in human ascending aorta in vivo using an ultrasound-based technique. Proximal ascending aortas of 76 healthy patients (23-71 years) were scanned with transthoracic echocardiography in parasternal long-axis view, and ultrasound radiofrequency data were acquired in a high temporal resolution (∼404 Hz). The PWV was derived from the determination of arrival times and identification of travel distances. Both PWVs in early systolic phase (PWVsf; pulse wave velocity measured using the systolic foot as characteristic time point) and late systolic phase (PWVdn; pulse wave velocity measured using the dicrotic notch as characteristic time point) were obtained. The PWVsf and PWVdn were 4.58 ± 1.38 and 6.51 ± 1.90 m/s, respectively, and both were correlated with age (r = 0.30, P = 0.02 and r = 0.71, P < 0.0001). The measurements were reproducible, and PWVdn showed significant correlation with aortic diameter (r = 0.53, P < 0.0001), relative distension (r = -0.44, P = 0.0002), and local PWV derived from Bramwell-Hill equation (r = 35, P = 0.004). The PWV difference (PWVdn - PWVsf) reflected aortic stiffness change within cardiac cycle from early systole to late systole and was also correlated with age (r = 0.50, P < 0.0001). The feasibility of ascending aortic PWV measurement using ultrasound imaging was illustrated in vivo, suggesting the potential of the technique in characterization of regional aortic stiffness and assessment of aortic diseases.

  12. Coronal Seismology of Flare-Excited Standing Slow-Mode Waves Observed by SDO/AIA

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Wang, Tongjiang; Ofman, Leon; Davila, Joseph M.

    2016-05-01

    Flare-excited longitudinal intensity oscillations in hot flaring loops have been recently detected by SDO/AIA in 94 and 131 Å bandpasses. Based on the interpretation in terms of a slow-mode wave, quantitative evidence of thermal conduction suppression in hot (>9 MK) loops has been obtained for the first time from measurements of the polytropic index and phase shift between the temperature and density perturbations (Wang et al. 2015, ApJL, 811, L13). This result has significant implications in two aspects. One is that the thermal conduction suppression suggests the need of greatly enhanced compressive viscosity to interpret the observed strong wave damping. The other is that the conduction suppression provides a reasonable mechanism for explaining the long-duration events where the thermal plasma is sustained well beyond the duration of impulsive hard X-ray bursts in many flares, for a time much longer than expected by the classical Spitzer conductive cooling. In this study, we model the observed standing slow-mode wave in Wang et al. (2015) using a 1D nonlinear MHD code. With the seismology-derived transport coefficients for thermal conduction and compressive viscosity, we successfully simulate the oscillation period and damping time of the observed waves. Based on the parametric study of the effect of thermal conduction suppression and viscosity enhancement on the observables, we discuss the inversion scheme for determining the energy transport coefficients by coronal seismology.

  13. Studies on the foundation and development of diagnostic ultrasound

    PubMed Central

    Wagai, Toshio

    2007-01-01

    In recent years, various types of diagnostic imaging methods, such as CT, MRI, PET and Ultrasound, have been developed rapidly and become indispensable as clinical diagnostic tools. Among these imaging modalities, CT, MRI and PET all apply electromagnetic waves like radiation rays. In contrast, an ultrasound imaging method uses a completely different mechanical pressure wave: “sound”. Ultrasound has various features, including inaudible sound at very high frequencies, which allows its use in medical diagnoses. That is, ultrasound techniques can be applied in transmission, reflection and Doppler methods. Moreover, the sharp directivity of an ultrasound beam can also improve image resolution. Another big advantage of diagnostic ultrasound is that it does not harm the human body or cause any pain to patients. Given these various advantages, diagnostic ultrasound has recently been widely used in diagnosing cancer and cardiovascular disease and scanning fetuses (Fig. 1) as well as routine clinical examinations in hospitals. In this paper, I outline my almost 50-year history of diagnostic ultrasound research, particularly that performed at the early stage from 1950–56. PMID:24367150

  14. Lung mass density analysis using deep neural network and lung ultrasound surface wave elastography.

    PubMed

    Zhou, Boran; Zhang, Xiaoming

    2018-05-23

    Lung mass density is directly associated with lung pathology. Computed Tomography (CT) evaluates lung pathology using the Hounsfield unit (HU) but not lung density directly. We have developed a lung ultrasound surface wave elastography (LUSWE) technique to measure the surface wave speed of superficial lung tissue. The objective of this study was to develop a method for analyzing lung mass density of superficial lung tissue using a deep neural network (DNN) and synthetic data of wave speed measurements with LUSWE. The synthetic training dataset of surface wave speed, excitation frequency, lung mass density, and viscoelasticity from LUSWE (788,000 in total) was used to train the DNN model. The DNN was composed of 3 hidden layers of 1024 neurons for each layer and trained for 10 epochs with a batch size of 4096 and a learning rate of 0.001 with three types of optimizers. The test dataset (4000) of wave speeds at three excitation frequencies (100, 150, and 200 Hz) and shear elasticity of superficial lung tissue was used to predict the lung density and evaluate its accuracy compared with predefined lung mass densities. This technique was then validated on a sponge phantom experiment. The obtained results showed that predictions matched well with test dataset (validation accuracy is 0.992) and experimental data in the sponge phantom experiment. This method may be useful to analyze lung mass density by using the DNN model together with the surface wave speed and lung stiffness measurements. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  15. WE-B-210-02: The Advent of Ultrafast Imaging in Biomedical Ultrasound

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

    Tanter, M.

    In the last fifteen years, the introduction of plane or diverging wave transmissions rather than line by line scanning focused beams has broken the conventional barriers of ultrasound imaging. By using such large field of view transmissions, the frame rate reaches the theoretical limit of physics dictated by the ultrasound speed and an ultrasonic map can be provided typically in tens of micro-seconds (several thousands of frames per second). Interestingly, this leap in frame rate is not only a technological breakthrough but it permits the advent of completely new ultrasound imaging modes, including shear wave elastography, electromechanical wave imaging, ultrafastmore » doppler, ultrafast contrast imaging, and even functional ultrasound imaging of brain activity (fUltrasound) introducing Ultrasound as an emerging full-fledged neuroimaging modality. At ultrafast frame rates, it becomes possible to track in real time the transient vibrations – known as shear waves – propagating through organs. Such “human body seismology” provides quantitative maps of local tissue stiffness whose added value for diagnosis has been recently demonstrated in many fields of radiology (breast, prostate and liver cancer, cardiovascular imaging, …). Today, Supersonic Imagine company is commercializing the first clinical ultrafast ultrasound scanner, Aixplorer with real time Shear Wave Elastography. This is the first example of an ultrafast Ultrasound approach surpassing the research phase and now widely spread in the clinical medical ultrasound community with an installed base of more than 1000 Aixplorer systems in 54 countries worldwide. For blood flow imaging, ultrafast Doppler permits high-precision characterization of complex vascular and cardiac flows. It also gives ultrasound the ability to detect very subtle blood flow in very small vessels. In the brain, such ultrasensitive Doppler paves the way for fUltrasound (functional ultrasound imaging) of brain activity with

  16. Experimental and theoretical studies on the movements of two bubbles in an acoustic standing wave field.

    PubMed

    Jiao, Junjie; He, Yong; Leong, Thomas; Kentish, Sandra E; Ashokkumar, Muthupandian; Manasseh, Richard; Lee, Judy

    2013-10-17

    When subjected to an ultrasonic standing-wave field, cavitation bubbles smaller than the resonance size migrate to the pressure antinodes. As bubbles approach the antinode, they also move toward each other and either form a cluster or coalesce. In this study, the translational trajectory of two bubbles moving toward each other in an ultrasonic standing wave at 22.4 kHz was observed using an imaging system with a high-speed video camera. This allowed the speed of the approaching bubbles to be measured for much closer distances than those reported in the prior literature. The trajectory of two approaching bubbles was modeled using coupled equations of radial and translational motions, showing similar trends with the experimental results. We also indirectly measured the secondary Bjerknes force by monitoring the acceleration when bubbles are close to each other under different acoustic pressure amplitudes. Bubbles begin to accelerate toward each other as the distance between them gets shorter, and this acceleration increases with increasing acoustic pressure. The current study provides experimental data that validates the theory on the movement of bubbles and forces acting between them in an acoustic field that will be useful in understanding bubble coalescence in an acoustic field.

  17. Enhanced creaming of milk fat globules in milk emulsions by the application of ultrasound and detection by means of optical methods.

    PubMed

    Juliano, P; Kutter, A; Cheng, L J; Swiergon, P; Mawson, R; Augustin, M A

    2011-09-01

    The effects of application of ultrasonic waves to recombined milk emulsions (3.5% fat, 7% total solids) and raw milk on fat destabilization and creaming were examined. Coarse and fine recombined emulsions (D[4,3]=9.3 μm and 2.7 μm, respectively) and raw milk (D[4,3]=4.9 μm) were subjected to ultrasound for 5 min at 35°C and 400 kHz or 1.6 MHz (using a single transducer) or 400 kHz (where the emulsion was sandwiched between two transducers). Creaming, as calculated from Turbiscan measurements, was more evident in the coarse recombined emulsion and raw milk compared to that of the recombined fine emulsion. Micrographs confirmed that there was flocculation and coalescence in creamed layer of emulsion. Coalescence was confirmed by particle size measurement. These results imply that ultrasound has potential to pre-dispose fat particles in milk emulsions to creaming in standing wave systems and in systems with inhomogeneous sound distributions. Crown Copyright © 2011. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  18. Suppressing bubble shielding effect in shock wave lithotripsy by low intensity pulsed ultrasound.

    PubMed

    Wang, Jen-Chieh; Zhou, Yufeng

    2015-01-01

    Extracorporeal shock wave lithotripsy (ESWL) has been used as an effective modality to fragment kidney calculi. Because of the bubble shielding effect in the pre-focal region, the acoustic energy delivered to the focus is reduced. Low pulse repetition frequency (PRF) will be applied to dissolve these bubbles for better stone comminution efficiency. In this study, low intensity pulsed ultrasound (LIPUS) beam was aligned perpendicular to the axis of a shock wave (SW) lithotripter at its focus. The light transmission was used to evaluate the compressive wave and cavitation induced by SWs without or with a combination of LIPUS for continuous sonication. It is found that bubble shielding effect becomes dominated with the SW exposure and has a greater significant effect on cavitation than compressive wave. Using the combined wave scheme, the improvement began at the 5th pulse and gradually increased. Suppression effect on bubble shielding is independent on the trigger delay, but increases with the acoustic intensity and pulse duration of LIPUS. The peak negative and integral area of light transmission signal, which present the compressive wave and cavitation respectively, using our strategy at PRF of 1 Hz are comparable to those using SW alone at PRF of 0.1 Hz. In addition, high-speed photography confirmed the bubble activities in both free field and close to a stone surface. Bubble motion in response to the acoustic radiation force by LIPUS was found to be the major mechanism of suppressing bubble shielding effect. There is a 2.6-fold increase in stone fragmentation efficiency after 1000 SWs at PRF of 1 Hz in combination with LIPUS. In summary, combination of SWs and LIPUS is an effective way of suppressing bubble shielding effect and, subsequently, improving cavitation at the focus for a better outcome. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  19. The dominant mode of standing Alfven waves at synchronous orbit

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Cummings, W. D.; Countee, C.; Lyons, D.; Wiley, W., III

    1975-01-01

    Low-frequency oscillations of the earth's magnetic field recorded by the UCLA magnetometer on board ATS-1, have been examined for the six-month interval, January-June, 1968. The initial interpretation, that these oscillations represent the second harmonic of a standing Alfven wave, has been re-examined, and it is concluded that this hypothesis must be withdrawn. Using evidence from OGO-5 and ATS-5, as well as the data from ATS-1, it is argued that the dominant mode at the synchronous orbit must be the fundamental rather than the second harmonic. From 14 instances when the oscillations of distinctly different periods occurred during the same time interval at ATS-1 it is concluded that higher harmonics can exist. The period ratio in 7 of the 14 cases corresponds to the simultaneous occurrence of the second harmonic with the fundamental, and 4 other cases could be identified as the simultaneous occurrence of the fourth harmonic with the fundamental.

  20. Standing wave brass-PZT square tubular ultrasonic motor.

    PubMed

    Park, Soonho; He, Siyuan

    2012-09-01

    This paper reports a standing wave brass-PZT tubular ultrasonic motor. The motor is composed of a brass square tube with two teeth on each tube end. Four PZT plates are attached to the outside walls of the brass tube. The motor requires only one driving signal to excite vibration in a single bending mode to generate reciprocating diagonal trajectories of teeth on the brass tube ends, which drive the motor to rotate. Bi-directional rotation is achieved by exciting different pairs of PZT plates to switch the bending vibration direction. Through using the brass-PZT tube structure, the motor can take high magnitude vibration to achieve a high output power in comparison to PZT tube based ultrasonic motors. Prototypes are fabricated and tested. The dimension of the brass-PZT tube is 3.975mm×3.975mm×16mm. Measured performance is a no-load speed of >1000RPM, a stall torque of 370μNm and a maximum output power of 16 mW when a sinusoidal driving voltage of 50V is applied. The working frequencies of the motor are 46,050Hz (clockwise) and 46,200Hz (counter-clockwise). Copyright © 2012. Published by Elsevier B.V.

  1. Photo-Acoustic Ultrasound Imaging to Distinguish Benign from Malignant Prostate Cancer

    DTIC Science & Technology

    2016-09-01

    from the inside out. Ultrasound imaging provides a basic view of the structure of the prostate while photoacoustic contrast is predicted to enhance...University Page 2 of 13 1. INTRODUCTION: Ultrasound imaging uses sound waves at frequencies above the human hearing range to image organs within the body...An ultrasound transducer delivers a pulse of acoustic energy into the area of interest and listens for the echoes which return as the sound waves

  2. Generation of ROS mediated by mechanical waves (ultrasound) and its possible applications.

    PubMed

    Duco, Walter; Grosso, Viviana; Zaccari, Daniel; Soltermann, Arnaldo T

    2016-10-15

    The thermal decomposition of 9,10 diphenylanthracene peroxide (DPAO 2 ) generates DPA and a mix of triplet and singlet molecular oxygen. For DPAO 2 the efficiency to produce singlet molecular oxygen is 0.35. On the other hand, it has shown that many thermal reactions can be carried out through the interaction of molecules with ultrasound. Ultrasound irradiation can create hydrodynamic stress (sonomechanical process), inertial cavitation (pyrolitic process) and long range effects mediated by radicals or ROS. Sonochemical reactions can be originated by pyrolytic like process, shock mechanical waves, thermal reactions and radical and ROS mediated reactions. Sonolysis of pure water can yield hydrogen or hydroxyl radicals and hydrogen peroxide (ROS). When DPAO 2 in 1,4 dioxane solution is treated with 20 or 24kHz and different power intensity the production of molecular singlet oxygen is observed. Specific scavengers like tetracyclone (TC) are used to demonstrate it. The efficiency now is 0.85 showing that the sonochemical process is much more efficient that the thermal one. Another endoperoxide, artemisinin was also studied. Unlike the concept of photosensitizer of photodynamic therapy, in spite of large amount of reported results in literature, the term sonosensitizer and the sonosensitization process are not well defined. We define sonosensitized reaction as one in which a chemical species decompose as consequence of cavitation phenomena producing ROS or other radicals and some other target species does undergo a chemical reaction. The concept could be reach rapidly other peroxides which are now under experimental studies. For artemisinin, an important antimalarian and anticancer drug, was established that ultrasound irradiation increases the effectiveness of the treatment but without any explanation. We show that artemisinin is an endoperoxide and behaves as a sonosensitizer in the sense of our definition. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  3. Sources of image degradation in fundamental and harmonic ultrasound imaging using nonlinear, full-wave simulations.

    PubMed

    Pinton, Gianmarco F; Trahey, Gregg E; Dahl, Jeremy J

    2011-04-01

    A full-wave equation that describes nonlinear propagation in a heterogeneous attenuating medium is solved numerically with finite differences in the time domain (FDTD). 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-andsum beamforming is used to generate point spread functions (PSF) 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 reverberation from near-field structures. Reverberation clutter in the harmonic PSF is 26 dB higher than the fundamental PSF. An artificial medium with uniform velocity but unchanged impedance characteristics indicates that for the fundamental PSF, the primary source of degradation is phase aberration. An ultrasound image is created in silico using the same physical and algorithmic process used in an ultrasound scanner: a series of pulses are transmitted through heterogeneous scattering tissue and the received echoes are used in a delay-and-sum beamforming algorithm to generate images. These beamformed images are compared with images obtained from convolution of the PSF with a scatterer field to demonstrate that a very large portion of the PSF must be used to accurately represent the clutter observed in conventional imaging. © 2011 IEEE

  4. Lineshape-asymmetry elimination in weak atomic transitions driven by an intense standing wave field

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Antypas, Dionysios; Fabricant, Anne; Budker, Dmitry

    2018-05-01

    Owing to the ac-Stark effect, the lineshape of a weak optical transition in an atomic beam can become significantly distorted, when driven by an intense standing wave field. We use an Yb atomic beam to study the lineshape of the 6s2 1S0 -> 5d6s 3D1 transition, which is excited with light circulating in a Fabry-Perot resonator. We demonstrate two methods to avoid the distortion of the transition profile. Of these, one relies on the operation of the resonator in multiple longitudinal modes, and the other in multiple transverse modes.

  5. Diagnostic and interventional musculoskeletal ultrasound: part 2. Clinical applications.

    PubMed

    Smith, Jay; Finnoff, Jonathan T

    2009-02-01

    Musculoskeletal ultrasound involves the use of high-frequency sound waves to image soft tissues and bony structures in the body for the purposes of diagnosing pathology or guiding real-time interventional procedures. Recently, an increasing number of physicians have integrated musculoskeletal ultrasound into their practices to facilitate patient care. Technological advancements, improved portability, and reduced costs continue to drive the proliferation of ultrasound in clinical medicine. This increased interest creates a need for education pertaining to all aspects of musculoskeletal ultrasound. The primary purpose of this article is to review diagnostic ultrasound technology and its potential clinical applications in the evaluation and treatment of patients with neurological and musculoskeletal disorders. After reviewing this article, physicians should be able to (1) list the advantages and disadvantages of ultrasound compared to other available imaging modalities; (2) describe how ultrasound machines produce images using sound waves; (3) discuss the steps necessary to acquire and optimize an ultrasound image; (4) understand the difference ultrasound appearances of tendons, nerves, muscles, ligaments, blood vessels, and bones; and (5) identify multiple applications for diagnostic and interventional musculoskeletal ultrasound. Part 2 of this 2-part article will focus on the clinical applications of musculoskeletal ultrasound in clinical practice, including the ultrasonographic appearance of normal and abnormal tissues as well as specific diagnostic and interventional applications in major body regions.

  6. [Abdominal ultrasound course an introduction to the ultrasound technique. Physical basis. Ultrasound language].

    PubMed

    Segura-Grau, A; Sáez-Fernández, A; Rodríguez-Lorenzo, A; Díaz-Rodríguez, N

    2014-01-01

    Ultrasound is a non-invasive, accessible, and versatile diagnostic technique that uses high frequency ultrasound waves to define outline the organs of the human body, with no ionising radiation, in real time and with the capacity to visual several planes. The high diagnostic yield of the technique, together with its ease of uses plus the previously mentioned characteristics, has currently made it a routine method in daily medical practice. It is for this reason that the multidisciplinary character of this technique is being strengthened every day. To be able to perform the technique correctly requires knowledge of the physical basis of ultrasound, the method and the equipment, as well as of the human anatomy, in order to have the maximum information possible to avoid diagnostic errors due to poor interpretation or lack of information. Copyright © 2013 Sociedad Española de Médicos de Atención Primaria (SEMERGEN). Publicado por Elsevier España. All rights reserved.

  7. Assessment of Curve Flexibility on Scoliotic Surgical Candidates Using Ultrasound Imaging Method.

    PubMed

    Zheng, Rui; Hill, Doug; Hedden, Douglas; Moreau, Marc; Le, Lawrence H; Raso, Jim; Lou, Edmond

    2017-05-01

    The ultrasound imaging method was implemented to assess the spinal curve flexibility of scoliotic surgical candidates, or how much correction it can achieve while patients are bending or lying down. Fifteen participants were recruited. Pre-operative radiographs and ultrasound images in both standing and bending positions were acquired. The post-operative standing radiographs were obtained 1 wk after surgery. Two raters (RZ, EL) measured the ultrasound images twice, 1 wk apart. A curve correction index (C I ) was developed to estimate the curve flexibility. The C I from the pre-operative bending radiograph, ultrasound and post-operative radiograph were 0.51 ± 0.18; R1: 0.74 ± 0.08 vs R2: 0.72 ± 0.09 and 0.60 ± 0.10, respectively. The correlation of C I between ultrasound and post-operative radiography was slightly higher than the pre-operative bending and post-operative radiography. This pilot study demonstrated the bending ultrasound method is a promising supplemental tool to assess curve flexibility before surgical intervention for scoliotic surgical candidates. Copyright © 2017 World Federation for Ultrasound in Medicine & Biology. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  8. Study of Cr/Sc-based multilayer reflecting mirrors using soft x-ray reflectivity and standing wave-enhanced x-ray fluorescence

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Wu, Meiyi; Burcklen, Catherine; André, Jean-Michel; Guen, Karine Le; Giglia, Angelo; Koshmak, Konstantin; Nannarone, Stefano; Bridou, Françoise; Meltchakov, Evgueni; Rossi, Sébastien de; Delmotte, Franck; Jonnard, Philippe

    2017-11-01

    We study Cr/Sc-based multilayer mirrors designed to work in the water window range using hard and soft x-ray reflectivity as well as x-ray fluorescence enhanced by standing waves. Samples differ by the elemental composition of the stack, the thickness of each layer, and the order of deposition. This paper mainly consists of two parts. In the first part, the optical performances of different Cr/Sc-based multilayers are reported, and in the second part, we extend further the characterization of the structural parameters of the multilayers, which can be extracted by comparing the experimental data with simulations. The methodology is detailed in the case of Cr/B4C/Sc sample for which a three-layer model is used. Structural parameters determined by fitting reflectivity curve are then introduced as fixed parameters to plot the x-ray standing wave curve, to compare with the experiment, and confirm the determined structure of the stack.

  9. Monitoring the reflection from an artificial defect in rail track using guided wave ultrasound

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Loveday, Philip W.; Taylor, Rebecca M. C.; Long, Craig S.; Ramatlo, Dineo A.

    2018-04-01

    Guided wave ultrasound has the potential to detect relatively large defects in continuously welded rail track at long range. As monitoring can be performed in near real time it would be acceptable to only detect fairly large cracks provided this is achieved prior to complete rail breakage. Heavy haul rail lines are inspected periodically by conventional ultrasound and sections with even relatively small cracks are removed; therefore, no sizable defects are available to demonstrate monitoring in the presence of realistic environmental operating conditions. Instead, we glued a small mass to the rail to simulate reflection from a crack and monitored the guided wave signals as the glue joint deteriorated over time. Data was collected over a two week period on an operational heavy haul line. A piezoelectric transducer mounted under the head of the rail was used in pulse-echo mode to transmit and receive a mode of propagation with energy confined mainly in the head of the rail. The small mass was attached under the head of the rail, at a distance of 375m from the transducer, using a cyanoacrylate glue, which was not expected to remain intact for long. Pre-processing of the collected signals involved rejection of signals containing train noise, averaging, filtering and dispersion compensation. Reflections from aluminothermic welds were used to stretch and scale the signals to reduce the influence of temperature variations. Singular value decomposition and independent component analysis were then applied to the signals with the aim of separating the reflection caused by the artificial defect from the background signal. The performance of these techniques was compared for different time spans. The reflection from the artificial defect showed unanticipated fluctuations.

  10. Investigation into the Effect of Acoustic Radiation Force and Acoustic Streaming on Particle Patterning in Acoustic Standing Wave Fields

    PubMed Central

    Yang, Yanye; Ni, Zhengyang; Guo, Xiasheng; Luo, Linjiao; Tu, Juan; Zhang, Dong

    2017-01-01

    Acoustic standing waves have been widely used in trapping, patterning, and manipulating particles, whereas one barrier remains: the lack of understanding of force conditions on particles which mainly include acoustic radiation force (ARF) and acoustic streaming (AS). In this paper, force conditions on micrometer size polystyrene microspheres in acoustic standing wave fields were investigated. The COMSOL® Mutiphysics particle tracing module was used to numerically simulate force conditions on various particles as a function of time. The velocity of particle movement was experimentally measured using particle imaging velocimetry (PIV). Through experimental and numerical simulation, the functions of ARF and AS in trapping and patterning were analyzed. It is shown that ARF is dominant in trapping and patterning large particles while the impact of AS increases rapidly with decreasing particle size. The combination of using both ARF and AS for medium size particles can obtain different patterns with only using ARF. Findings of the present study will aid the design of acoustic-driven microfluidic devices to increase the diversity of particle patterning. PMID:28753955

  11. Acoustic waves improves retroviral transduction in human retinal stem cells.

    PubMed

    Peng, Chi-Hsien; Woung, Lin-Chunh; Lu, Kai-Hsi; Tsai, Ching-Yao; Lee, Shou-Dong; Huang, Chi-Shan; Lin, Tai-Chi; Chien, Ke-Hung; Hwang, De-Kuang

    2018-06-22

    The plasticity of retinal stem cells (RSCs), a type of cells that can differentiate into neuron cells and photoreceptor cells, endows them with potential therapeutic properties that can be applied to regenerative medicine. Gene modification of these stem cells before trans-differentiation and transplantation enhances their survival and increases their therapeutic function. The different ways to effectively deliver gene into RSCs are still discussed. This study aimed to use the acoustic waves to improve the efficacy of gene delivery for RSCs. RSCs were obtained from non-fetal human ocular pigmented ciliary margin tissues. The enhanced green fluorescent protein-encoded murine stem cell retroviruses (MSCV) were prepared and used to infect RSCs. Glass chambers containing RSCs, retroviruses, and various concentrations of polybrene (0, 0.8, 2, 4 and 8 μg/mL) were exposed under 20 or 25 Vp-p ultrasonic standing wave fields (USWF) for 5 min. The percentage of green fluorescent protein positive cells in each sample was calculated and compared to test the efficacy of gene transduction. Our results showed that the efficiency of gene transduction by MSCV infection was enhanced following the concentration of polybrene and the energy of USWF. The percentage of green fluorescent protein positive cells was significantly higher in chambers that contained 8 μg/mL of polybrene and was exposed to 20Vp-p of USWF for 5 min. In addition, the percentage increased in chambers contained 2, 4 and 8 μg/mL of polybrene when they were exposed to 25Vp-p of USWF. Comparing to those did not treated with ultrasound, the efficiency of retroviral transduction to RSCs increased 4-fold after exposed to USWF for 5 min. We demonstrated the ability of ultrasound standing waves to improve retroviral transduction into RSCs. We believe that this may be applied to the experimental designs of future studies and may have possible therapeutic uses. Copyright © 2018. Published by Elsevier Taiwan LLC.

  12. Application of ultrasound in periodontics: Part I

    PubMed Central

    Bains, Vive K.; Mohan, Ranjana; Bains, Rhythm

    2008-01-01

    Ultrasonic is a branch of acoustics concerned with sound vibrations in frequency ranges above audible level. Ultrasound uses the transmission and reflection of acoustic energy. A pulse is propagated and its reflection is received, both by the transducer. For clinical purposes ultrasound is generated by transducers, which converts electrical energy into ultrasonic waves. This is usually achieved by magnetostriction or piezoelectricity. Primary effects of ultrasound are thermal, mechanical (cavitation and microstreaming), and chemical (sonochemicals). Knowledge of the basic and other secondary effects of ultrasound is essential for the development of techniques of application. PMID:20142941

  13. 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.

  14. Backward-propagating MeV electrons in ultra-intense laser interactions: Standing wave acceleration and coupling to the reflected laser pulse

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

    Orban, Chris, E-mail: orban@physics.osu.edu; Feister, Scott; Innovative Scientific Solutions, Inc., Dayton, Ohio 45459

    Laser-accelerated electron beams have been created at a kHz repetition rate from the reflection of intense (∼10{sup 18 }W/cm{sup 2}), ∼40 fs laser pulses focused on a continuous water-jet in an experiment at the Air Force Research Laboratory. This paper investigates Particle-in-Cell simulations of the laser-target interaction to identify the physical mechanisms of electron acceleration in this experiment. We find that the standing-wave pattern created by the overlap of the incident and reflected laser is particularly important because this standing wave can “inject” electrons into the reflected laser pulse where the electrons are further accelerated. We identify two regimes of standingmore » wave acceleration: a highly relativistic case (a{sub 0} ≥ 1), and a moderately relativistic case (a{sub 0} ∼ 0.5) which operates over a larger fraction of the laser period. In previous studies, other groups have investigated the highly relativistic case for its usefulness in launching electrons in the forward direction. We extend this by investigating electron acceleration in the specular (back reflection) direction and over a wide range of intensities (10{sup 17}–10{sup 19 }W cm{sup −2})« less

  15. Transmural Ultrasound-based Visualization of Patterns of Action Potential Wave Propagation in Cardiac Tissue

    PubMed Central

    Luther, Stefan; Singh, Rupinder; Gilmour, Robert F.

    2010-01-01

    The pattern of action potential propagation during various tachyarrhythmias is strongly suspected to be composed of multiple re-entrant waves, but has never been imaged in detail deep within myocardial tissue. An understanding of the nature and dynamics of these waves is important in the development of appropriate electrical or pharmacological treatments for these pathological conditions. We propose a new imaging modality that uses ultrasound to visualize the patterns of propagation of these waves through the mechanical deformations they induce. The new method would have the distinct advantage of being able to visualize these waves deep within cardiac tissue. In this article, we describe one step that would be necessary in this imaging process—the conversion of these deformations into the action potential induced active stresses that produced them. We demonstrate that, because the active stress induced by an action potential is, to a good approximation, only nonzero along the local fiber direction, the problem in our case is actually overdetermined, allowing us to obtain a complete solution. Use of two- rather than three-dimensional displacement data, noise in these displacements, and/or errors in the measurements of the fiber orientations all produce substantial but acceptable errors in the solution. We conclude that the reconstruction of action potential-induced active stress from the deformation it causes appears possible, and that, therefore, the path is open to the development of the new imaging modality. PMID:20499183

  16. Pulse Compression Techniques for Laser Generated Ultrasound

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Anastasi, R. F.; Madaras, E. I.

    1999-01-01

    Laser generated ultrasound for nondestructive evaluation has an optical power density limit due to rapid high heating that causes material damage. This damage threshold limits the generated ultrasound amplitude, which impacts nondestructive evaluation inspection capability. To increase ultrasound signal levels and improve the ultrasound signal-to-noise ratio without exceeding laser power limitations, it is possible to use pulse compression techniques. The approach illustrated here uses a 150mW laser-diode modulated with a pseudo-random sequence and signal correlation. Results demonstrate the successful generation of ultrasonic bulk waves in aluminum and graphite-epoxy composite materials using a modulated low-power laser diode and illustrate ultrasound bandwidth control.

  17. 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.

  18. Acoustic radiation force acting on elastic and viscoelastic spherical shells placed in a plane standing wave field.

    PubMed

    Mitri, F G

    2005-08-01

    The theory of the acoustic radiation force acting on elastic spherical shells suspended in a plane standing wave field is developed in relation to their thickness and the content of their hollow regions. The theory is modified to include the effect of a hysteresis type of absorption of compressional and shear waves in the material. The fluid-loading effect on the acoustic radiation force function Y(st) is analyzed as well. Results of numerical calculations are presented for a number of elastic and viscoelastic materials, with the hollow region filled with water or air. These results show how the damping due to absorption, the change of the interior fluid inside the shells' hollow regions, and the exterior fluid surrounding their structures, affect the acoustic radiation force.

  19. A self-running standing wave-type bidirectional slider for the ultrasonically levitated thin linear stage.

    PubMed

    Koyama, Daisuke; Takei, Hiroyuki; Nakamura, Kentaro; Ueha, Sadayuki

    2008-08-01

    A slider for a self-running standing wave-type, ultrasonically levitated, thin linear stage is discussed. The slider can be levitated and moved using acoustic radiation force and acoustic streaming. The slider has a simple configuration and consists of an aluminum vibrating plate and a piezoelectric zirconate titanate (PZT) element. The large asymmetric vibration distribution for the high thrust and levitation performance was obtained by adjusting the configuration determined by finite elemental analysis (FEA). As a preliminary step, the computed results of the sound pressure distribution in the 1-mm air gap by FEA was com pared with experimental results obtained using a fiber optic probe. The direction of the total driving force for the acoustic streaming in the small air gap was estimated by the sound pressure distribution calculated by FEA, and it was found that the direction of the acoustic streaming could be altered by controlling the vibration mode of the slider. The flexural standing wave could be generated along the vibrating plate near the frequencies predicted based on the FEA results. The slider could be levitated by the acoustic radiation force radiated from its own vibrating plate at several frequencies. The slider could be moved in the negative and positive directions at 68 kHz and 69 kHz, which correspond to the results computed by FEA, with the asymmetric vibration distribution of the slider's vibrating plate. Larger thrust could be obtained with the smaller levitation distance, and the maximum thrust was 19 mN.

  20. The dominant mode of standing Alfven waves at the synchronous orbit

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Cummins, W. D.; Countee, C.; Lyons, D.; Wiley, W., III

    1975-01-01

    Low-frequency oscillations of the earth's magnetic field recorded by a magnetometer on board ATS 1 have been examined for the 6-month interval between January and June 1968. Using evidence from OGO 5 and ATS 5 as well as the data from ATS 1, it is argued that the dominant mode at ATS 1 must be the fundamental rather than the second harmonic of a standing Alfven wave. It is concluded that these transverse oscillations are more accurately associated with magnetically disturbed days than with quiet days. From 14 instances when oscillations of distinctly different periods occurred during the same time interval at ATS 1, it is also concluded that higher harmonics can exist. The period ratio in seven of the 14 cases corresponds to the simultaneous occurrence of the second harmonic with the fundamental, and four other cases could be identified as the simultaneous occurrence of the fourth harmonic with the fundamental.

  1. Design and characterization of a high-power ultrasound driver with ultralow-output impedance

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Lewis, George K.; Olbricht, William L.

    2009-11-01

    We describe a pocket-sized ultrasound driver with an ultralow-output impedance amplifier circuit (less than 0.05 Ω) that can transfer more than 99% of the voltage from a power supply to the ultrasound transducer with minimal reflections. The device produces high-power acoustical energy waves while operating at lower voltages than conventional ultrasound driving systems because energy losses owing to mismatched impedance are minimized. The peak performance of the driver is measured experimentally with a PZT-4, 1.54 MHz, piezoelectric ceramic, and modeled using an adjusted Mason model over a range of transducer resonant frequencies. The ultrasound driver can deliver a 100 Vpp (peak to peak) square-wave signal across 0-8 MHz ultrasound transducers in 5 ms bursts through continuous wave operation, producing acoustic powers exceeding 130 W. Effects of frequency, output impedance of the driver, and input impedance of the transducer on the maximum acoustic output power of piezoelectric transducers are examined. The small size, high power, and efficiency of the ultrasound driver make this technology useful for research, medical, and industrial ultrasonic applications.

  2. Design and characterization of a high-power ultrasound driver with ultralow-output impedance.

    PubMed

    Lewis, George K; Olbricht, William L

    2009-11-01

    We describe a pocket-sized ultrasound driver with an ultralow-output impedance amplifier circuit (less than 0.05 ohms) that can transfer more than 99% of the voltage from a power supply to the ultrasound transducer with minimal reflections. The device produces high-power acoustical energy waves while operating at lower voltages than conventional ultrasound driving systems because energy losses owing to mismatched impedance are minimized. The peak performance of the driver is measured experimentally with a PZT-4, 1.54 MHz, piezoelectric ceramic, and modeled using an adjusted Mason model over a range of transducer resonant frequencies. The ultrasound driver can deliver a 100 V(pp) (peak to peak) square-wave signal across 0-8 MHz ultrasound transducers in 5 ms bursts through continuous wave operation, producing acoustic powers exceeding 130 W. Effects of frequency, output impedance of the driver, and input impedance of the transducer on the maximum acoustic output power of piezoelectric transducers are examined. The small size, high power, and efficiency of the ultrasound driver make this technology useful for research, medical, and industrial ultrasonic applications.

  3. The role of electric field in microfluidic heating induced by standing surface acoustic waves

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Zheng, Tengfei; Wang, Chaohui; Hu, Qiao; Wei, Shoupeng

    2018-06-01

    The heating mechanism of standing surface acoustic waves (SSAWs) on a LiNbO3 substrate has been experimentally studied. Three devices with different substrates were used to heat the drops with NaCl concentrations ranging from 0 to 1 g/l, respectively. The device with a glass substrate was used to shield acoustic waves. The device with an Au layer between the LiNbO3 substrate and the droplet was used to shield the alternating current field. The results show that the thermal effect induced by SSAWs on the LiNbO3 substrate is composed of the acoustothermal effect due to SSAWs and the electric field thermal effect (Joule heat) due to the alternating current field. The electric field thermal effect which is ignored in SSAW devices previously plays an important role in the thermal effect induced by SSAWs. These results provide a meaningful insight into the mechanism of SSAW-based heating, which is of great help to guide the effective use of the SSAW-based heating technique for various applications.

  4. Detection of concealed explosives at stand-off distances using wide band swept millimetre waves

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Andrews, David A.; Rezgui, Nacer D.; Smith, Sarah E.; Bowring, Nicholas; Southgate, Matthew; Baker, John G.

    2008-10-01

    Millimetre waves in the range 20 to 110 GHz have been used to detect the presence and thickness of dielectric materials, such as explosives, by measuring the frequency response of the return signal. Interference between the reflected signals from the front and back surfaces of the dielectric provides a characteristic frequency variation in the return signal, which may be processed to yield its optical depth [Bowring et al, Meas. Sci. Technol. 19, 024004 (2008)]. The depth resolution depends on the sweep bandwidth, which is typically 10 to 30 GHz. By using super-heterodyne detection the range of the object can also be determined, which enables a signal from a target, such as a suicide bomber to be extracted from background clutter. Using millimetre wave optics only a small area of the target is illuminated at a time, thus reducing interference from different parts of a human target. Results are presented for simulated explosive materials with water or human backing at stand-off distances. A method of data analysis that involves pattern recognition enables effective differentiation of target types.

  5. Ultrasound elastographic techniques in focal liver lesions

    PubMed Central

    Conti, Clara Benedetta; Cavalcoli, Federica; Fraquelli, Mirella; Conte, Dario; Massironi, Sara

    2016-01-01

    Elastographic techniques are new ultrasound-based imaging techniques developed to estimate tissue deformability/stiffness. Several ultrasound elastographic approaches have been developed, such as static elastography, transient elastography and acoustic radiation force imaging methods, which include point shear wave and shear wave imaging elastography. The application of these methods in clinical practice aims at estimating the mechanical tissues properties. One of the main settings for the application of these tools has been liver stiffness assessment in chronic liver disease, which has been studied mainly using transient elastography. Another field of application for these techniques is the assessment of focal lesions, detected by ultrasound in organs such as pancreas, prostate, breast, thyroid, lymph nodes. Considering the frequency and importance of the detection of focal liver lesions through routine ultrasound, some studies have also aimed to assess the role that elestography can play in studying the stiffness of different types of liver lesions, in order to predict their nature and thus offer valuable non-invasive methods for the diagnosis of liver masses. PMID:26973405

  6. Ultrasound elastographic techniques in focal liver lesions.

    PubMed

    Conti, Clara Benedetta; Cavalcoli, Federica; Fraquelli, Mirella; Conte, Dario; Massironi, Sara

    2016-03-07

    Elastographic techniques are new ultrasound-based imaging techniques developed to estimate tissue deformability/stiffness. Several ultrasound elastographic approaches have been developed, such as static elastography, transient elastography and acoustic radiation force imaging methods, which include point shear wave and shear wave imaging elastography. The application of these methods in clinical practice aims at estimating the mechanical tissues properties. One of the main settings for the application of these tools has been liver stiffness assessment in chronic liver disease, which has been studied mainly using transient elastography. Another field of application for these techniques is the assessment of focal lesions, detected by ultrasound in organs such as pancreas, prostate, breast, thyroid, lymph nodes. Considering the frequency and importance of the detection of focal liver lesions through routine ultrasound, some studies have also aimed to assess the role that elestography can play in studying the stiffness of different types of liver lesions, in order to predict their nature and thus offer valuable non-invasive methods for the diagnosis of liver masses.

  7. Performance assessment of Pulse Wave Imaging using conventional ultrasound in canine aortas ex vivo and normal human arteries in vivo

    PubMed Central

    Li, Ronny X.; Qaqish, William; Konofagou, Elisa. E.

    2015-01-01

    The propagation behavior of the arterial pulse wave may provide valuable diagnostic information for cardiovascular pathology. Pulse Wave Imaging (PWI) is a noninvasive, ultrasound imaging-based technique capable of mapping multiple wall motion waveforms along a short arterial segment over a single cardiac cycle, allowing for the regional pulse wave velocity (PWV) and propagation uniformity to be evaluated. The purpose of this study was to improve the clinical utility of PWI using a conventional ultrasound system. The tradeoff between PWI spatial and temporal resolution was evaluated using an ex vivo canine aorta (n = 2) setup to assess the effects of varying image acquisition and signal processing parameters on the measurement of the PWV and the pulse wave propagation uniformity r2. PWI was also performed on the carotid arteries and abdominal aortas of 10 healthy volunteers (24.8 ± 3.3 y.o.) to determine the waveform tracking feature that would yield the most precise PWV measurements and highest r2 values in vivo. The ex vivo results indicated that the highest precision for measuring PWVs ~ 2.5 – 3.5 m/s was achieved using 24–48 scan lines within a 38 mm image plane width (i.e. 0.63 – 1.26 lines/mm). The in vivo results indicated that tracking the 50% upstroke of the waveform would consistently yield the most precise PWV measurements and minimize the error in the propagation uniformity measurement. Such findings may help establish the optimal image acquisition and signal processing parameters that may improve the reliability of PWI as a clinical measurement tool. PMID:26640603

  8. Enabling real-time ultrasound imaging of soft tissue mechanical properties by simplification of the shear wave motion equation.

    PubMed

    Engel, Aaron J; Bashford, Gregory R

    2015-08-01

    Ultrasound based shear wave elastography (SWE) is a technique used for non-invasive characterization and imaging of soft tissue mechanical properties. Robust estimation of shear wave propagation speed is essential for imaging of soft tissue mechanical properties. In this study we propose to estimate shear wave speed by inversion of the first-order wave equation following directional filtering. This approach relies on estimation of first-order derivatives which allows for accurate estimations using smaller smoothing filters than when estimating second-order derivatives. The performance was compared to three current methods used to estimate shear wave propagation speed: direct inversion of the wave equation (DIWE), time-to-peak (TTP) and cross-correlation (CC). The shear wave speed of three homogeneous phantoms of different elastic moduli (gelatin by weight of 5%, 7%, and 9%) were measured with each method. The proposed method was shown to produce shear speed estimates comparable to the conventional methods (standard deviation of measurements being 0.13 m/s, 0.05 m/s, and 0.12 m/s), but with simpler processing and usually less time (by a factor of 1, 13, and 20 for DIWE, CC, and TTP respectively). The proposed method was able to produce a 2-D speed estimate from a single direction of wave propagation in about four seconds using an off-the-shelf PC, showing the feasibility of performing real-time or near real-time elasticity imaging with dedicated hardware.

  9. Focused ultrasound in ophthalmology

    PubMed Central

    Silverman, Ronald H

    2016-01-01

    The use of focused ultrasound to obtain diagnostically significant information about the eye goes back to the 1950s. This review describes the historical and technological development of ophthalmic ultrasound and its clinical application and impact. Ultrasound, like light, can be focused, which is crucial for formation of high-resolution, diagnostically useful images. Focused, single-element, mechanically scanned transducers are most common in ophthalmology. Specially designed transducers have been used to generate focused, high-intensity ultrasound that through thermal effects has been used to treat glaucoma (via ciliodestruction), tumors, and other pathologies. Linear and annular transducer arrays offer synthetic focusing in which precise timing of the excitation of independently addressable array elements allows formation of a converging wavefront to create a focus at one or more programmable depths. Most recently, linear array-based plane-wave ultrasound, in which the array emits an unfocused wavefront and focusing is performed solely on received data, has been demonstrated for imaging ocular anatomy and blood flow. While the history of ophthalmic ultrasound extends back over half-a-century, new and powerful technologic advances continue to be made, offering the prospect of novel diagnostic capabilities. PMID:27757007

  10. Focused ultrasound in ophthalmology.

    PubMed

    Silverman, Ronald H

    2016-01-01

    The use of focused ultrasound to obtain diagnostically significant information about the eye goes back to the 1950s. This review describes the historical and technological development of ophthalmic ultrasound and its clinical application and impact. Ultrasound, like light, can be focused, which is crucial for formation of high-resolution, diagnostically useful images. Focused, single-element, mechanically scanned transducers are most common in ophthalmology. Specially designed transducers have been used to generate focused, high-intensity ultrasound that through thermal effects has been used to treat glaucoma (via ciliodestruction), tumors, and other pathologies. Linear and annular transducer arrays offer synthetic focusing in which precise timing of the excitation of independently addressable array elements allows formation of a converging wavefront to create a focus at one or more programmable depths. Most recently, linear array-based plane-wave ultrasound, in which the array emits an unfocused wavefront and focusing is performed solely on received data, has been demonstrated for imaging ocular anatomy and blood flow. While the history of ophthalmic ultrasound extends back over half-a-century, new and powerful technologic advances continue to be made, offering the prospect of novel diagnostic capabilities.

  11. Water-cooled, high-intensity ultrasound surgical applicators with frequency tracking.

    PubMed

    Martin, Roy W; Vaezy, Shahram; Proctor, Andrew; Myntti, Terrence; Lee, Janelle B J; Crum, Lawrence A

    2003-10-01

    High-intensity, focused ultrasound (HIFU) applicators have been developed for arresting bleeding with the ultimate intent of use in surgery. The design uses a tapered titanium component for transmission coupling of the ultrasound energy from a spherically curved transducer to biological tissues. The nominal operating frequency is 5.5 MHz, in a highly resonant mode (quality factor of 327 with water load). Liquid cooling is used to remove energy loss important at net applied power greater than 18 W/cm2 at the surface of the piezoelectric element. A downward resonance frequency shift (>20 kHz) occurs, even with cooling, as the applicator warms with normal operation. A feedback technique is used for maintaining the excitation near optimum resonance. Standing wave ratios of the applied power of 1.6 or less are thus sustained. The system and applicators have been found to be highly robust, effective in achieving hemostasis in the hemorrhaging liver, spleen, lung, or blood vessels in rabbit and pig experiments. One unit has been operated for over 1.7 hours in treating organ hemorrhage in blunt trauma experiments with nine swine with electrical net power of up to 158 W (31 W/cm2 across the transducer) and intensity of 2560 W/cm2 at focus.

  12. Applications of Doppler ultrasound in clinical vascular disease

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Barnes, R. W.; Hokanson, D. E.; Sumner, D. S.; Strandness, D. E., Jr.

    1975-01-01

    Doppler ultrasound has become the most useful and versatile noninvasive technique for objective evaluation of clinical vascular disease. Commercially available continuous-wave instruments provide qualitative and quantitative assessment of venous and arterial disease. Pulsed Doppler ultrasound was developed to provide longitudinal and transverse cross-sectional images of the arterial lumen with a resolution approaching that of conventional X-ray techniques. Application of Doppler ultrasound in venous, peripheral arterial, and cerebrovascular diseases is reviewed.

  13. Supercritical carbon dioxide extraction of capsaicinoids from malagueta pepper (Capsicum frutescens L.) assisted by ultrasound.

    PubMed

    Santos, Philipe; Aguiar, Ana C; Barbero, Gerardo F; Rezende, Camila A; Martínez, Julian

    2015-01-01

    Extracts from malagueta pepper (Capsicum frutescens L.) were obtained using supercritical fluid extraction (SFE) assisted by ultrasound, with carbon dioxide as solvent at 15MPa and 40°C. The SFE global yield increased up to 77% when ultrasound waves were applied, and the best condition of ultrasound-assisted extraction was ultrasound power of 360W applied during 60min. Four capsaicinoids were identified in the extracts and quantified by high performance liquid chromatography. The use of ultrasonic waves did not influence significantly the capsaicinoid profiles and the phenolic content of the extracts. However, ultrasound has enhanced the SFE rate. A model based on the broken and intact cell concept was adequate to represent the extraction kinetics and estimate the mass transfer coefficients, which were increased with ultrasound. Images obtained by field emission scanning electron microscopy showed that the action of ultrasonic waves did not cause cracks on the cell wall surface. On the other hand, ultrasound promoted disturbances in the vegetable matrix, leading to the release of extractable material on the solid surface. The effects of ultrasound were more significant on SFE from larger solid particles. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  14. Ultrasound Assessment of the Transverse Abdominis During Functional Movement.

    PubMed

    Mangum, L Colby; Henderson, Kaitlin; Murray, Kyle P; Saliba, Susan A

    2018-05-01

    The traditional activation ratio divides contracted muscle thickness by resting muscle thickness while an abdominal draw-in maneuver is performed during hook lying. Ultrasound imaging during function, such as standing or gait, or peak knee flexion in a single-leg squat allows for further visualization of muscle activity. The goal of this study was to examine activation ratio calculations for transverse abdominis function in supine versus loaded conditions to determine the most informative normalization strategy for muscle activity based on thickness values. Transverse abdominis thickness was measured via ultrasound in 35 healthy participants under 4 different conditions. Comparisons were made between the traditional activation ratio tabletop, standing activation ratio (standing abdominal draw-in maneuver thickness/quiet standing thickness), and functional activation ratio (single-leg squat thickness/quiet standing thickness). Additionally, a cued activation ratio (single-leg squat with cued abdominal draw-in maneuver thickness/single-leg squat thickness) during the single-leg squat was obtained. Activation ratios of greater than 1.0 indicated that participants could activate the muscle during activity, and values were compared by analysis of variance. The participants included 23 women and 12 men with a mean age ± SD of 21.3 ± 2.7 years, mass of 66.1 ± 14.4 kg, and height of 168.5 ± 10.1 cm. Activation ratios exceeded 1.0 in 94.3% for the traditional activation ratio, 85.7% for the standing activation ratio, 82.9% for the cued activation ratio, and 82.9% for the functional activation ratio. With groups defined as tabletop activated or not, the standing, cued, and functional activation ratios were all significantly different (all P < .05). Normalizing muscle thickness to the corresponding functional position quiet value provides a useful functional activation ratio and may help clinicians better understand the transverse abdominis role

  15. The role of viscosity estimation for oil-in-gelatin phantom in shear wave based ultrasound elastography.

    PubMed

    Zhu, Ying; Dong, Changfeng; Yin, Yin; Chen, Xin; Guo, Yanrong; Zheng, Yi; Shen, Yuanyuan; Wang, Tianfu; Zhang, Xinyu; Chen, Siping

    2015-02-01

    Shear wave based ultrasound elastography utilizes mechanical excitation or acoustic radiation force to induce shear waves in deep tissue. The tissue response is monitored to obtain elasticity information about the tissue. During the past two decades, tissue elasticity has been extensively studied and has been used in clinical disease diagnosis. However, biological soft tissues are viscoelastic in nature. Therefore, they should be simultaneously characterized in terms of elasticity and viscosity. In this study, two shear wave-based elasticity imaging methods, shear wave dispersion ultrasound vibrometry (SDUV) and acoustic radiation force impulsive (ARFI) imaging, were compared. The discrepancy between the measurements obtained by the two methods was analyzed, and the role of viscosity was investigated. To this end, four types of gelatin phantoms containing 0%, 20%, 30% and 40% castor oil were fabricated to mimic different viscosities of soft tissue. For the SDUV method, the shear elasticity μ1 was 3.90 ± 0.27 kPa, 4.49 ± 0.16 kPa, 2.41 ± 0.33 kPa and 1.31 ± 0.09 kPa; and the shear viscosity μ2 was 1.82 ± 0.31 Pa•s, 2.41 ± 0.35 Pa•s, 2.65 ± 0.13 Pa•s and 2.89 ± 0.14 Pa•s for 0%, 20%, 30% and 40% oil, respectively in both cases. For the ARFI measurements, the shear elasticity μ was 7.30 ± 0.20 kPa, 8.20 ± 0.31 kPa, 7.42 ± 0.21 kPa and 5.90 ± 0.36 kPa for 0%, 20%, 30% and 40% oil, respectively. The SDUV results demonstrated that the elasticity first increased from 0% to 20% oil and then decreased for the 30% and 40% oil. The viscosity decreased consistently as the concentration of castor oil increased from 0% to 40%. The elasticity measured by ARFI showed the same trend as that of the SDUV but exceeded the results measured by SDUV. To clearly validate the impact of viscosity on the elasticity estimation, an independent measurement of the elasticity and viscosity by dynamic mechanical analysis (DMA) was conducted on these four types of gelatin

  16. Nonlinear acoustics in biomedical ultrasound

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Cleveland, Robin O.

    2015-10-01

    Ultrasound is widely used to image inside the body; it is also used therapeutically to treat certain medical conditions. In both imaging and therapy applications the amplitudes employed in biomedical ultrasound are often high enough that nonlinear acoustic effects are present in the propagation: the effects have the potential to be advantageous in some scenarios but a hindrance in others. In the case of ultrasound imaging the nonlinearity produces higher harmonics that result in images of greater quality. However, nonlinear effects interfere with the imaging of ultrasound contrast agents (typically micron sized bubbles with a strong nonlinear response of their own) and nonlinear effects also result in complications when derating of pressure measurements in water to in situ values in tissue. High intensity focused ultrasound (HIFU) is emerging as a non-invasive therapeutic modality which can result in thermal ablation of tissue. For thermal ablation, the extra effective attenuation resulting from nonlinear effects can result in enhanced heating of tissue if shock formation occurs in the target region for ablation - a highly desirable effect. However, if nonlinearity is too strong it can also result in undesired near-field heating and reduced ablation in the target region. The disruption of tissue (histotripsy) and fragmentation of kidney stones (lithotripsy) exploits shock waves to produce mechanically based effects, with minimal heating present. In these scenarios it is necessary for the waves to be of sufficient amplitude that a shock exists when the waveform reaches the target region. This talk will discuss how underlying nonlinear phenomenon act in all the diagnostic and therapeutic applications described above.

  17. Low-Pressure Burst-Mode Focused Ultrasound Wave Reconstruction and Mapping for Blood-Brain Barrier Opening: A Preclinical Examination

    PubMed Central

    Xia, Jingjing; Tsui, Po-Hsiang; Liu, Hao-Li

    2016-01-01

    Burst-mode focused ultrasound (FUS) exposure has been shown to induce transient blood-brain barrier (BBB) opening for potential CNS drug delivery. FUS-BBB opening requires imaging guidance during the intervention, yet current imaging technology only enables postoperative outcome confirmation. In this study, we propose an approach to visualize short-burst low-pressure focal beam distribution that allows to be applied in FUS-BBB opening intervention on small animals. A backscattered acoustic-wave reconstruction method based on synchronization among focused ultrasound emission, diagnostic ultrasound receiving and passively beamformed processing were developed. We observed that focal beam could be successfully visualized for in vitro FUS exposure with 0.5–2 MHz without involvement of microbubbles. The detectable level of FUS exposure was 0.467 MPa in pressure and 0.05 ms in burst length. The signal intensity (SI) of the reconstructions was linearly correlated with the FUS exposure level both in-vitro (r2 = 0.9878) and in-vivo (r2 = 0.9943), and SI level of the reconstructed focal beam also correlated with the success and level of BBB-opening. The proposed approach provides a feasible way to perform real-time and closed-loop control of FUS-based brain drug delivery. PMID:27295608

  18. Low-Pressure Burst-Mode Focused Ultrasound Wave Reconstruction and Mapping for Blood-Brain Barrier Opening: A Preclinical Examination

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Xia, Jingjing; Tsui, Po-Hsiang; Liu, Hao-Li

    2016-06-01

    Burst-mode focused ultrasound (FUS) exposure has been shown to induce transient blood-brain barrier (BBB) opening for potential CNS drug delivery. FUS-BBB opening requires imaging guidance during the intervention, yet current imaging technology only enables postoperative outcome confirmation. In this study, we propose an approach to visualize short-burst low-pressure focal beam distribution that allows to be applied in FUS-BBB opening intervention on small animals. A backscattered acoustic-wave reconstruction method based on synchronization among focused ultrasound emission, diagnostic ultrasound receiving and passively beamformed processing were developed. We observed that focal beam could be successfully visualized for in vitro FUS exposure with 0.5-2 MHz without involvement of microbubbles. The detectable level of FUS exposure was 0.467 MPa in pressure and 0.05 ms in burst length. The signal intensity (SI) of the reconstructions was linearly correlated with the FUS exposure level both in-vitro (r2 = 0.9878) and in-vivo (r2 = 0.9943), and SI level of the reconstructed focal beam also correlated with the success and level of BBB-opening. The proposed approach provides a feasible way to perform real-time and closed-loop control of FUS-based brain drug delivery.

  19. Observation of the dispersion of wedge waves propagating along cylinder wedge with different truncations by laser ultrasound technique

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Jia, Jing; Zhang, Yu; Han, Qingbang; Jing, Xueping

    2017-10-01

    The research focuses on study the influence of truncations on the dispersion of wedge waves propagating along cylinder wedge with different truncations by using the laser ultrasound technique. The wedge waveguide models with different truncations were built by using finite element method (FEM). The dispersion curves were obtained by using 2D Fourier transformation method. Multiple mode wedge waves were observed, which was well agreed with the results estimated from Lagasse's empirical formula. We established cylinder wedge with radius of 3mm, 20° and 60°angle, with 0μm, 5μm, 10μm, 20μm, 30μm, 40μm, and 50μm truncations, respectively. It was found that non-ideal wedge tip caused abnormal dispersion of the mode of cylinder wedge, the modes of 20° cylinder wedge presents the characteristics of guide waves which propagating along hollow cylinder as the truncation increasing. Meanwhile, the modes of 60° cylinder wedge with truncations appears the characteristics of guide waves propagating along hollow cylinder, and its mode are observed clearly. The study can be used to evaluate and detect wedge structure.

  20. Spatial Angular Compounding Technique for H-Scan Ultrasound Imaging.

    PubMed

    Khairalseed, Mawia; Xiong, Fangyuan; Kim, Jung-Whan; Mattrey, Robert F; Parker, Kevin J; Hoyt, Kenneth

    2018-01-01

    H-Scan is a new ultrasound imaging technique that relies on matching a model of pulse-echo formation to the mathematics of a class of Gaussian-weighted Hermite polynomials. This technique may be beneficial in the measurement of relative scatterer sizes and in cancer therapy, particularly for early response to drug treatment. Because current H-scan techniques use focused ultrasound data acquisitions, spatial resolution degrades away from the focal region and inherently affects relative scatterer size estimation. Although the resolution of ultrasound plane wave imaging can be inferior to that of traditional focused ultrasound approaches, the former exhibits a homogeneous spatial resolution throughout the image plane. The purpose of this study was to implement H-scan using plane wave imaging and investigate the impact of spatial angular compounding on H-scan image quality. Parallel convolution filters using two different Gaussian-weighted Hermite polynomials that describe ultrasound scattering events are applied to the radiofrequency data. The H-scan processing is done on each radiofrequency image plane before averaging to get the angular compounded image. The relative strength from each convolution is color-coded to represent relative scatterer size. Given results from a series of phantom materials, H-scan imaging with spatial angular compounding more accurately reflects the true scatterer size caused by reductions in the system point spread function and improved signal-to-noise ratio. Preliminary in vivo H-scan imaging of tumor-bearing animals suggests this modality may be useful for monitoring early response to chemotherapeutic treatment. Overall, H-scan imaging using ultrasound plane waves and spatial angular compounding is a promising approach for visualizing the relative size and distribution of acoustic scattering sources. Copyright © 2018 World Federation for Ultrasound in Medicine and Biology. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  1. Formation of ECR Plasma in a Dielectric Plasma Guide under Self-Excitation of a Standing Ion-Acoustic Wave

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Balmashnov, A. A.; Kalashnikov, A. V.; Kalashnikov, V. V.; Stepina, S. P.; Umnov, A. M.

    2018-01-01

    The formation of a spatially localized plasma with a high brightness has been experimentally observed in a dielectric plasma guide under the electron cyclotron resonance discharge at the excitation of a standing ion-acoustic wave. The results obtained show the possibility of designing compact high-intensity radiation sources with a spectrum determined by the working gas or gas mixture type, high-intensity chemically active particle flow sources, and plasma thrusters for correcting orbits of light spacecraft.

  2. Three-dimensional mid-air acoustic manipulation by ultrasonic phased arrays.

    PubMed

    Ochiai, Yoichi; Hoshi, Takayuki; Rekimoto, Jun

    2014-01-01

    The essence of levitation technology is the countervailing of gravity. It is known that an ultrasound standing wave is capable of suspending small particles at its sound pressure nodes. The acoustic axis of the ultrasound beam in conventional studies was parallel to the gravitational force, and the levitated objects were manipulated along the fixed axis (i.e. one-dimensionally) by controlling the phases or frequencies of bolted Langevin-type transducers. In the present study, we considered extended acoustic manipulation whereby millimetre-sized particles were levitated and moved three-dimensionally by localised ultrasonic standing waves, which were generated by ultrasonic phased arrays. Our manipulation system has two original features. One is the direction of the ultrasound beam, which is arbitrary because the force acting toward its centre is also utilised. The other is the manipulation principle by which a localised standing wave is generated at an arbitrary position and moved three-dimensionally by opposed and ultrasonic phased arrays. We experimentally confirmed that expanded-polystyrene particles of 0.6 mm, 1 mm, and 2 mm in diameter could be manipulated by our proposed method.

  3. Phase Aberration and Attenuation Effects on Acoustic Radiation Force-Based Shear Wave Generation.

    PubMed

    Carrascal, Carolina Amador; Aristizabal, Sara; Greenleaf, James F; Urban, Matthew W

    2016-02-01

    Elasticity is measured by shear wave elasticity imaging (SWEI) methods using acoustic radiation force to create the shear waves. Phase aberration and tissue attenuation can hamper the generation of shear waves for in vivo applications. In this study, the effects of phase aberration and attenuation in ultrasound focusing for creating shear waves were explored. This includes the effects of phase shifts and amplitude attenuation on shear wave characteristics such as shear wave amplitude, shear wave speed, shear wave center frequency, and bandwidth. Two samples of swine belly tissue were used to create phase aberration and attenuation experimentally. To explore the phase aberration and attenuation effects individually, tissue experiments were complemented with ultrasound beam simulations using fast object-oriented C++ ultrasound simulator (FOCUS) and shear wave simulations using finite-element-model (FEM) analysis. The ultrasound frequency used to generate shear waves was varied from 3.0 to 4.5 MHz. Results: The measured acoustic pressure and resulting shear wave amplitude decreased approximately 40%-90% with the introduction of the tissue samples. Acoustic intensity and shear wave displacement were correlated for both tissue samples, and the resulting Pearson's correlation coefficients were 0.99 and 0.97. Analysis of shear wave generation with tissue samples (phase aberration and attenuation case), measured phase screen, (only phase aberration case), and FOCUS/FEM model (only attenuation case) showed that tissue attenuation affected the shear wave generation more than tissue aberration. Decreasing the ultrasound frequency helped maintain a focused beam for creation of shear waves in the presence of both phase aberration and attenuation.

  4. Focusing of Shear Shock Waves

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Giammarinaro, Bruno; Espíndola, David; Coulouvrat, François; Pinton, Gianmarco

    2018-01-01

    Focusing is a ubiquitous way to transform waves. Recently, a new type of shock wave has been observed experimentally with high-frame-rate ultrasound: shear shock waves in soft solids. These strongly nonlinear waves are characterized by a high Mach number, because the shear wave velocity is much slower, by 3 orders of magnitude, than the longitudinal wave velocity. Furthermore, these waves have a unique cubic nonlinearity which generates only odd harmonics. Unlike longitudinal waves for which only compressional shocks are possible, shear waves exhibit cubic nonlinearities which can generate positive and negative shocks. Here we present the experimental observation of shear shock wave focusing, generated by the vertical motion of a solid cylinder section embedded in a soft gelatin-graphite phantom to induce linearly vertically polarized motion. Raw ultrasound data from high-frame-rate (7692 images per second) acquisitions in combination with algorithms that are tuned to detect small displacements (approximately 1 μ m ) are used to generate quantitative movies of gel motion. The features of shear shock wave focusing are analyzed by comparing experimental observations with numerical simulations of a retarded-time elastodynamic equation with cubic nonlinearities and empirical attenuation laws for soft solids.

  5. Ultrasonic standing wave preparation of a liquid cell for glucose measurements in urine by midinfrared spectroscopy and potential application to smart toilets.

    PubMed

    Yamamoto, Naoyuki; Kawashima, Natsumi; Kitazaki, Tomoya; Mori, Keita; Kang, Hanyue; Nishiyama, Akira; Wada, Kenji; Ishimaru, Ichiro

    2018-05-01

    Smart toilets could be used to monitor different components of urine in daily life for early detection of lifestyle-related diseases and prompt provision of treatment. For analysis of biological samples such as urine by midinfrared spectroscopy, thin-film samples like liquid cells are needed because of the strong absorption of midinfrared light by water. Conventional liquid cells or fixed cells are prepared based on the liquid membrane method and solution technique, but these are not quantitative and are difficult to set up and clean. We generated an ultrasonic standing wave reflection plane in a sample and produced an ultrasonic liquid cell. In this cell, the thickness of the optical path length was adjustable, as in the conventional method. The reflection plane could be generated at an arbitrary depth and internal reflected light could be detected by changing the frequency of the ultrasonic wave. We could generate refractive index boundaries using the density difference created by the ultrasonic standing wave. Creation of the reflection plane in the sample was confirmed by optical coherence tomography. Using the proposed method and midinfrared spectroscopy, we discriminated between normal urine samples spiked with glucose at different concentrations and obtained a high correlation coefficient. (2018) COPYRIGHT Society of Photo-Optical Instrumentation Engineers (SPIE).

  6. Enhanced retroviral gene delivery in ultrasonic standing wave fields.

    PubMed

    Lee, Y-H; Peng, C-A

    2005-04-01

    Enhancement of retroviral transduction efficiency has been achieved by several physical and chemical approaches. However, the application of those methods is hampered by not easily scalable configurations. In this study, instead of looking into the effect of sonoporation, the potential of ultrasonic standing wave fields (USWF) to facilitate retroviral transduction rate was explored. We reasoned that, driven by the primary acoustic radiation force, suspended cells moved to the pressure nodal planes first and formed cell bands. Nanometer-sized retroviruses, circulated between nodal planes by acoustic microstreaming, then used the preformed cell bands as the nucleating sites to attach on. As a result, the encounter opportunity between retroviruses and cells was increased and further facilitated the gene delivery efficiency. Our results showed that mega-Hertz USWF brought K562 erythroleukemia cells (10(6) cells/ml) and vesicular stomatitis virus G-protein (VSV-G) pseudotyped retroviruses (titer of 5 x 10(6) CFU/ml) into close contact at the pressure nodal planes, yielding a four-fold increment of enhanced green fluorescent protein transgene expression after 5-min USWF exposure in the presence of Polybrene. Furthermore, with a fixed titer of retrovirus, the transduction rate was augmented with the increase of cell concentration. In summary, USWF offer a feasible means to enhance retroviral transduction efficiency in large-scale settings.

  7. Fluid and solid mechanics in a poroelastic network induced by ultrasound.

    PubMed

    Wang, Peng; Olbricht, William L

    2011-01-04

    We made a theoretical analysis on the fluid and solid mechanics in a poroelastic medium induced by low-power ultrasound. Using a perturbative approach, we were able to linearize the governing equations and obtain analytical solutions. We found that ultrasound could propagate in the medium as a mechanical wave, but would dissipate due to frictional forces between the fluid and the solid phase. The amplitude of the wave depends on the ultrasonic power input. We applied this model to the problem of drug delivery to soft biological tissues by low-power ultrasound and proposed a mechanism for enhanced drug penetration. We have also found the coexistence of two acoustic waves under certain circumstances and pointed out the importance of very accurate experimental determination of the high-frequency properties of brain tissue. Copyright © 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  8. Two-Dimensional Standing Wave Total Internal Reflection Fluorescence Microscopy: Superresolution Imaging of Single Molecular and Biological Specimens

    PubMed Central

    Chung, Euiheon; Kim, Daekeun; Cui, Yan; Kim, Yang-Hyo; So, Peter T. C.

    2007-01-01

    The development of high resolution, high speed imaging techniques allows the study of dynamical processes in biological systems. Lateral resolution improvement of up to a factor of 2 has been achieved using structured illumination. In a total internal reflection fluorescence microscope, an evanescence excitation field is formed as light is total internally reflected at an interface between a high and a low index medium. The <100 nm penetration depth of evanescence field ensures a thin excitation region resulting in low background fluorescence. We present even higher resolution wide-field biological imaging by use of standing wave total internal reflection fluorescence (SW-TIRF). Evanescent standing wave (SW) illumination is used to generate a sinusoidal high spatial frequency fringe pattern on specimen for lateral resolution enhancement. To prevent thermal drift of the SW, novel detection and estimation of the SW phase with real-time feedback control is devised for the stabilization and control of the fringe phase. SW-TIRF is a wide-field superresolution technique with resolution better than a fifth of emission wavelength or ∼100 nm lateral resolution. We demonstrate the performance of the SW-TIRF microscopy using one- and two-directional SW illumination with a biological sample of cellular actin cytoskeleton of mouse fibroblast cells as well as single semiconductor nanocrystal molecules. The results confirm the superior resolution of SW-TIRF in addition to the merit of a high signal/background ratio from TIRF microscopy. PMID:17483188

  9. Schlieren imaging of the standing wave field in an ultrasonic acoustic levitator

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Rendon, Pablo Luis; Boullosa, Ricardo R.; Echeverria, Carlos; Porta, David

    2015-11-01

    We consider a model of a single axis acoustic levitator consisting of two cylinders immersed in air and directed along the same axis. The first cylinder has a flat termination and functions as a sound emitter, and the second cylinder, which is simply a refector, has the side facing the first cylinder cut out by a spherical surface. By making the first cylinder vibrate at ultrasonic frequencies a standing wave is produced in the air between the cylinders which makes it possible, by means of the acoustic radiation pressure, to levitate one or several small objects of different shapes, such as spheres or disks. We use schlieren imaging to observe the acoustic field resulting from the levitation of one or several objects, and compare these results to previous numerical approximations of the field obtained using a finite element method. The authors acknowledge financial support from DGAPA-UNAM through project PAPIIT IN109214.

  10. Ultrasound shock wave generator with one-bit time reversal in a dispersive medium, application to lithotripsy

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Montaldo, Gabriel; Roux, Philippe; Derode, Arnaud; Negreira, Carlos; Fink, Mathias

    2002-02-01

    The building of high-power ultrasonic sources from piezoelectric ceramics is limited by the maximum voltage that the ceramics can endure. We have conceived a device that uses a small number of piezoelectric transducers fastened to a cylindrical metallic waveguide. A one-bit time- reversal operation transforms the long-lasting low-level dispersed wave forms into a sharp pulse, thus taking advantage of dispersion to generate high-power ultrasound. The pressure amplitude that is generated at the focus is found to be 15 times greater than that achieved with comparable standard techniques. Applications to lithotripsy are discussed and the destructive efficiency of the system is demonstrated on pieces of chalk.

  11. Shear wave elastography using Wigner-Ville distribution: a simulated multilayer media study.

    PubMed

    Bidari, Pooya Sobhe; Alirezaie, Javad; Tavakkoli, Jahan

    2016-08-01

    Shear Wave Elastography (SWE) is a quantitative ultrasound-based imaging modality for distinguishing normal and abnormal tissue types by estimating the local viscoelastic properties of the tissue. These properties have been estimated in many studies by propagating ultrasound shear wave within the tissue and estimating parameters such as speed of wave. Vast majority of the proposed techniques are based on the cross-correlation of consecutive ultrasound images. In this study, we propose a new method of wave detection based on time-frequency (TF) analysis of the ultrasound signal. The proposed method is a modified version of the Wigner-Ville Distribution (WVD) technique. The TF components of the wave are detected in a propagating ultrasound wave within a simulated multilayer tissue and the local properties are estimated based on the detected waves. Image processing techniques such as Alternative Sequential Filters (ASF) and Circular Hough Transform (CHT) have been utilized to improve the estimation of TF components. This method has been applied to a simulated data from Wave3000™ software (CyberLogic Inc., New York, NY). This data simulates the propagation of an acoustic radiation force impulse within a two-layer tissue with slightly different viscoelastic properties between the layers. By analyzing the local TF components of the wave, we estimate the longitudinal and shear elasticities and viscosities of the media. This work shows that our proposed method is capable of distinguishing between different layers of a tissue.

  12. Full-wave acoustic and thermal modeling of transcranial ultrasound propagation and investigation of skull-induced aberration correction techniques: a feasibility study.

    PubMed

    Kyriakou, Adamos; Neufeld, Esra; Werner, Beat; Székely, Gábor; Kuster, Niels

    2015-01-01

    Transcranial focused ultrasound (tcFUS) is an attractive noninvasive modality for neurosurgical interventions. The presence of the skull, however, compromises the efficiency of tcFUS therapy, as its heterogeneous nature and acoustic characteristics induce significant distortion of the acoustic energy deposition, focal shifts, and thermal gain decrease. Phased-array transducers allow for partial compensation of skull-induced aberrations by application of precalculated phase and amplitude corrections. An integrated numerical framework allowing for 3D full-wave, nonlinear acoustic and thermal simulations has been developed and applied to tcFUS. Simulations were performed to investigate the impact of skull aberrations, the possibility of extending the treatment envelope, and adverse secondary effects. The simulated setup comprised an idealized model of the ExAblate Neuro and a detailed MR-based anatomical head model. Four different approaches were employed to calculate aberration corrections (analytical calculation of the aberration corrections disregarding tissue heterogeneities; a semi-analytical ray-tracing approach compensating for the presence of the skull; two simulation-based time-reversal approaches with and without pressure amplitude corrections which account for the entire anatomy). These impact of these approaches on the pressure and temperature distributions were evaluated for 22 brain-targets. While (semi-)analytical approaches failed to induced high pressure or ablative temperatures in any but the targets in the close vicinity of the geometric focus, simulation-based approaches indicate the possibility of considerably extending the treatment envelope (including targets below the transducer level and locations several centimeters off the geometric focus), generation of sharper foci, and increased targeting accuracy. While the prediction of achievable aberration correction appears to be unaffected by the detailed bone-structure, proper consideration of

  13. Self-action of propagating and standing Lamb waves in the plates exhibiting hysteretic nonlinearity: Nonlinear zero-group velocity modes.

    PubMed

    Gusev, Vitalyi E; Lomonosov, Alexey M; Ni, Chenyin; Shen, Zhonghua

    2017-09-01

    An analytical theory accounting for the influence of hysteretic nonlinearity of micro-inhomogeneous plate material on the Lamb waves near the S 1 zero group velocity point is developed. The theory predicts that the main effect of the hysteretic quadratic nonlinearity consists in the modification of the frequency and the induced absorption of the Lamb modes. The effects of the nonlinear self-action in the propagating and standing Lamb waves are expected to be, respectively, nearly twice and three times stronger than those in the plane propagating acoustic waves. The theory is restricted to the simplest hysteretic nonlinearity, which is influencing only one of the Lamé moduli of the materials. However, possible extensions of the theory to the cases of more general hysteretic nonlinearities are discussed as well as the perspectives of its experimental testing. Applications include nondestructive evaluation of micro-inhomogeneous and cracked plates. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  14. Ultrasound Burst Phase Thermography (UBP) for Applications in the Automotive Industry

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Zweschper, T.; Riegert, G.; Dillenz, A.; Busse, G.

    2003-03-01

    The use of elastic waves in combination with thermal waves allows to separate structural information about investigated components from defect specific thermal signatures. Ultrasound Burst Phase thermography (UBP) is an defect-selective and fast imaging tool for damage detection. This contribution presents results obtained on various kinds of problems related to modern automobile production (crack detection in grey cast iron and aluminum, characterization of adhesive-bonded joints etc.). Advances resulting from frequency modulated ultrasound excitation will be presented.

  15. High-fidelity simulations of a standing-wave thermoacoustic-piezoelectric engine

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Lin, Jeffrey; Scalo, Carlo; Hesselink, Lambertus

    2014-11-01

    We have carried out time-domain three-dimensional and one-dimensional numerical simulations of a thermoacoustic Stirling heat engine (TASHE). The TASHE model adopted for our study is that of a standing-wave engine: a thermal gradient is imposed in a resonator tube and is capped with a piezoelectric diaphragm in a Helmholtz resonator cavity for acoustic energy extraction. The 0.51 m engine sustains 500 Pa pressure oscillations with atmospheric air and pressure. Such an engine is interesting in practice as an external heat engine with no mechanically-moving parts. Our numerical setup allows for both the evaluation of the nonlinear effects of scaling and the effect of a fully electromechanically-coupled impedance boundary condition, representative of a piezoelectric element. The thermoacoustic stack is fully resolved. Previous modeling efforts have focused on steady-state solvers with impedances or nonlinear effects without energy extraction. Optimization of scaling and the impedance for power output can now be simultaneously applied; engines of smaller sizes and higher frequencies suitable for piezoelectric energy extraction can be studied with three-dimensional solvers without restriction. Results at a low-amplitude regime were validated against results obtained from the steady-state solver DeltaEC and from experimental results in literature. Pressure and velocity amplitudes within the cavities match within 2% difference.

  16. Waves and Tsunami Project

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Frashure, K. M.; Chen, R. F.; Stephen, R. A.; Bolmer, T.; Lavin, M.; Strohschneider, D.; Maichle, R.; Micozzi, N.; Cramer, C.

    2007-01-01

    Demonstrating wave processes quantitatively in the classroom using standard classroom tools (such as Slinkys and wave tanks) can be difficult. For example, waves often travel too fast for students to actually measure amplitude or wavelength. Also, when teaching propagating waves, reflections from the ends set up standing waves, which can confuse…

  17. High frequency poroelastic waves in hydrogels.

    PubMed

    Chiarelli, Piero; Lanatà, Antonio; Carbone, Marina; Domenici, Claudio

    2010-03-01

    In this work a continuum model for high frequency poroelastic longitudinal waves in hydrogels is presented. A viscoelastic force describing the interaction between the polymer network and the bounded water present in such materials is introduced. The model is tested by means of ultrasound wave speed and attenuation measurements in polyvinylalcohol hydrogel samples. The theory and experiments show that ultrasound attenuation decreases linearly with the increase in the water volume fraction beta of the hydrogel. The introduction of the viscoelastic force between the bounded water and the polymer network leads to a bi-phasic theory, showing an ultrasonic fast wave attenuation that can vary as a function of the frequency with a non-integer exponent in agreement with the experimental data in literature. When beta tends to 1 (100% of interstitial water) due to the presence of bounded water in the hydrogel, the ultrasound phase velocity acquires higher value than that of pure water. The ultrasound speed gap at beta=1 is confirmed by the experimental results, showing that it increases in less cross-linked gel samples which own a higher concentration of bounded water.

  18. Separation of platelets from whole blood using standing surface acoustic waves in a microchannel.

    PubMed

    Nam, Jeonghun; Lim, Hyunjung; Kim, Dookon; Shin, Sehyun

    2011-10-07

    Platelet separation from blood is essential for biochemical analyses and clinical diagnosis. In this article, we propose a method to separate platelets from undiluted whole blood using standing surface acoustic waves (SSAWs) in a microfluidic device. A polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) microfluidic channel was fabricated and integrated with interdigitated transducer (IDT) electrodes patterned on a piezoelectric substrate. To avoid shear-induced activation of platelets, the blood sample flow was hydrodynamically focused by introducing sheath flow from two side-inlets and pressure nodes were designed to locate at side walls. By means of flow cytometric analysis, the RBC clearance ratio from whole blood was found to be over 99% and the purity of platelets was close to 98%. Conclusively, the present technique using SSAWs can directly separate platelets from undiluted whole blood with higher purity than other methods.

  19. Shear Wave Imaging of Breast Tissue by Color Doppler Shear Wave Elastography.

    PubMed

    Yamakoshi, Yoshiki; Nakajima, Takahito; Kasahara, Toshihiro; Yamazaki, Mayuko; Koda, Ren; Sunaguchi, Naoki

    2017-02-01

    Shear wave elastography is a distinctive method to access the viscoelastic characteristic of the soft tissue that is difficult to obtain by other imaging modalities. This paper proposes a novel shear wave elastography [color Doppler shear wave imaging (CD SWI)] for breast tissue. Continuous shear wave is produced by a small lightweight actuator, which is attached to the tissue surface. Shear wave wavefront that propagates in tissue is reconstructed as a binary pattern that consists of zero and the maximum flow velocities on color flow image (CFI). Neither any modifications of the ultrasound color flow imaging instrument nor a high frame rate ultrasound imaging instrument is required to obtain the shear wave wavefront map. However, two conditions of shear wave displacement amplitude and shear wave frequency are needed to obtain the map. However, these conditions are not severe restrictions in breast imaging. This is because the minimum displacement amplitude is [Formula: see text] for an ultrasonic wave frequency of 12 MHz and the shear wave frequency is available from several frequencies suited for breast imaging. Fourier analysis along time axis suppresses clutter noise in CFI. A directional filter extracts shear wave, which propagates in the forward direction. Several maps, such as shear wave phase, velocity, and propagation maps, are reconstructed by CD SWI. The accuracy of shear wave velocity measurement is evaluated for homogeneous agar gel phantom by comparing with the acoustic radiation force impulse method. The experimental results for breast tissue are shown for a shear wave frequency of 296.6 Hz.

  20. The assessment of ovulation by a combination of ultrasound and detailed serial hormone profiles in 35 women with long-standing unexplained infertility.

    PubMed

    Petsos, P; Chandler, C; Oak, M; Ratcliffe, W A; Wood, R; Anderson, D C

    1985-06-01

    We have examined for the presence of subtle hormonal abnormalities in women with long-standing unexplained infertility. For a full cycle serum LH, FSH, progesterone and oestradiol levels were measured about three times a week, and serial ultrasound scans of the ovaries made until the time of apparent ovulation. The results on 45 cycles in 35 women with unexplained infertility and in three normal volunteers are presented. Normal ovulatory cycles were defined by a length of 26-32 d, and progressive follicular maturation followed by disappearance or abrupt reduction in size of a follicle within 48 h of the recorded LH peak, followed by progressive and sustained rise in serum progesterone levels to more than 25 nmol/l and a luteal phase length of greater than or equal to 13 d. Thirty spontaneous cycles (28 women) were clearly normal while 15 spontaneous cycles (12 women) were abnormal. Abnormalities included luteinization of an unruptured follicle (eight cycles), absence of follicular development (two cycles), poor follicular development (two cycles), persistence of a large ovarian cyst from the preceeding cycle (two cycles) and one aluteal cycle. Six of the abnormal cycles were characterized hormonally by inappropriate elevation of serum LH levels throughout. If this study had been based only on serial ultrasound scans, all results on abnormal cycles might have been misinterpreted. If it had been conducted only with (multiple) progesterone determinations and the level of greater than 25 nmol/l had been taken as indicative of ovulation nine clearly abnormal cycles would have been considered as normal. We conclude that the combination of the hormonal and ultrasound assessment of ovulation increases our confidence for confirmation of normality and reveals various ovulatory disorders which are possibly due to an endocrinological defect or defects.

  1. Improvement of Shear Wave Motion Detection Using Harmonic Imaging in Healthy Human Liver.

    PubMed

    Amador, Carolina; Song, Pengfei; Meixner, Duane D; Chen, Shigao; Urban, Matthew W

    2016-05-01

    Quantification of liver elasticity is a major application of shear wave elasticity imaging (SWEI) to non-invasive assessment of liver fibrosis stages. SWEI measurements can be highly affected by ultrasound image quality. Ultrasound harmonic imaging has exhibited a significant improvement in ultrasound image quality as well as for SWEI measurements. This was previously illustrated in cardiac SWEI. The purpose of this study was to evaluate liver shear wave particle displacement detection and shear wave velocity (SWV) measurements with fundamental and filter-based harmonic ultrasound imaging. In a cohort of 17 patients with no history of liver disease, a 2.9-fold increase in maximum shear wave displacement, a 0.11 m/s decrease in the overall interquartile range and median SWV and a 17.6% increase in the success rate of SWV measurements were obtained when filter-based harmonic imaging was used instead of fundamental imaging. Copyright © 2016 World Federation for Ultrasound in Medicine & Biology. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  2. Cell damage of hepatoma-22 cells exposed to continuous wave ultrasound.

    PubMed

    Wang, Pan; Wang, Xiaobing; Liu, Quanhong

    2012-01-01

    The cellular response of hepatoma-22 cells to ultrasonic irradiation and the potential cause for the action were evaluated. Hepatoma-22 cells were subjected to ultrasound irradiation at a frequency of 2.17 MHz and a spatial average intensity of 1.6 W/cm2 for variable periods of time, and several biological parameters were analyzed. The terephthalic acid (TA) dosimetry method was used to evaluate the efficacies of irradiation parameters on the acoustic cavitation activity by monitoring hydroxyl radical (OH) production. Lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) leakage was assayed to investigate cell membrane integrity. The polarization value of fluorescent probe 1,6-diphenyl-1,3,5-hexatriene (DPH) was measured to monitor plasma membrane fluidity. The malonaldehyde content in cells was determined to reflect lipid peroxidation. Trypan blue exclusion was used to detect cell viability. Additionally, electron microscopy was used to observe morphological changes. The generation of intracellular reactive oxygen species, mitochondria swelling and the loss of mitochondria membrane potential were also investigated. The results showed that 1) the concentration of ·OH production by ultrasonic irradiation in air-saturated cell suspensions increased as ultrasound exposure time increased; 2) compared with control, lactate dehydrogenase leakage, the polarization value of 1,6-diphenyl-1,3,5-hexatriene, malonaldehyde content and cell lysis were significantly elevated when cells were treated by ultrasound for 60 s; 3) cytotoxicity by ultrasound irradiation was also accompanied by an increase in production of intracellular reactive oxygen species and dissipation of mitochondria membrane potential as well as by mitochondria swelling. Presently available information indicates that the plasma membrane and mitochondria are the main targets for ultrasound treatment, and free radicals formation such as ·OH due to ultrasound cavitation may play an important role in mediating these cellular response

  3. [Validation of a new hand-carried ultrasound device equipped with directional color power Doppler and continuous wave Doppler].

    PubMed

    Kawai, Junichi; Tanabe, Kazuaki; Matsuzaki, Masashi; Yamaguchi, Kazuto; Yagi, Toshikazu; Fujii, Yoko; Konda, Toshiko; Ui, Kazuyo; Sumida, Toshiaki; Okada, Midori; Tani, Tomoko; Morioka, Shigefumi

    2003-10-01

    This study evaluated the accuracy of the directional color power Doppler (DCPD) and continuous wave Doppler (CWD) methods incorporated in the new hand-carried SonoSite 180PLUS ultrasound device. The hand-held ultrasound system with 2.5 MHz transducer and SONOS 5500 was used as a standard ultrasound system with a 2 to 4 MHz wideband transducer. The experimental study used a Doppler wire phantom to evaluate the influence of target wire speed and angle of transducer on DCPD imaging. The clinical study included 48 consecutive patients. DCPD assessment of valvular regurgitation measured the distances of DCPD signals of mitral, aortic and tricuspid valve regurgitation using the apical four-chamber view for comparison with standard echocardiography. CWD assessment measured the peak velocities of the aortic flow and tricuspid valve regurgitant flow for comparison with standard echocardiography. In the experimental study, DCPD signals were not influenced by target wire speed changes and transducer incident angles. In the clinical study, agreements for mitral, aortic and tricuspid regurgitation between the two methods were 89.6%, 81.8% and 78.7%, respectively. The distances of DCPD valve regurgitant signals by the hand-carried ultrasound device showed good correlation (mitral regurgitation: y = 0.84x + 0.55; r = 0.93, aortic regurgitation: y = 0.95x + 0.27; r = 0.94, tricuspid regurgitation: y = 0.86x + 0.61; r = 0.90) with those by standard echocardiography. Evaluation of CWD velocity measurements showed good agreement for the lower flow velocities (< 2.0 m/sec). However, underestimation occurred for the high flow velocities (> 2.0 m/sec) compared with those by standard echocardiography (aortic flow: y = 0.80x + 0.11; r = 0.95, tricuspid regurgitation: y = 1.00x - 0.23; r = 0.90). The new hand-carried ultrasound device (SonoSite 180PLUS equipped with DCPD and CWD) is clinically useful for evaluating valvular regurgitations and flow velocities. Further studies are needed to

  4. 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.

  5. Multiparametric ultrasound in the detection of prostate cancer: a systematic review.

    PubMed

    Postema, Arnoud; Mischi, Massimo; de la Rosette, Jean; Wijkstra, Hessel

    2015-11-01

    To investigate the advances and clinical results of the different ultrasound modalities and the progress in combining them into multiparametric UltraSound (mpUS). A systematic literature search on mpUS and the different ultrasound modalities included: greyscale ultrasound, computerized transrectal ultrasound, Doppler and power Doppler techniques, dynamic contrast-enhanced ultrasound and (shear wave) elastography. Limited research available on combining ultrasound modalities has presented improvement in diagnostic performance. The data of two studies suggest that even adding a lower performing ultrasound modality to a better performing modality using crude methods can already improve the sensitivity by 13-51 %. The different modalities detect different tumours. No study has tried to combine ultrasound modalities employing a system similar to the PIRADS system used for mpMRI or more advanced classifying algorithms. Available evidence confirms that combining different ultrasound modalities significantly improves diagnostic performance.

  6. An uncovered risk factor of sonothrombolysis: Substantial fluctuation of ultrasound transmittance through the human skull.

    PubMed

    Wang, Zuojun; Komatsu, Teppei; Mitsumura, Hidetaka; Nakata, Norio; Ogawa, Takeki; Iguchi, Yasuyuki; Yokoyama, Masayuki

    2017-05-01

    Sonothrombolysis is one of the most feasible methods for enhancing clot lysis with a recombinant tissue plasminogen activator (rt-PA) in cases of acute ischemic strokes. For safe and efficient clinical practices of sonothrombolysis, accurate estimation of ultrasound transmittance through the human skull is critical. Previously, we reported substantial and periodic fluctuation of ultrasound transmittance through a bone-phantom plate following changes to ultrasound frequency, the thickness of the bone-phantom plate, and the distance between a transducer and the bone-phantom plate. In the present study, we clarify the transmittance behavior of medium-frequency ultrasound (from 400kHz to 600kHz) through the human skull, and examine reduction of the transmittance fluctuation. For the study, we measured transmittance of sinusoidal ultrasound waves at 400kHz, 500kHz, and 600kHz at 13 temple spots on 3 human skulls by changing the distance between a transducer and the skull bone, and found substantial and periodic fluctuation in the transmittance behaviors for these sinusoidal voltage excitations. Degrees of the fluctuation varied depending on the measurement spots. A fluctuation ratio between the maximum transmittance and the minimum transmittance reached 3 in some spots. This large transmittance fluctuation is considered to be a risk factor for sonothrombolysis therapies. We examined a modulated ultrasound wave to reduce the fluctuation, and succeeded in obtaining considerable reduction. The average fluctuation ratios for 400-kHz, 500-kHz, and 600-kHz waves were 2.38, 2.38, and 2.07, respectively. We successfully reduced the ratio to 1.72 by using a periodic selection of random frequency (PSRF)-type of modulation wave. The thus obtained results indicate that attention to the fluctuation in ultrasound transmittance through the skull is necessary for safe and effective sonothrombolysis therapies, and that modulated ultrasound waves constitute a powerful method for reducing

  7. Simultaneous ultrasound and photoacoustics based flow cytometry

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Gnyawali, Vaskar; Strohm, Eric M.; Tsai, Scott S. H.; Kolios, Michael C.

    2018-04-01

    We have developed a flow cytometer based on simultaneous detection of ultrasound and photoacoustic waves from individual particles/cells flowing in a microfluidic channel. Our polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) based hydrodynamic 3-dimensional (3D) flow-focusing microfluidic device contains a cross-junction channel, a micro-needle (ID 100 μm and OD 200 μm) insert, and a 3D printed frame to hold and align a high frequency (center frequency 375 MHz) ultrasound transducer. The focused flow passes through a narrow focal zone with lateral and axial focal lengths of 6-8 μm and 15-20 μm, respectively. Both the lateral and axial alignments are achieved by screwing the transducer to the frame onto the PDMS device. Individual particles pass through an interrogation zone in the microfluidic channel with a collinearly aligned ultrasound transducer and a focused 532 nm wavelength laser beam. The particles are simultaneously insonified by high-frequency ultrasound and irradiated by a laser beam. The ultrasound backscatter and laser generated photoacoustic waves are detected for each passing particle. The backscattered ultrasound and photoacoustic signal are strongly dependent on the size, morphology, mechanical properties, and material properties of the flowing particles; these parameters can be extracted by analyzing unique features in the power spectrum of the signals. Frequencies less than 100 MHz do not have these unique spectral signatures. We show that we can reliably distinguish between different particles in a sample using the acoustic-based flow cytometer. This technique, when extended to biomedical applications, allows us to rapidly analyze the spectral signatures from individual single cells of a large cell population, with applications towards label-free detection and characterization of healthy and diseased cells.

  8. Three-Dimensional Mid-Air Acoustic Manipulation by Ultrasonic Phased Arrays

    PubMed Central

    Ochiai, Yoichi; Hoshi, Takayuki; Rekimoto, Jun

    2014-01-01

    The essence of levitation technology is the countervailing of gravity. It is known that an ultrasound standing wave is capable of suspending small particles at its sound pressure nodes. The acoustic axis of the ultrasound beam in conventional studies was parallel to the gravitational force, and the levitated objects were manipulated along the fixed axis (i.e. one-dimensionally) by controlling the phases or frequencies of bolted Langevin-type transducers. In the present study, we considered extended acoustic manipulation whereby millimetre-sized particles were levitated and moved three-dimensionally by localised ultrasonic standing waves, which were generated by ultrasonic phased arrays. Our manipulation system has two original features. One is the direction of the ultrasound beam, which is arbitrary because the force acting toward its centre is also utilised. The other is the manipulation principle by which a localised standing wave is generated at an arbitrary position and moved three-dimensionally by opposed and ultrasonic phased arrays. We experimentally confirmed that expanded-polystyrene particles of 0.6 mm, 1 mm, and 2 mm in diameter could be manipulated by our proposed method. PMID:24849371

  9. Comb-push Ultrasound Shear Elastography (CUSE): A Novel Method for Two-dimensional Shear Elasticity Imaging of Soft Tissues

    PubMed Central

    Song, Pengfei; Zhao, Heng; Manduca, Armando; Urban, Matthew W.; Greenleaf, James F.; Chen, Shigao

    2012-01-01

    Fast and accurate tissue elasticity imaging is essential in studying dynamic tissue mechanical properties. Various ultrasound shear elasticity imaging techniques have been developed in the last two decades. However, to reconstruct a full field-of-view 2D shear elasticity map, multiple data acquisitions are typically required. In this paper, a novel shear elasticity imaging technique, comb-push ultrasound shear elastography (CUSE), is introduced in which only one rapid data acquisition (less than 35 ms) is needed to reconstruct a full field-of-view 2D shear wave speed map (40 mm × 38 mm). Multiple unfocused ultrasound beams arranged in a comb pattern (comb-push) are used to generate shear waves. A directional filter is then applied upon the shear wave field to extract the left-to-right (LR) and right-to-left (RL) propagating shear waves. Local shear wave speed is recovered using a time-of-flight method based on both LR and RL waves. Finally a 2D shear wave speed map is reconstructed by combining the LR and RL speed maps. Smooth and accurate shear wave speed maps are reconstructed using the proposed CUSE method in two calibrated homogeneous phantoms with different moduli. Inclusion phantom experiments demonstrate that CUSE is capable of providing good contrast (contrast-to-noise-ratio ≥ 25 dB) between the inclusion and background without artifacts and is insensitive to inclusion positions. Safety measurements demonstrate that all regulated parameters of the ultrasound output level used in CUSE sequence are well below the FDA limits for diagnostic ultrasound. PMID:22736690

  10. Development of ultrasound bioprobe for biological imaging

    PubMed Central

    Shekhawat, Gajendra S.; Dudek, Steven M.; Dravid, Vinayak P.

    2017-01-01

    We report the development of an ultrasound bioprobe for in vitro molecular imaging. In this method, the phase of the scattered ultrasound wave is mapped to provide in vitro and intracellular imaging with nanometer-scale resolution under physiological conditions. We demonstrated the technique by successfully imaging a magnetic core in silica core shells and the stiffness image of intracellular fibers in endothelial cells that were stimulated with thrombin. The findings demonstrate a significant advancement in high-resolution ultrasound imaging of biological systems with acoustics under physiological conditions. These will open up various applications in biomedical and molecular imaging with subsurface resolution down to the nanometer scale. PMID:29075667

  11. Ultrasound elastography: principles, techniques, and clinical applications.

    PubMed

    Dewall, Ryan J

    2013-01-01

    Ultrasound elastography is an emerging set of imaging modalities used to image tissue elasticity and are often referred to as virtual palpation. These techniques have proven effective in detecting and assessing many different pathologies, because tissue mechanical changes often correlate with tissue pathological changes. This article reviews the principles of ultrasound elastography, many of the ultrasound-based techniques, and popular clinical applications. Originally, elastography was a technique that imaged tissue strain by comparing pre- and postcompression ultrasound images. However, new techniques have been developed that use different excitation methods such as external vibration or acoustic radiation force. Some techniques track transient phenomena such as shear waves to quantitatively measure tissue elasticity. Clinical use of elastography is increasing, with applications including lesion detection and classification, fibrosis staging, treatment monitoring, vascular imaging, and musculoskeletal applications.

  12. Fabric dependence of quasi-waves in anisotropic porous media

    PubMed Central

    Cardoso, Luis; Cowin, Stephen C.

    2011-01-01

    Assessment of bone loss and osteoporosis by ultrasound systems is based on the speed of sound and broadband ultrasound attenuation of a single wave. However, the existence of a second wave in cancellous bone has been reported and its existence is an unequivocal signature of poroelastic media. To account for the fact that ultrasound is sensitive to microarchitecture as well as bone mineral density (BMD), a fabric-dependent anisotropic poroelastic wave propagation theory was recently developed for pure wave modes propagating along a plane of symmetry in an anisotropic medium. Key to this development was the inclusion of the fabric tensor—a quantitative stereological measure of the degree of structural anisotropy of bone—into the linear poroelasticity theory. In the present study, this framework is extended to the propagation of mixed wave modes along an arbitrary direction in anisotropic porous media called quasi-waves. It was found that differences between phase and group velocities are due to the anisotropy of the bone microarchitecture, and that the experimental wave velocities are more accurately predicted by the poroelastic model when the fabric tensor variable is taken into account. This poroelastic wave propagation theory represents an alternative for bone quality assessment beyond BMD. PMID:21568431

  13. Fabric dependence of quasi-waves in anisotropic porous media.

    PubMed

    Cardoso, Luis; Cowin, Stephen C

    2011-05-01

    Assessment of bone loss and osteoporosis by ultrasound systems is based on the speed of sound and broadband ultrasound attenuation of a single wave. However, the existence of a second wave in cancellous bone has been reported and its existence is an unequivocal signature of poroelastic media. To account for the fact that ultrasound is sensitive to microarchitecture as well as bone mineral density (BMD), a fabric-dependent anisotropic poroelastic wave propagation theory was recently developed for pure wave modes propagating along a plane of symmetry in an anisotropic medium. Key to this development was the inclusion of the fabric tensor--a quantitative stereological measure of the degree of structural anisotropy of bone--into the linear poroelasticity theory. In the present study, this framework is extended to the propagation of mixed wave modes along an arbitrary direction in anisotropic porous media called quasi-waves. It was found that differences between phase and group velocities are due to the anisotropy of the bone microarchitecture, and that the experimental wave velocities are more accurately predicted by the poroelastic model when the fabric tensor variable is taken into account. This poroelastic wave propagation theory represents an alternative for bone quality assessment beyond BMD.

  14. A comparative analysis of analgesic efficacy of ultrasound and shock wave therapy in the treatment of patients with inflammation of the attachment of the plantar fascia in the course of calcaneal spurs.

    PubMed

    Krukowska, Jolanta; Wrona, Jacek; Sienkiewicz, Monika; Czernicki, Jan

    2016-09-01

    Troublesome heel spur is a nuisance condition that affects people of all ages. Treatment of patients with heel spur is a difficult and lengthy process requiring patience from both the patient and the therapist. Sometimes, the only and ultimate method of treatment is surgery, although spurs tend to recur. The aim of the study is a comparative analysis of the analgesic efficacy of ultrasound and shock wave therapy in patients with heel spur. The cause of pain in the course of calcaneal spur is inflammation of the attachment of the plantar fascia, which plays an important role in the process of walking and is seriously strained during different types of movement. Treatment of patients is a difficult and lengthy process. The study was conducted on a group of 47 patients of both sexes, aged 38-60 years (mean 51.3) with a plantar calcaneal spur confirmed by X-ray images. Patients were randomly assigned into two groups using a simple randomization: Group 1-ultrasound therapy group (a series of ten treatments) and Group 2-the radial shock wave group (series of four treatments). In all patients, pain intensity was assessed three times: before therapy, after the first and second weeks of treatment. A version of Laitinen's pain assessment questionnaire and the Huskisson visual analogue scale (VAS) were used. Of the group of studied respondents, 47 patients of both sexes and aged 38-60 years (mean age 51.3) with a heel spur (confirmed on X-rays), who had pain for at least a month, were randomly included in the study. The patients were classified into: Group 1-US therapeutic group (a series of ten treatments) and Group 2-with RSWT (a series of five treatments). Pain intensity was assessed three times: before the treatment, after the first and second week of the treatment with the application of the VAS and the Leitinen Pain Questionnaire. However, a decrease in pain sensation was reported in all test intervals, and its largest decrease occurred in both groups within 1

  15. In vivo ultrasound imaging of the bone cortex

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Renaud, Guillaume; Kruizinga, Pieter; Cassereau, Didier; Laugier, Pascal

    2018-06-01

    Current clinical ultrasound scanners cannot be used to image the interior morphology of bones because these scanners fail to address the complicated physics involved for exact image reconstruction. Here, we show that if the physics is properly addressed, bone cortex can be imaged using a conventional transducer array and a programmable ultrasound scanner. We provide in vivo proof for this technique by scanning the radius and tibia of two healthy volunteers and comparing the thickness of the radius bone with high-resolution peripheral x-ray computed tomography. Our method assumes a medium that is composed of different homogeneous layers with unique elastic anisotropy and ultrasonic wave-speed values. The applicable values of these layers are found by optimizing image sharpness and intensity over a range of relevant values. In the algorithm of image reconstruction we take wave refraction between the layers into account using a ray-tracing technique. The estimated values of the ultrasonic wave-speed and anisotropy in cortical bone are in agreement with ex vivo studies reported in the literature. These parameters are of interest since they were proposed as biomarkers for cortical bone quality. In this paper we discuss the physics involved with ultrasound imaging of bone and provide an algorithm to successfully image the first segment of cortical bone.

  16. Method and system to synchronize acoustic therapy with ultrasound imaging

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Hossack, James (Inventor); Owen, Neil (Inventor); Bailey, Michael R. (Inventor)

    2009-01-01

    Interference in ultrasound imaging when used in connection with high intensity focused ultrasound (HIFU) is avoided by employing a synchronization signal to control the HIFU signal. Unless the timing of the HIFU transducer is controlled, its output will substantially overwhelm the signal produced by ultrasound imaging system and obscure the image it produces. The synchronization signal employed to control the HIFU transducer is obtained without requiring modification of the ultrasound imaging system. Signals corresponding to scattered ultrasound imaging waves are collected using either the HIFU transducer or a dedicated receiver. A synchronization processor manipulates the scattered ultrasound imaging signals to achieve the synchronization signal, which is then used to control the HIFU bursts so as to substantially reduce or eliminate HIFU interference in the ultrasound image. The synchronization processor can alternatively be implemented using a computing device or an application-specific circuit.

  17. MO-AB-210-00: Diagnostic Ultrasound Imaging Quality Control and High Intensity Focused Ultrasound Therapy Hands-On Workshop

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

    NONE

    The goal of this ultrasound hands-on workshop is to demonstrate advancements in high intensity focused ultrasound (HIFU) and to demonstrate quality control (QC) testing in diagnostic ultrasound. HIFU is a therapeutic modality that uses ultrasound waves as carriers of energy. HIFU is used to focus a beam of ultrasound energy into a small volume at specific target locations within the body. The focused beam causes localized high temperatures and produces a well-defined regions of necrosis. This completely non-invasive technology has great potential for tumor ablation and targeted drug delivery. At the workshop, attendees will see configurations, applications, and hands-on demonstrationsmore » with on-site instructors at separate stations. The involvement of medical physicists in diagnostic ultrasound imaging service is increasing due to QC and accreditation requirements. At the workshop, an array of ultrasound testing phantoms and ultrasound scanners will be provided for attendees to learn diagnostic ultrasound QC in a hands-on environment with live demonstrations of the techniques. Target audience: Medical physicists and other medical professionals in diagnostic imaging and radiation oncology with interest in high-intensity focused ultrasound and in diagnostic ultrasound QC. Learning Objectives: Learn ultrasound physics and safety for HIFU applications through live demonstrations Get an overview of the state-of-the art in HIFU technologies and equipment Gain familiarity with common elements of a quality control program for diagnostic ultrasound imaging Identify QC tools available for testing diagnostic ultrasound systems and learn how to use these tools List of supporting vendors for HIFU and diagnostic ultrasound QC hands-on workshop: Philips Healthcare Alpinion Medical Systems Verasonics, Inc Zonare Medical Systems, Inc Computerized Imaging Reference Systems (CIRS), Inc. GAMMEX, Inc., Cablon Medical BV Steffen Sammet: NIH/NCI grant 5R25CA132822, NIH/NINDS grant

  18. Standing waves, clustering, and phase waves in 1D simulations of kinetic relaxation oscillations in NO+NH 3 on Pt(1 0 0) coupled by diffusion

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Uecker, Hannes

    2004-04-01

    The Lombardo-Imbihl-Fink (LFI) ODE model of the NO+NH 3 reaction on a Pt(1 0 0) surface shows stable relaxation oscillations with very sharp transitions for temperatures T between 404 and 433 K. Here we study numerically the effect of linear diffusive coupling of these oscillators in one spatial dimension. Depending on the parameters and initial conditions we find a rich variety of spatio-temporal patterns which we group into four main regimes: bulk oscillations (BOs), standing waves (SW), phase clusters (PC), and phase waves (PW). Two key ingredients for SW and PC are identified, namely the relaxation type of the ODE oscillations and a nonlocal (and nonglobal) coupling due to relatively fast diffusion of the kinetically slaved variables NH 3 and H. In particular, the latter replaces the global coupling through the gas phase used to obtain SW and PC in models of related surface reactions. The PW exist only under the assumption of (relatively) slow diffusion of NH 3 and H.

  19. Ultrasound Shear Wave Elastography for Liver Disease. A Critical Appraisal of the Many Actors on the Stage.

    PubMed

    Piscaglia, F; Salvatore, V; Mulazzani, L; Cantisani, V; Schiavone, C

    2016-02-01

    In the last 12 - 18 months nearly all ultrasound manufacturers have arrived to implement ultrasound shear wave elastography modality in their equipment for the assessment of chronic liver disease; the few remaining players are expected to follow in 2016.When all manufacturers rush to a new technology at the same time, it is evident that the clinical demand for this information is of utmost value. Around 1990, there was similar demand for color Doppler ultrasound; high demand for contrast-enhanced ultrasonography was evident at the beginning of this century, and around 2010 demand increased for strain elastography. However, some issues regarding the new shear wave ultrasound technologies must be noted to avoid misuse of the resulting information for clinical decisions. As new articles are expected to appear in 2016 reporting the findings of the new technologies from various companies, we felt that the beginning of this year was the right time to present an appraisal of these issues. We likewise expect that in the meantime EFSUMB will release a new update of the existing guidelines 1 2.The first ultrasound elastography method became available 13 years ago in the form of transient elastography with Fibroscan(®) 3. It was the first technique providing non-invasive quantitive information about the stiffness of the liver and hence regarding the amount of fibrosis in chronic liver disease 3. The innovation was enormous, since a non-invasive modality was finally available to provide findings otherwise achievable only by liver biopsy. In fact, prior to ultrasound elastography, a combination of conventional and Doppler ultrasound parameters were utilized to inform the physician about the presence of cirrhosis and portal hypertension 4. However, skilled operators were required, reproducibility and diagnostic accuracy were suboptimal, and it was not possible to differentiate the pre-cirrhotic stages of fibrosis. All these limitations were substantially improved by

  20. Non-Contact Laser Based Ultrasound Evaluation of Canned Foods

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Shelton, David

    2005-03-01

    Laser-Based Ultrasound detection was used to measure the velocity of compression waves transmitted through canned foods. Condensed broth, canned pasta, and non-condensed soup were evaluated in these experiments. Homodyne adaptive optics resulted in measurements that were more accurate than the traditional heterodyne method, as well as yielding a 10 dB gain in signal to noise. A-Scans measured the velocity of ultrasound sent through the center of the can and were able to distinguish the quantity of food stuff in its path, as well as distinguish between meat and potato. B-Scans investigated the heterogeneity of the sample’s contents. The evaluation of canned foods was completely non-contact and would be suitable for continuous monitoring in production. These results were verified by conducting the same experiments with a contact piezo transducer. Although the contact method yields a higher signal to noise ratio than the non-contact method, Laser-Based Ultrasound was able to detect surface waves the contact transducer could not.

  1. Ultrasound Guidance and Monitoring of Laser-Based Fat Removal

    PubMed Central

    Shah, Jignesh; Thomsen, Sharon; Milner, Thomas E.; Emelianov, Stanislav Y.

    2009-01-01

    Background and Objectives We report on a study to investigate feasibility of utilizing ultrasound imaging to guide laser removal of subcutaneous fat. Ultrasound imaging can be used to identify the tissue composition and to monitor the temperature increase in response to laser irradiation. Study Design/Materials and Methods Laser heating was performed on ex vivo porcine subcutaneous fat through the overlying skin using a continuous wave laser operating at 1,210 nm optical wavelength. Ultrasound images were recorded using a 10 MHz linear array-based ultrasound imaging system. Results Ultrasound imaging was utilized to differentiate between water-based and lipid-based regions within the porcine tissue and to identify the dermis-fat junction. Temperature maps during the laser exposure in the skin and fatty tissue layers were computed. Conclusions Results of our study demonstrate the potential of using ultrasound imaging to guide laser fat removal. PMID:19065554

  2. Unilateral cervical plexus block for prosthetic laryngoplasty in the standing horse.

    PubMed

    Campoy, L; Morris, T B; Ducharme, N G; Gleed, R D; Martin-Flores, M

    2018-04-20

    Locoregional anaesthetic techniques can facilitate certain surgeries being performed under standing procedural sedation. The second and third spinal cervical nerves (C2, C3) are part of the cervical plexus and provide sensory innervation to the peri-laryngeal structures in people; block of these nerves might permit laryngeal lateralisation surgery in horses. To describe the anatomical basis for an ultrasound-guided cervical plexus block in horses. To compare this block with conventional local anaesthetic tissue infiltration in horses undergoing standing prosthetic laryngoplasty. Cadaveric study followed by a double-blinded prospective clinical trial. A fresh equine cadaver was dissected to characterise the distribution of C2 and C3 to the perilaryngeal structures on the left side. A second cadaver was utilised to correlate ultrasound images with the previously identified structures; a tissue marker was injected to confirm the feasibility of an ultrasound-guided approach to the cervical plexus. In the clinical study, horses were assigned to two groups, CP (n = 17; cervical plexus block) and INF (n = 17; conventional tissue infiltration). Data collection and analyses included time to completion of surgical procedure, sedation time, surgical field conditions and surgeon's perception of block quality. We confirmed that C2 and C3 provided innervation to the perilaryngeal structures. The nerve root of C2 was identified ultrasonographically located between the longus capitis and the cleidomastoideus muscles, caudal to the parotid gland. The CP group was deemed to provide better (P<0.0002) surgical conditions with no differences in the other variables measured. Further studies with larger numbers of horses may be necessary to detect smaller differences in surgical procedure completion time based on the improved surgical filed conditions. For standing unilateral laryngeal surgery, a cervical plexus block is a viable alternative to tissue infiltration and it improves the

  3. 2D shear-wave ultrasound elastography (SWE) evaluation of ablation zone following radiofrequency ablation of liver lesions: is it more accurate?

    PubMed Central

    Bo, Xiao W; Li, Xiao L; Guo, Le H; Li, Dan D; Liu, Bo J; Wang, Dan; He, Ya P; Xu, Xiao H

    2016-01-01

    Objective: To evaluate the usefulness of two-dimensional quantitative ultrasound shear-wave elastography (2D-SWE) [i.e. virtual touch imaging quantification (VTIQ)] in assessing the ablation zone after radiofrequency ablation (RFA) for ex vivo swine livers. Methods: RFA was performed in 10 pieces of fresh ex vivo swine livers with a T20 electrode needle and 20-W output power. Conventional ultrasound, conventional strain elastography (SE) and VTIQ were performed to depict the ablation zone 0 min, 10 min, 30 min and 60 min after ablation. On VTIQ, the ablation zones were evaluated qualitatively by evaluating the shear-wave velocity (SWV) map and quantitatively by measuring the SWV. The ultrasound, SE and VTIQ results were compared against gross pathological and histopathological specimens. Results: VTIQ SWV maps gave more details about the ablation zone, the central necrotic zone appeared as red, lateral necrotic zone as green and transitional zone as light green, from inner to exterior, while the peripheral unablated liver appeared as blue. Conventional ultrasound and SE, however, only marginally depicted the whole ablation zone. The volumes of the whole ablation zone (central necrotic zone + lateral necrotic zone + transitional zone) and necrotic zone (central necrotic zone + lateral necrotic zone) measured by VTIQ showed excellent correlation (r = 0.915, p < 0.001, and 0.856, p = 0.002, respectively) with those by gross pathological specimen, whereas both conventional ultrasound and SE underestimated the volume of the whole ablation zone. The SWV values of the central necrotic zone, lateral necrotic zone, transitional zone and unablated liver parenchyma were 7.54–8.03 m s−1, 5.13–5.28 m s−1, 3.31–3.53 m s−1 and 2.11–2.21 m s−1, respectively (p < 0.001 for all the comparisons). The SWV value for each ablation zone did not change significantly at different observation times within an hour after RFA

  4. Evidence of Standing Waves in Arc Jet Nozzle Flow

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Driver, David M.; Hartman, Joe; Philippidis, Daniel; Noyes, Eric; Hui, Frank; Terrazas-Salinas, Imelda

    2017-01-01

    Waves spawned by the nozzle in the NASA Ames 60 MW Interaction Heating Facility arc jet were experimentally observed in pressure surveys at the exit of the nozzle. The waves have been seen in past CFD simulations, but were away from the region where models were tested (for the existing nozzles). However, a recent test series with a new nozzle extension (229 mm exit diameter) revealed that these waves intersect the centerline of the jet in a region where it is desirable to put test articles, and that the waves may be contributing to non-uniform recession behavior seen in Teflon (trademark) sublimation test articles tested in this new nozzle. It is reasonable to assume the ablation recession of thermal protection models will also be nonuniform due to exposure to these waves. This work shows that ablation response is sensitive to the location of test samples in the free jet relative to the location of the wave interaction, and that the issues with these waves can be avoided by choosing an optimum position for a test article in the free jet. This work describes the experimental observations along with the CFD simulations that have identified the waves emanating from the nozzle, as well as the instrumentation used to detect them. The work describes a recommended solution, derived by CFD analysis, which if implemented, should significantly reduce these flow disturbance and pressure anomalies in future nozzles.

  5. Acoustic pressure measurement of pulsed ultrasound using acousto-optic diffraction

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Jia, Lecheng; Chen, Shili; Xue, Bin; Wu, Hanzhong; Zhang, Kai; Yang, Xiaoxia; Zeng, Zhoumo

    2018-01-01

    Compared with continuous ultrasound wave, pulsed ultrasound has been widely used in ultrasound imaging. The aim of this work is to show the applicability of acousto-optic diffraction on pulsed ultrasound transducer. In this paper, acoustic pressure of two ultrasound transducers is measured based on Raman-Nath diffraction. The frequencies of transducers are 5MHz and 10MHz. The pulse-echo method and simulation data are used to evaluate the results. The results show that the proposed method is capable to measure the absolute sound pressure. We get a sectional view of acoustic pressure using a displacement platform as an auxiliary. Compared with the traditional sound pressure measurement methods, the proposed method is non-invasive with high sensitivity and spatial resolution.

  6. Sound waves and antineoplastic drugs: The possibility of an enhanced combined anticancer therapy.

    PubMed

    Feril, Loreto B; Kondo, Takashi; Umemura, Shin-Ichiro; Tachibana, Katsuro; Manalo, Angelo H; Riesz, Peter

    2002-12-01

    Kremkau wrote a historical review of the use of ultrasound in cancer therapy in 1979((1)) In 1990, Kondo and Kano published a Japanese review of the implications of the thermal and nonthermal effects of ultrasound in the treatment of cancer(2)). Again in 2000, Kondo et al reviewed the therapeutic applications of ultrasound and shock wave, emphasizing their thermal and cavitational effects(3)). Here we focus on the effects of ultrasound or shock waves in combination with anticancer agents, emphasizing their mechanisms of action and interaction. Most of the studies cited here reported promising results. Although the extent of the augmented combined effects in vivo is limited, synergism is the rule in vitro. In addition to the thermal effect of ultrasound, cavitational effects undoubtedly played a major role in both ultrasound and, more prominently, in shock wave therapy. Although the mechanism of the nonthermal noncavitational effects on biological processes is obscure, several factors, including temperature and the occurrence of cavitation and inertial cavitation, probably coexist and blend with these other effects. Magnification of anticancer activity results mainly from increased localization of drugs or other agents in vivo and increased intracellular permeabilisation both in vivo and in vitro. On the other hand, sublethal damage caused by ultrasound or shock waves may render cells more susceptible, to the effects of the agents, and both may act together, further amplifying these effects. We thus conclude that proper combination of an appropriate agent and ultrasound or shock wave should help improve cancer therapy by minimizing the side effects of drugs by lowering the effective dose and reducing the systemic concentration while increasing the efficiency of the therapy as a whole. Future studies should reveal specific conditions in this combined therapy that will lead to optimal outcome.

  7. Evaluation of the ultrasound image attributes of developing ovarian follicles in the four follicular waves of the interovulatory interval in ewes

    PubMed Central

    Toosi, B.M.; Seekallu, S.V.; Pierson, R.A.; Rawlings, N.C.

    2010-01-01

    Computer-assisted quantitative echotextural analysis was applied to ultrasound images of antral follicles in the follicular waves of an interovulatory interval in sheep. The ewe has three or four waves per cycle. Seven healthy, cyclic Western White Face ewes (Ovis aris) underwent daily, transrectal, ovarian ultrasonography for an interovulatory interval. Follicles in the third wave of the ovulatory interval had a longer static phase than that of those in Waves 1 and 2 (P < 0.05). The numeric pixel value for the wall of anovulatory follicles emerging in the third wave of the cycle was significantly higher than that for Waves 1 and 2 at the time of emergence (156.7 ± 8.09, 101.6 ± 3.72, and 116.5 ± 13.93, respectively), and it decreased as follicles in Wave 3 reached maximum follicular diameter (P < 0.05). The numeric pixel value of the antrum in the ovulatory follicles decreased as follicular diameter increased to ≥5 mm in diameter (P < 0.05). The pixel heterogeneity of the follicular antrum in Wave 1 increased from the end of the growth phase to the end of the regression phase for follicles in that wave (P < 0.05). The total area for the wall and antrum of the follicles studied were correlated with follicular diameter in all follicular waves (r = 0.938, P < 0.01 and r = 0.941, P < 0.01 for the wall and antrum, respectively). Changes in image attributes of the follicular wall and antrum indicate potential morphologic and functional differences among antral follicles emerging at different stages of the interovulatory interval in cyclic ewes. PMID:19665782

  8. Ultrasound shear wave elastography in the assessment of passive biceps brachii muscle stiffness: influences of sex and elbow position.

    PubMed

    Chen, Johnson; O'Dell, Michael; He, Wen; Du, Li-Juan; Li, Pai-Chi; Gao, Jing

    To assess differences in biceps brachii muscle (BBM) stiffness as evaluated by ultrasound shear wave elastography (SWE). The passive stiffness of the BBM was quantified with shear wave velocity (SWV) measurements obtained from 10 healthy volunteers (5 men and 5 women, mean age 50years, age range 42-63 years) with the elbow at full extension and 30° flexion in this IRB-approved study. Potential differences between two depths within the muscle, two elbow positions, the two arms, and sexes were assessed by using two-tailed t-test. The reproducibility of SWV measurements was tested by using intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC). Significantly higher passive BBM stiffness was found at full elbow extension compared to 30° of flexion (p≤0.00006 for both arms). Significantly higher passive stiffness in women was seen for the right arm (p=0.04 for both elbow positions). Good correlation of shear wave velocity measured at the different depths. The ICC for interobserver and intraobserver variation was high. SWE is a reliable quantitative tool for assessing BBM stiffness, with differences in stiffness based on elbow position demonstrated and based on sex suggested. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  9. Acoustic bubble sorting for ultrasound contrast agent enrichment.

    PubMed

    Segers, Tim; Versluis, Michel

    2014-05-21

    An ultrasound contrast agent (UCA) suspension contains encapsulated microbubbles with a wide size distribution, with radii ranging from 1 to 10 μm. Medical transducers typically operate at a single frequency, therefore only a small selection of bubbles will resonate to the driving ultrasound pulse. Thus, the sensitivity can be improved by narrowing down the size distribution. Here, we present a simple lab-on-a-chip method to sort the population of microbubbles on-chip using a traveling ultrasound wave. First, we explore the physical parameter space of acoustic bubble sorting using well-defined bubble sizes formed in a flow-focusing device, then we demonstrate successful acoustic sorting of a commercial UCA. This novel sorting strategy may lead to an overall improvement of the sensitivity of contrast ultrasound by more than 10 dB.

  10. Noise Equalization for Ultrafast Plane Wave Microvessel Imaging.

    PubMed

    Song, Pengfei; Manduca, Armando; Trzasko, Joshua D; Chen, Shigao

    2017-11-01

    Ultrafast plane wave microvessel imaging significantly improves ultrasound Doppler sensitivity by increasing the number of Doppler ensembles that can be collected within a short period of time. The rich spatiotemporal plane wave data also enable more robust clutter filtering based on singular value decomposition. However, due to the lack of transmit focusing, plane wave microvessel imaging is very susceptible to noise. This paper was designed to: 1) study the relationship between ultrasound system noise (primarily time gain compensation induced) and microvessel blood flow signal and 2) propose an adaptive and computationally cost-effective noise equalization method that is independent of hardware or software imaging settings to improve microvessel image quality.

  11. Separation of traveling and standing waves in a finite dispersive string with partial or continuous viscoelastic foundation

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Cheng, Xiangle; Blanchard, Antoine; Tan, Chin An; Lu, Huancai; Bergman, Lawrence A.; McFarland, D. Michael; Vakakis, Alexander F.

    2017-12-01

    The free and forced vibrations of a linear string with a local spring-damper on a partial elastic foundation, as well as a linear string on a viscoelastic foundation conceptualized as a continuous distribution of springs and dampers, are studied in this paper. Exact, analytical results are obtained for the free and forced response to a harmonic excitation applied at one end of the string. Relations between mode complexity and energy confinement with the dispersion in the string system are examined for the steady-state forced vibration, and numerical methods are applied to simulate the transient evolution of energy propagation. Eigenvalue loci veering and normal mode localization are observed for weakly coupled subsystems, when the foundation stiffness is sufficiently large, for both the spatially symmetric and asymmetric systems. The forced vibration results show that nonproportional damping-induced mode complexity, for which there are co-existing regions of purely traveling waves and standing waves, is attainable for the dispersive string system. However, this wave transition phenomenon depends strongly on the location of the attached discrete spring-damper relative to the foundation and whether the excitation frequency Ω is above or below the cutoff frequency ωc. When Ω<ωc, the wave transition cannot be attained for a string on an elastic foundation, but is possible if the string is on a viscoelastic foundation. Although this study is primarily formulated for a harmonic boundary excitation at one end of the string, generalization of the mode complexity can be deduced for the steady-state forced response of the string-foundation system to synchronous end excitations and is confirmed numerically. This work represents a novel study to understand the wave transitions in a dispersive structural system and lays the groundwork for potentially effective passive vibration control strategies.

  12. 4-D ultrafast shear-wave imaging.

    PubMed

    Gennisson, Jean-Luc; Provost, Jean; Deffieux, Thomas; Papadacci, Clément; Imbault, Marion; Pernot, Mathieu; Tanter, Mickael

    2015-06-01

    Over the last ten years, shear wave elastography (SWE) has seen considerable development and is now routinely used in clinics to provide mechanical characterization of tissues to improve diagnosis. The most advanced technique relies on the use of an ultrafast scanner to generate and image shear waves in real time in a 2-D plane at several thousands of frames per second. We have recently introduced 3-D ultrafast ultrasound imaging to acquire with matrix probes the 3-D propagation of shear waves generated by a dedicated radiation pressure transducer in a single acquisition. In this study, we demonstrate 3-D SWE based on ultrafast volumetric imaging in a clinically applicable configuration. A 32 × 32 matrix phased array driven by a customized, programmable, 1024-channel ultrasound system was designed to perform 4-D shear-wave imaging. A matrix phased array was used to generate and control in 3-D the shear waves inside the medium using the acoustic radiation force. The same matrix array was used with 3-D coherent plane wave compounding to perform high-quality ultrafast imaging of the shear wave propagation. Volumetric ultrafast acquisitions were then beamformed in 3-D using a delay-and-sum algorithm. 3-D volumetric maps of the shear modulus were reconstructed using a time-of-flight algorithm based on local multiscale cross-correlation of shear wave profiles in the three main directions using directional filters. Results are first presented in an isotropic homogeneous and elastic breast phantom. Then, a full 3-D stiffness reconstruction of the breast was performed in vivo on healthy volunteers. This new full 3-D ultrafast ultrasound system paves the way toward real-time 3-D SWE.

  13. Role of structural anisotropy of biological tissues in poroelastic wave propagation

    PubMed Central

    Cardoso, Luis; Cowin, Stephen C.

    2011-01-01

    Ultrasound waves have a broad range of clinical applications as a non-destructive testing approach in imaging and in the diagnoses of medical conditions. Generally, biological tissues are modeled as an homogenized equivalent medium with an apparent density through which a single wave propagates. Only the first wave arriving at the ultrasound probe is used for the measurement of the speed of sound. However, the existence of a second wave in tissues such as cancellous bone has been reported and its existence is an unequivocal signature of Biot type poroelastic media. To account for the fact that ultrasound is sensitive to microarchitecture as well as density, a fabric-dependent anisotropic poroelastic ultrasound (PEU) propagation theory was recently developed. Key to this development was the inclusion of the fabric tensor - a quantitative stereological measure of the degree of structural anisotropy of bone - into the linear poroelasticity theory. In the present study, this framework is extended to the propagation of waves in several soft and hard tissues. It was found that collagen fibers in soft tissues and the mineralized matrix in hard tissues are responsible for the anisotropy of the solid tissue constituent through the fabric tensor in the model. PMID:22162897

  14. Ultrasound neuro-modulation chip: activation of sensory neurons in Caenorhabditis elegans by surface acoustic waves.

    PubMed

    Zhou, Wei; Wang, Jingjing; Wang, Kaiyue; Huang, Bin; Niu, Lili; Li, Fei; Cai, Feiyan; Chen, Yan; Liu, Xin; Zhang, Xiaoyan; Cheng, Hankui; Kang, Lijun; Meng, Long; Zheng, Hairong

    2017-05-16

    Ultrasound neuro-modulation has gained increasing attention as a non-invasive method. In this paper, we present an ultrasound neuro-modulation chip, capable of initiating reversal behaviour and activating neurons of C. elegans under the stimulation of a single-shot, short-pulsed ultrasound. About 85.29% ± 6.17% of worms respond to the ultrasound stimulation exhibiting reversal behaviour. Furthermore, the worms can adapt to the ultrasound stimulation with a lower acoustic pulse duration of stimulation. In vivo calcium imaging shows that the activity of ASH, a polymodal sensory neuron in C. elegans, can be directly evoked by the ultrasound stimulation. On the other hand, AFD, a thermal sensitive neuron, cannot be activated by the ultrasound stimulation using the same parameter and the temperature elevation during the stimulation process is relatively small. Consistent with the calcium imaging results, the tax-4 mutants, which are insensitive to temperature increase, do not show a significant difference in avoidance probability compared to the wild type. Therefore, the mechanical effects induced by ultrasound are the main reason for neural and behavioural modulation of C. elegans. With the advantages of confined acoustic energy on the surface, compatible with standard calcium imaging, this neuro-modulation chip could be a powerful tool for revealing the molecular mechanisms of ultrasound neuro-modulation.

  15. 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

  16. Fiber-Laser-Based Ultrasound Sensor for Photoacoustic Imaging

    PubMed Central

    Liang, Yizhi; Jin, Long; Wang, Lidai; Bai, Xue; Cheng, Linghao; Guan, Bai-Ou

    2017-01-01

    Photoacoustic imaging, especially for intravascular and endoscopic applications, requires ultrasound probes with miniature size and high sensitivity. In this paper, we present a new photoacoustic sensor based on a small-sized fiber laser. Incident ultrasound waves exert pressures on the optical fiber laser and induce harmonic vibrations of the fiber, which is detected by the frequency shift of the beating signal between the two orthogonal polarization modes in the fiber laser. This ultrasound sensor presents a noise-equivalent pressure of 40 Pa over a 50-MHz bandwidth. We demonstrate this new ultrasound sensor on an optical-resolution photoacoustic microscope. The axial and lateral resolutions are 48 μm and 3.3 μm. The field of view is up to 1.57 mm2. The sensor exhibits strong resistance to environmental perturbations, such as temperature changes, due to common-mode cancellation between the two orthogonal modes. The present fiber laser ultrasound sensor offers a new tool for all-optical photoacoustic imaging. PMID:28098201

  17. X-ray diffraction and X-ray standing-wave study of the lead stearate film structure

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

    Blagov, A. E.; Dyakova, Yu. A.; Kovalchuk, M. V.

    2016-05-15

    A new approach to the study of the structural quality of crystals is proposed. It is based on the use of X-ray standing-wave method without measuring secondary processes and considers the multiwave interaction of diffraction reflections corresponding to different harmonics of the same crystallographic reflection. A theory of multiwave X-ray diffraction is developed to calculate the rocking curves in the X-ray diffraction scheme under consideration for a long-period quasi-one-dimensional crystal. This phase-sensitive method is used to study the structure of a multilayer lead stearate film on a silicon substrate. Some specific structural features are revealed for the surface layer ofmore » the thin film, which are most likely due to the tilt of the upper layer molecules with respect to the external normal to the film surface.« less

  18. Time-dependent hardening of blood clots quantitatively measured in vivo with shear-wave ultrasound imaging in a rabbit model of venous thrombosis.

    PubMed

    Mfoumou, Etienne; Tripette, Julien; Blostein, Mark; Cloutier, Guy

    2014-02-01

    Provide in vivo blood clot hardening evolution with ultrasound using supersonic imaging of shear waves. We conducted a prospective study in flow stasis-induced venous thrombosis within jugular veins of white female New Zealand rabbits. Blood clot elasticity was noninvasively measured in vivo using the Young's modulus (in kilopascals), on a 2-hour and a 2-week periods after thrombus induction. Monitoring was followed by a necropsy and ex vivo mechanical characterization to validate the existence and elasticity of explanted thrombi. Stagnant blood in the region of interest underwent clotting and progressive hardening with thrombus aging. The mean Young's moduli varied from 1.0 ± 0.6 kPa (at 10 min) to 5.3 ± 1.6 kPa (at 2 hours), then to 25.0 ± 6.8 kPa (at 14 days) post-surgery. Mean ex vivo moduli of 6.2 ± 0.7 kPa at 2 hours and 29.0 ± 2.4 kPa at 2 weeks agreed with in vivo measures. Supersonic imaging of shear waves provides consistent quantitative non-invasive elasticity measurements not available with standard compression ultrasound imaging for diagnosing and following venous thromboembolism. This information translatable to humans could aid in determining whether continued anticoagulant treatment is necessary, especially in the setting of unprovoked venous thromboembolism. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  19. Optical fiber sensor for the detection of laser-generated ultrasound in arterial tissues

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Beard, Paul C.; Mills, Timothy N.

    1995-02-01

    Theoretical and experimental aspects of an extrinsic Fabry-Perot optical fiber ultrasound sensor for use in a photoacoustic-guided laser angioplasty system are described. The sensor has been characterized using laser generated thermoelastic waves as a source of wideband ultrasound. A system sensitivity of 25 mV/MPa and an acoustic noise floor of 2 Pa/Hz1/2 are reported using a transparent polymer film as the sensing element. The system demonstrates the required bandwidth for sensing thermoelastic waves containing frequency components up to 20 MHz.

  20. Control of a multidegree of freedom standing wave ultrasonic motor driven precise positioning system

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Ferreira, Antoine; Minotti, Patrice

    1997-04-01

    A newly developed positioning system incorporating a multidegree of freedom standing wave ultrasonic motor (SWUM) is presented and its advantageous features, operating principles, and some experimental results are described. The principle of motorization is based on the conversion, through frictional contact, of a stationary bending vibration sustained in a slotted metallic resonator, into rigid body displacements. A small autonomous multidegree of freedom nanopositioner using a SWUM motor is presented for fine positioning in scanning tunneling microscopy. The positioning system is achieved via the simultaneous operation of two identical pulse width modulation servo-control systems, each having a laser vibrometer position feedback loop. The closed loop position schemes are theoretically considered and their results are demonstrated and evaluated in practice. Evaluations of experimental tests indicate that a positioning resolution less than 100 nm are successfully achieved for an unlimited X-Y travel range with linear speeds between 1 mm s-1 and few cm s-1.

  1. Patterning and manipulating microparticles into a three-dimensional matrix using standing surface acoustic waves

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Nguyen, T. D.; Tran, V. T.; Fu, Y. Q.; Du, H.

    2018-05-01

    A method based on standing surface acoustic waves (SSAWs) is proposed to pattern and manipulate microparticles into a three-dimensional (3D) matrix inside a microchamber. An optical prism is used to observe the 3D alignment and patterning of the microparticles in the vertical and horizontal planes simultaneously. The acoustic radiation force effectively patterns the microparticles into lines of 3D space or crystal-lattice-like matrix patterns. A microparticle can be positioned precisely at a specified vertical location by balancing the forces of acoustic radiation, drag, buoyancy, and gravity acting on the microparticle. Experiments and finite-element numerical simulations both show that the acoustic radiation force increases gradually from the bottom of the chamber to the top, and microparticles can be moved up or down simply by adjusting the applied SSAW power. Our method has great potential for acoustofluidic applications, building the large-scale structures associated with biological objects and artificial neuron networks.

  2. Ultrasound-modulated optical tomography with intense acoustic bursts.

    PubMed

    Zemp, Roger J; Kim, Chulhong; Wang, Lihong V

    2007-04-01

    Ultrasound-modulated optical tomography (UOT) detects ultrasonically modulated light to spatially localize multiply scattered photons in turbid media with the ultimate goal of imaging the optical properties in living subjects. A principal challenge of the technique is weak modulated signal strength. We discuss ways to push the limits of signal enhancement with intense acoustic bursts while conforming to optical and ultrasonic safety standards. A CCD-based speckle-contrast detection scheme is used to detect acoustically modulated light by measuring changes in speckle statistics between ultrasound-on and ultrasound-off states. The CCD image capture is synchronized with the ultrasound burst pulse sequence. Transient acoustic radiation force, a consequence of bursts, is seen to produce slight signal enhancement over pure ultrasonic-modulation mechanisms for bursts and CCD exposure times of the order of milliseconds. However, acoustic radiation-force-induced shear waves are launched away from the acoustic sample volume, which degrade UOT spatial resolution. By time gating the CCD camera to capture modulated light before radiation force has an opportunity to accumulate significant tissue displacement, we reduce the effects of shear-wave image degradation, while enabling very high signal-to-noise ratios. Additionally, we maintain high-resolution images representative of optical and not mechanical contrast. Signal-to-noise levels are sufficiently high so as to enable acquisition of 2D images of phantoms with one acoustic burst per pixel.

  3. Analysis and measurement of the modulation transfer function of harmonic shear wave induced phase encoding imaging.

    PubMed

    McAleavey, Stephen A

    2014-05-01

    Shear wave induced phase encoding (SWIPE) imaging generates ultrasound backscatter images of tissue-like elastic materials by using traveling shear waves to encode the lateral position of the scatters in the phase of the received echo. In contrast to conventional ultrasound B-scan imaging, SWIPE offers the potential advantages of image formation without beam focusing or steering from a single transducer element, lateral resolution independent of aperture size, and the potential to achieve relatively high lateral resolution with low frequency ultrasound. Here a Fourier series description of the phase modulated echo signal is developed, demonstrating that echo harmonics at multiples of the shear wave frequency reveal target k-space data at identical multiples of the shear wavenumber. Modulation transfer functions of SWIPE imaging systems are calculated for maximum shear wave acceleration and maximum shear constraints, and compared with a conventionally focused aperture. The relative signal-to-noise ratio of the SWIPE method versus a conventionally focused aperture is found through these calculations. Reconstructions of wire targets in a gelatin phantom using 1 and 3.5 MHz ultrasound and a cylindrical shear wave source are presented, generated from the fundamental and second harmonic of the shear wave modulation frequency, demonstrating weak dependence of lateral resolution with ultrasound frequency.

  4. 4D in vivo ultrafast ultrasound imaging using a row-column addressed matrix and coherently-compounded orthogonal plane waves

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Flesch, M.; Pernot, M.; Provost, J.; Ferin, G.; Nguyen-Dinh, A.; Tanter, M.; Deffieux, T.

    2017-06-01

    4D ultrafast ultrasound imaging was recently shown using a 2D matrix (i.e. fully populated) connected to a 1024-channel ultrafast ultrasound scanner. In this study, we investigate the row-column addressing (RCA) matrix approach, which allows a reduction of independent channels from N  ×  N to N  +  N, with a dedicated beamforming strategy for ultrafast ultrasound imaging based on the coherent compounding of orthogonal plane wave (OPW). OPW is based on coherent compounding of plane wave transmissions in one direction with receive beamforming along the orthogonal direction and its orthogonal companion sequence. Such coherent recombination of complementary orthogonal sequences leads to the virtual transmit focusing in both directions which results into a final isotropic point spread function (PSF). In this study, a 32  ×  32 2D matrix array probe (1024 channels), centered at 5 MHz was considered. An RCA array, of same footprint with 32  +  32 elements (64 channels), was emulated by summing the elements either along a line or a column in software prior to beamforming. This approach allowed for the direct comparison of the 32  +  32 RCA scheme to the optimal fully sampled 32  ×  32 2D matrix configuration, which served as the gold standard. This approach was first studied through PSF simulations and then validated experimentally on a phantom consisting of anechoic cysts and echogenic wires. The contrast-to-noise ratio and the lateral resolution of the RCA approach were found to be approximately equal to half (in decibel) and twice the values, respectively, obtained when using the 2D matrix approach. Results in a Doppler phantom and the human humeral artery in vivo confirmed that ultrafast Doppler imaging can be achieved with reduced performances when compared against the equivalent 2D matrix. Volumetric anatomic Doppler rendering and voxel-based pulsed Doppler quantification are presented as well. OPW compound imaging

  5. 4D in vivo ultrafast ultrasound imaging using a row-column addressed matrix and coherently-compounded orthogonal plane waves.

    PubMed

    Flesch, M; Pernot, M; Provost, J; Ferin, G; Nguyen-Dinh, A; Tanter, M; Deffieux, T

    2017-06-07

    4D ultrafast ultrasound imaging was recently shown using a 2D matrix (i.e. fully populated) connected to a 1024-channel ultrafast ultrasound scanner. In this study, we investigate the row-column addressing (RCA) matrix approach, which allows a reduction of independent channels from N  ×  N to N  +  N, with a dedicated beamforming strategy for ultrafast ultrasound imaging based on the coherent compounding of orthogonal plane wave (OPW). OPW is based on coherent compounding of plane wave transmissions in one direction with receive beamforming along the orthogonal direction and its orthogonal companion sequence. Such coherent recombination of complementary orthogonal sequences leads to the virtual transmit focusing in both directions which results into a final isotropic point spread function (PSF). In this study, a 32  ×  32 2D matrix array probe (1024 channels), centered at 5 MHz was considered. An RCA array, of same footprint with 32  +  32 elements (64 channels), was emulated by summing the elements either along a line or a column in software prior to beamforming. This approach allowed for the direct comparison of the 32  +  32 RCA scheme to the optimal fully sampled 32  ×  32 2D matrix configuration, which served as the gold standard. This approach was first studied through PSF simulations and then validated experimentally on a phantom consisting of anechoic cysts and echogenic wires. The contrast-to-noise ratio and the lateral resolution of the RCA approach were found to be approximately equal to half (in decibel) and twice the values, respectively, obtained when using the 2D matrix approach. Results in a Doppler phantom and the human humeral artery in vivo confirmed that ultrafast Doppler imaging can be achieved with reduced performances when compared against the equivalent 2D matrix. Volumetric anatomic Doppler rendering and voxel-based pulsed Doppler quantification are presented as well. OPW compound imaging

  6. 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.

  7. The Global Coherence Initiative: Creating a Coherent Planetary Standing Wave

    PubMed Central

    Deyhle, Annette; Childre, Doc

    2012-01-01

    each other via biological, electromagnetic, and nonlocal fields, it stands to reason that humans can work together in a co-creative relationship to consciously increase the coherence in the global field environment, which in turn distributes this information to all living systems within the field. GCI was established to help facilitate the shift in global consciousness from instability and discord to balance, cooperation, and enduring peace. A primary goal of GCI is to test the hypothesis that large numbers of people when in a heart-coherent state and holding a shared intention can encode information on the earth's energetic and geomagnetic fields, which act as carrier waves of this physiologically patterned and relevant information. In order to conduct this research, a global network of 12 to 14 ultrasensitive magnetic field detectors specifically designed to measure the earth's magnetic resonances is being installed strategically around the planet. More important is GCI's primary goal to motivate as many people as possible to work together in a more coherent and collaborative manner to increase the collective human consciousness. If we are persuaded that not only external fields of solar and cosmic origins but also human attention and emotion can directly affect the physical world and the mental and emotional states of others (consciousness), it broadens our view of what interconnectedness means and how it can be intentionally utilized to shape the future of the world we live in. It implies that our attitudes, emotions, and intentions matter and that coherent, cooperative intent can have positive effects. GCI hypothesizes that when enough individuals and social groups increase their coherence baseline and utilize that increased coherence to intentionally create a more coherent standing reference wave in the global field, it will help increase global consciousness. This can be achieved when an increasing number of people move towards more balanced and self

  8. A new method for blood velocity measurements using ultrasound FMCW signals.

    PubMed

    Kunita, Masanori; Sudo, Masamitsu; Inoue, Shinya; Akahane, Mutsuhiro

    2010-05-01

    The low peak power of frequency-modulated continuous wave (FMCW) radar makes it attractive for various applications, including vehicle collision warning systems and airborne radio altimeters. This paper describes a new ultrasound Doppler measurement system that measures blood flow velocity based on principles similar to those of FMCW radar. We propose a sinusoidal wave for FM modulation and introduce a new demodulation technique for obtaining Doppler information with high SNR and range resolution. Doppler signals are demodulated with a reference FMCW signal to adjust delay times so that they are equal to propagation times between the transmitter and the receiver. Analytical results suggest that Doppler signals can be obtained from a selected position, as with a sample volume in pulse wave Doppler systems, and that the resulting SNR is nearly identical to that obtained with continuous wave (CW) Doppler systems. Additionally, clutter power is less than that of CW Doppler systems. The analytical results were verified by experiments involving electronic circuits and Doppler ultrasound phantoms.

  9. Classification of blood cells and tumor cells using label-free ultrasound and photoacoustics.

    PubMed

    Strohm, Eric M; Kolios, Michael C

    2015-08-01

    A label-free method that can identify cells in a blood sample using high frequency photoacoustic and ultrasound signals is demonstrated. When the wavelength of the ultrasound or photoacoustic wave is similar to the size of a single cell (frequencies of 100-500 MHz), unique periodic features occur within the ultrasound and photoacoustic power spectrum that depend on the cell size, structure, and morphology. These spectral features can be used to identify different cell types present in blood, such as red blood cells (RBCs), white blood cells (WBCs), and circulating tumor cells. Circulating melanoma cells are ideal for photoacoustic detection due to their endogenous optical absorption properties. Using a 532 nm pulsed laser and a 375 MHz transducer, the ultrasound and photoacoustic signals from RBCs, WBCs, and melanoma cells were individually measured in an acoustic microscope to examine how the signals change between cell types. A photoacoustic and ultrasound signal was detected from RBCs and melanoma cells; only an ultrasound signal was detected from WBCs. The different cell types were distinctly separated using the ultrasound and photoacoustic signal amplitude and power spectral periodicity. The size of each cell was also estimated from the spectral periodicity. For the first time, sound waves generated using pulse-echo ultrasound and photoacoustics have been used to identify and size single cells, with applications toward counting and identifying cells, including circulating melanoma cells. © 2015 International Society for Advancement of Cytometry.

  10. Effect of alternating standing and sitting on blood pressure and pulse wave velocity during a simulated workday in adults with overweight/obesity.

    PubMed

    Barone Gibbs, Bethany; Kowalsky, Robert J; Perdomo, Sophy J; Taormina, John M; Balzer, Jeffrey R; Jakicic, John M

    2017-12-01

    Reducing prolonged sitting at work has been recommended by an expert panel, but whether intermittent standing improves vascular health is unclear. We aimed to test whether using a sit-stand desk could reduce blood pressure (BP) and pulse wave velocity (PWV) during a simulated workday. Overweight/obese adults with pre-to-Stage 1 hypertension completed a randomized crossover study with two simulated workday conditions: STAND-SIT (alternating standing and sitting condition every 30 min) and SIT (continuous sitting condition). Oscillometric BP was measured hourly. Carotid-femoral, carotid-radial, and carotid-ankle PWV were measured in the morning, mid-day, and late afternoon using tonometry. Participants [n = 25, 64% male, 84% white, mean (SD) age: 42 (12) years] had average resting SBP of 132 (9) mmHg and DBP of 83 (8) mmHg. In linear mixed models, STAND-SIT resulted in a significantly lower DBP (mean ± SE: -1.0 ± 0.4 mmHg, P = 0.020) and mean arterial pressure (MAP) (-1.0 ± 0.4 mmHg, P = 0.029) compared with SIT. SBP (-0.9 ± 0.7 mmHg, P = 0.176) was not different across conditions. Carotid-ankle PWV was significantly lower during the STAND-SIT vs. SIT condition (-0.27 ± 0.13 m/s, P = 0.047), whereas carotid-femoral PWV (-0.03 ± 0.13 m/s, P = 0.831) and carotid-radial PWV (-0.30 ± 0.18 m/s, P = 0.098) were not. Changes in MAP partially explained changes in PWV. Interrupting prolonged sitting during deskwork with intermittent standing was a sufficient stimulus to slightly, but statistically significantly, decrease DBP, MAP, and carotid-ankle PWV. Though the clinical significance of the observed effects is modest, regular use of a sit-stand desk may be a practical way to lower BP and PWV while performing deskwork.

  11. Design and experiments of RF transverse focusing in S-Band, 1 MeV standing wave linac

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Mondal, J.; Chandan, Shiv; Parashar, S.; Bhattacharjee, D.; Tillu, A. R.; Tiwari, R.; Jayapraksh, D.; Yadav, V.; Banerjee, S.; Choudhury, N.; Ghodke, S. R.; Dixit, K. P.; Nimje, V. T.

    2015-09-01

    S-Band standing wave (SW) linacs in the range of 1-10 MeV have many potential industrial applications world wide. In order to mitigate the industrial requirement it is required to reduce the overall size and weight of the system. On this context a 2856 M Hz, 1 Me V, bi-periodic on axis coupled self transverse focused SW linac has been designed and tested. The RF phase focusing is achieved by introducing an asymmetric field distribution in the first cell of the 1 MeV linac. The pulsed electron beam of 40 keV, 650 mA and 5 μs duration is injected from a LaB6 thermionic gun. This paper presents the structure design, beam dynamics simulation, fabrication and experimental results of the 1 MeV auto-focusing SW linac.

  12. Acid diffusion, standing waves, and information theory: a molecular-scale model of chemically amplified resist

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Trefonas, Peter, III; Allen, Mary T.

    1992-06-01

    high even when rms diffusion lengths are as long as 1500 angstroms. The information content of a standing wave is shown to decrease with increasing diffusion length, with essentially all standing wave information being lost at diffusion lengths greater than 450 angstroms. A unique mechanism for self-contrast enhancement and high resolution in AHR resist is proposed.

  13. 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.

  14. Copepod Behavior Response in an Internal Wave Apparatus

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Webster, D. R.; Jung, S.; Haas, K. A.

    2017-11-01

    This study is motivated to understand the bio-physical forcing in zooplankton transport in and near internal waves, where high levels of zooplankton densities have been observed in situ. A laboratory-scale internal wave apparatus was designed to create a standing internal wave for various physical arrangements that mimic conditions observed in the field. A theoretical analysis of a standing internal wave inside a two-layer stratification system including non-linear wave effects was conducted to derive the expressions for the independent variables controlling the wave motion. Focusing on a case with a density jump of 1.0 σt, a standing internal wave was generated with a clean interface and minimal mixing across the pycnocline. Spatial and frequency domain measurements of the internal wave were evaluated in the context of the theoretical analysis. Behavioral assays with a mixed population of three marine copepods were conducted in control (stagnant homogeneous fluid), stagnant density jump interface, and internal wave flow configurations. In the internal wave treatment, the copepods showed an acrobatic, orbital-like motion in and around the internal wave region (bounded by the crests and the troughs of the waves). Trajectories of passive, neutrally-buoyant particles in the internal wave flow reveal that they generally oscillate back-and-forth along fixed paths. Thus, we conclude that the looping, orbital trajectories of copepods in the region near the internal wave interface are due to animal behavior rather than passive transport.

  15. Shear Wave Elastography May Add a New Dimension to Ultrasound Evaluation of Thyroid Nodules: Case Series with Comparative Evaluation

    PubMed Central

    Slapa, Rafal Z.; Piwowonski, Antoni; Jakubowski, Wieslaw S.; Bierca, Jacek; Szopinski, Kazimierz T.; Slowinska-Srzednicka, Jadwiga; Migda, Bartosz; Mlosek, R. Krzysztof

    2012-01-01

    Although elastography can enhance the differential diagnosis of thyroid nodules, its diagnostic performance is not ideal at present. Further improvements in the technique and creation of robust diagnostic criteria are necessary. The purpose of this study was to compare the usefulness of strain elastography and a new generation of elasticity imaging called supersonic shear wave elastography (SSWE) in differential evaluation of thyroid nodules. Six thyroid nodules in 4 patients were studied. SSWE yielded 1 true-positive and 5 true-negative results. Strain elastography yielded 5 false-positive results and 1 false-negative result. A novel finding appreciated with SSWE, were punctate foci of increased stiffness corresponding to microcalcifications in 4 nodules, some not visible on B-mode ultrasound, as opposed to soft, colloid-inspissated areas visible on B-mode ultrasound in 2 nodules. This preliminary paper indicates that SSWE may outperform strain elastography in differentiation of thyroid nodules with regard to their stiffness. SSWE showed the possibility of differentiation of high echogenic foci into microcalcifications and inspissated colloid, adding a new dimension to thyroid elastography. Further multicenter large-scale studies of thyroid nodules evaluating different elastographic methods are warranted. PMID:22685685

  16. Kinetics and mechanism of bacterial inactivation by ultrasound waves and sonoprotective effect of milk components.

    PubMed

    Gera, N; Doores, S

    2011-03-01

    Inactivation of Escherichia coli and Listeria monocytogenes were investigated in buffer and milk upon treatment with ultrasound waves (USW). In addition, sonoprotective effect of milk components and ultrasound-induced changes in bacterial cells were investigated using scanning electron microscopy (SEM). Bacterial cells were added to phosphate buffer, whole milk, skim milk, or simulated milk ultrafiltrate (SMUF). To determine the sonoprotective effect of milk components, lactose (5%), casein (3%), or β lactoglobulin (0.3%) was added to SMUF. Samples were sonicated with 24 kHz pulse USW while maintaining the system temperature between 30 to 35 °C. Aliquots were drawn at set times during sonication and bacteria were enumerated by surface plating appropriate dilutions on selective and nonselective media plates. Escherichia coli exhibited significantly higher D values in whole (2.43 min) and skim milk (2.41 min) than phosphate buffer (2.19 min). Listeria monocytogenes also showed higher D values in whole (9.31 min) and skim milk (8.61 min) compared to phosphate buffer (7.63 min). Data suggest that milk exerts a sonoprotective effect on these bacteria. Escherichia coli exhibited a log-linear inactivation kinetics followed by tailing whereas L. monocytogenes showed 1st-order kinetics throughout. Among the milk components tested, presence of lactose in SMUF resulted in significantly higher D values than SMUF for both organisms suggesting that lactose was exerting a protective effect on bacteria. SEM images showed that USW caused mechanical damage to the cell wall and cell membrane of bacteria leading to their inactivation.

  17. Single-transducer dual-frequency ultrasound generation to enhance acoustic cavitation.

    PubMed

    Liu, Hao-Li; Hsieh, Chao-Ming

    2009-03-01

    Dual- or multiple-frequency ultrasound stimulation is capable of effectively enhancing the acoustic cavitation effect over single-frequency ultrasound. Potential application of this sonoreactor design has been widely proposed such as on sonoluminescence, sonochemistry enhancement, and transdermal drug release enhancement. All currently available sonoreactor designs employed multiple piezoelectric transducers for generating single-frequency ultrasonic waves separately and then these waves were mixed and interfered in solutions. The purpose of this research is to propose a novel design of generating dual-frequency ultrasonic waves with single piezoelectric elements, thereby enhancing acoustic cavitation. Macroscopic bubbles were detected optically, and they were quantified at either a single-frequency or for different frequency combinations for determining their efficiency for enhancing acoustic cavitation. Visible bubbles were optically detected and hydrogen peroxide was measured to quantify acoustic cavitation. Test water samples with different gas concentrations and different power levels were used to determine the efficacy of enhancing acoustic cavitation of this design. The spectrum obtained from the backscattered signals was also recorded and examined to confirm the occurrence of stable cavitation. The results confirmed that single-element dual-frequency ultrasound stimulation can enhance acoustic cavitation. Under certain testing conditions, the generation of bubbles can be enhanced up to a level of five times higher than the generation of bubbles in single-frequency stimulation, and can increase the hydrogen peroxide production up to an increase of one fold. This design may serve as a useful alternative for future sonoreactor design owing to its simplicity to produce dual- or multiple-frequency ultrasound.

  18. Acoustically mediated long-range interaction among multiple spherical particles exposed to a plane standing wave

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Zhang, Shenwei; Qiu, Chunyin; Wang, Mudi; Ke, Manzhu; Liu, Zhengyou

    2016-11-01

    In this work, we study the acoustically mediated interaction forces among multiple well-separated spherical particles trapped in the same node or antinode plane of a standing wave. An analytical expression of the acoustic interaction force is derived, which is accurate even for the particles beyond the Rayleigh limit. Interestingly, the multi-particle system can be decomposed into a series of independent two-particle systems described by pairwise interactions. Each pairwise interaction is a long-range interaction, as characterized by a soft oscillatory attenuation (at the power exponent of n = -1 or -2). The vector additivity of the acoustic interaction force, which is not well expected considering the nonlinear nature of the acoustic radiation force, is greatly useful for exploring a system consisting of a large number of particles. The capability of self-organizing a big particle cluster can be anticipated through such acoustically controllable long-range interaction.

  19. Particle dynamics and pair production in tightly focused standing wave

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Jirka, M.; Klimo, O.; Vranić, M.; Weber, S.; Korn, G.

    2017-05-01

    With the advent of 10 PW laser facilities, new regimes of laser-matter interaction are opening since effects of quantum electrodynamics, such as electron-positron pair production and cascade development, start to be important. The dynamics of light charged particles, such as electrons and positrons, is affected by the radiation reaction force. This effect can strongly influence the interaction of intense laser pulses with matter since it lowers the energy of emitting particles and transforms their energy to the gamma radiation. Consequently, electron-positron pairs can be generated via Breit-Wheeler process. To study this new regime of interaction, numerical simulations are required. With their help it is possible to predict and study quantum effects which may occur in future experiments at modern laser facilities. In this work we present results of electron interaction with an intense standing wave formed by two colliding laser pulses. Due to the necessity to achieve ultra intense laser field, the laser beam has to be focused to a μm-diameter spot. Since the paraxial approximation is not valid for tight focusing, the appropriate model describing the tightly focused laser beam has to be employed. In tightly focused laser beam the longitudinal component of the electromagnetic field becomes significant and together with the ponderomotive force they affect the dynamics of interacting electrons and also newly generated Breit-Wheeler electron-positron pairs. Using the Particle-In-Cell code we study electron dynamics, gamma radiation and pair production in such a configuration for linear polarization and different types of targets.

  20. Modulated Excitation Imaging System for Intravascular Ultrasound.

    PubMed

    Qiu, Weibao; Wang, Xingying; Chen, Yan; Fu, Qiang; Su, Min; Zhang, Lining; Xia, Jingjing; Dai, Jiyan; Zhang, Yaonan; Zheng, Hairong

    2017-08-01

    Advances in methodologies and tools often lead to new insights into cardiovascular diseases. Intravascular ultrasound (IVUS) is a well-established diagnostic method that provides high-resolution images of the vessel wall and atherosclerotic plaques. High-frequency (>50 MHz) ultrasound enables the spatial resolution of IVUS to approach that of optical imaging methods. However, the penetration depth decreases when using higher imaging frequencies due to the greater acoustic attenuation. An imaging method that improves the penetration depth of high-resolution IVUS would, therefore, be of major clinical importance. Modulated excitation imaging is known to allow ultrasound waves to penetrate further. This paper presents an ultrasound system specifically for modulated-excitation-based IVUS imaging. The system incorporates a high-voltage waveform generator and an image processing board that are optimized for IVUS applications. In addition, a miniaturized ultrasound transducer has been constructed using a Pb(Mg 1/3 Nb 2/3 )O 3 -PbTiO 3 single crystal to improve the ultrasound characteristics. The results show that the proposed system was able to provide increases of 86.7% in penetration depth and 9.6 dB in the signal-to-noise ratio for 60 MHz IVUS. In vitro tissue samples were also investigated to demonstrate the performance of the system.

  1. Regularized Dual Averaging Image Reconstruction for Full-Wave Ultrasound Computed Tomography.

    PubMed

    Matthews, Thomas P; Wang, Kun; Li, Cuiping; Duric, Neb; Anastasio, Mark A

    2017-05-01

    Ultrasound computed tomography (USCT) holds great promise for breast cancer screening. Waveform inversion-based image reconstruction methods account for higher order diffraction effects and can produce high-resolution USCT images, but are computationally demanding. Recently, a source encoding technique has been combined with stochastic gradient descent (SGD) to greatly reduce image reconstruction times. However, this method bundles the stochastic data fidelity term with the deterministic regularization term. This limitation can be overcome by replacing SGD with a structured optimization method, such as the regularized dual averaging method, that exploits knowledge of the composition of the cost function. In this paper, the dual averaging method is combined with source encoding techniques to improve the effectiveness of regularization while maintaining the reduced reconstruction times afforded by source encoding. It is demonstrated that each iteration can be decomposed into a gradient descent step based on the data fidelity term and a proximal update step corresponding to the regularization term. Furthermore, the regularization term is never explicitly differentiated, allowing nonsmooth regularization penalties to be naturally incorporated. The wave equation is solved by the use of a time-domain method. The effectiveness of this approach is demonstrated through computer simulation and experimental studies. The results suggest that the dual averaging method can produce images with less noise and comparable resolution to those obtained by the use of SGD.

  2. Fabric dependence of wave propagation in anisotropic porous media

    PubMed Central

    Cowin, Stephen C.; Cardoso, Luis

    2012-01-01

    Current diagnosis of bone loss and osteoporosis is based on the measurement of the Bone Mineral Density (BMD) or the apparent mass density. Unfortunately, in most clinical ultrasound densitometers: 1) measurements are often performed in a single anatomical direction, 2) only the first wave arriving to the ultrasound probe is characterized, and 3) the analysis of bone status is based on empirical relationships between measurable quantities such as Speed of Sound (SOS) and Broadband Ultrasound Attenuation (BUA) and the density of the porous medium. However, the existence of a second wave in cancellous bone has been reported, which is an unequivocal signature of poroelastic media, as predicted by Biot’s poroelastic wave propagation theory. In this paper the governing equations for wave motion in the linear theory of anisotropic poroelastic materials are developed and extended to include the dependence of the constitutive relations upon fabric - a quantitative stereological measure of the degree of structural anisotropy in the pore architecture of a porous medium. This fabric-dependent anisotropic poroelastic approach is a theoretical framework to describe the microarchitectural-dependent relationship between measurable wave properties and the elastic constants of trabecular bone, and thus represents an alternative for bone quality assessment beyond BMD alone. PMID:20461539

  3. Cooperative standing-horizontal-standing reentrant transition for numerous solid particles under external vibration.

    PubMed

    Takatori, Satoshi; Baba, Hikari; Ichino, Takatoshi; Shew, Chwen-Yang; Yoshikawa, Kenichi

    2018-01-11

    We report the collective behavior of numerous plastic bolt-like particles exhibiting one of two distinct states, either standing stationary or horizontal accompanied by tumbling motion, when placed on a horizontal plate undergoing sinusoidal vertical vibration. Experimentally, we prepared an initial state in which all of the particles were standing except for a single particle that was placed at the center of the plate. Under continuous vertical vibration, the initially horizontal particle triggers neighboring particles to fall over into a horizontal state through tumbling-induced collision, and this effect gradually spreads to all of the particles, i.e., the number of horizontal particles is increased. Interestingly, within a certain range of vibration intensity, almost all of the horizontal particles revert back to standing in association with the formation of apparent 2D hexagonal dense-packing. Thus, phase segregation between high and low densities, or crystalline and disperse domains, of standing particles is generated as a result of the reentrant transition. The essential features of such cooperative dynamics through the reentrant transition are elucidated with a simple kinetic model. We also demonstrate that an excitable wave with the reentrant transition is observed when particles are situated in a quasi-one-dimensional confinement on a vibrating plate.

  4. Prediction and near-field observation of skull-guided acoustic waves

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Estrada, Héctor; Rebling, Johannes; Razansky, Daniel

    2017-06-01

    Ultrasound waves propagating in water or soft biological tissue are strongly reflected when encountering the skull, which limits the use of ultrasound-based techniques in transcranial imaging and therapeutic applications. Current knowledge on the acoustic properties of the cranial bone is restricted to far-field observations, leaving its near-field unexplored. We report on the existence of skull-guided acoustic waves, which was herein confirmed by near-field measurements of optoacoustically-induced responses in ex-vivo murine skulls immersed in water. Dispersion of the guided waves was found to reasonably agree with the prediction of a multilayered flat plate model. We observed a skull-guided wave propagation over a lateral distance of at least 3 mm, with a half-decay length in the direction perpendicular to the skull ranging from 35 to 300 μm at 6 and 0.5 MHz, respectively. Propagation losses are mostly attributed to the heterogenous acoustic properties of the skull. It is generally anticipated that our findings may facilitate and broaden the application of ultrasound-mediated techniques in brain diagnostics and therapy.

  5. Prediction and near-field observation of skull-guided acoustic waves.

    PubMed

    Estrada, Héctor; Rebling, Johannes; Razansky, Daniel

    2017-06-21

    Ultrasound waves propagating in water or soft biological tissue are strongly reflected when encountering the skull, which limits the use of ultrasound-based techniques in transcranial imaging and therapeutic applications. Current knowledge on the acoustic properties of the cranial bone is restricted to far-field observations, leaving its near-field unexplored. We report on the existence of skull-guided acoustic waves, which was herein confirmed by near-field measurements of optoacoustically-induced responses in ex-vivo murine skulls immersed in water. Dispersion of the guided waves was found to reasonably agree with the prediction of a multilayered flat plate model. We observed a skull-guided wave propagation over a lateral distance of at least 3 mm, with a half-decay length in the direction perpendicular to the skull ranging from 35 to 300 μm at 6 and 0.5 MHz, respectively. Propagation losses are mostly attributed to the heterogenous acoustic properties of the skull. It is generally anticipated that our findings may facilitate and broaden the application of ultrasound-mediated techniques in brain diagnostics and therapy.

  6. Ultrasound-enhanced delivery of targeted echogenic liposomes in a novel ex vivo mouse aorta model.

    PubMed

    Hitchcock, Kathryn E; Caudell, Danielle N; Sutton, Jonathan T; Klegerman, Melvin E; Vela, Deborah; Pyne-Geithman, Gail J; Abruzzo, Todd; Cyr, Peppar E P; Geng, Yong-Jian; McPherson, David D; Holland, Christy K

    2010-06-15

    The goal of this study was to determine whether targeted, Rhodamine-labeled echogenic liposomes (Rh-ELIP) containing nanobubbles could be delivered to the arterial wall, and whether 1-MHz continuous wave ultrasound would enhance this delivery profile. Aortae excised from apolipoprotein-E-deficient (n=8) and wild-type (n=8) mice were mounted in a pulsatile flow system through which Rh-ELIP were delivered in a stream of bovine serum albumin. Half the aortae from each group were treated with 1-MHz continuous wave ultrasound at 0.49 MPa peak-to-peak pressure, and half underwent sham exposure. Ultrasound parameters were chosen to promote stable cavitation and avoid inertial cavitation. A broadband hydrophone was used to monitor cavitation activity. After treatment, aortic sections were prepared for histology and analyzed by an individual blinded to treatment conditions. Delivery of Rh-ELIP to the vascular endothelium was observed, and sub-endothelial penetration of Rh-ELIP was present in five of five ultrasound-treated aortae and was absent in those not exposed to ultrasound. However, the degree of penetration in the ultrasound-exposed aortae was variable. There was no evidence of ultrasound-mediated tissue damage in any specimen. Ultrasound-enhanced delivery within the arterial wall was demonstrated in this novel model, which allows quantitative evaluation of therapeutic delivery. Copyright (c) 2010 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  7. Commercialization of an S-band standing-wave electron accelerator for industrial applications

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Moon, Jin-Hyeok; Kwak, Gyeong-Il; Han, Jae-Ik; Lee, Gyu-Baek; Jeon, Seong-Hwan; Kim, Jae-Young; Hwang, Cheol-Bin; Lee, Gi-Yong; Kim, Young-Man; Park, Sung-Ju

    2016-09-01

    An electron accelerator system has been developed for use in industrial, as well as possible medical, applications. Based on our experiences achieved during prototype system development and various electron beam acceleration tests, we have built a stable and compact system for sales purposes. We have integrated a self-developed accelerating cavity, an E-gun pulse driver, a radio-frequency (RF) power system, a vacuum system, a cooling system, etc. into a frame with a size of 1800 × 1000 × 1500 mm3. The accelerating structure is a side-coupled standing-wave type operating in the π/2 mode (tuned to~3 GHz). The RF power is provided by using a magnetron driven by a solid-state modulator. The electron gun is a triode type with a dispenser cathode (diameter of 11 mm). The system is capable of delivering a maximum 900-W average electron beam power with tight focusing at the target. Until now, we have performed various electron beam tests and X-ray beam tests after having built the system, have completed the beam assessment for commercializations, and have been preparing full-fledged sales activity. This article reports on our system development processes and on some of our early test results for commercializations.

  8. Influence of the parameters of a high-frequency acoustic wave on the structure, properties, and plastic flow of metal in the zone of a joint of materials welded by ultrasound-assisted explosive welding

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Peev, A. P.; Kuz'min, S. V.; Lysak, V. I.; Kuz'min, E. V.; Dorodnikov, A. N.

    2017-05-01

    The results of an investigation of the influence of the parameters of high-frequency acoustic wave on the structure and properties of the zone of joint of homogeneous metals bonded by explosive welding under the action of ultrasound have been presented. The influence of the frequency and amplitude of ultrasonic vibrations on the structure and properties of the explosively welded joints compared with the samples welded without the application of ultrasound has been established. The action of high-frequency acoustic waves on the metal leads to a reduction in the dynamic yield stress, which changes the properties of the surface layers of the metal and the conditions of the formation of the joint of the colliding plates upon the explosive welding. It has been shown that the changes in the length and amplitude of waves that arise in the weld joint upon the explosive welding with the simultaneous action of ultrasonic vibrations are connected with a decrease in the magnitude of the deforming pulse and time of action of the compressive stresses that exceed the dynamic yield stress beyond the point of contact.

  9. Ultrasound-Mediated Biophotonic Imaging: A Review of Acousto-Optical Tomography and Photo-Acoustic Tomography

    PubMed Central

    Wang, Lihong V.

    2004-01-01

    This article reviews two types of ultrasound-mediated biophotonic imaging–acousto-optical tomography (AOT, also called ultrasound-modulated optical tomography) and photo-acoustic tomography (PAT, also called opto-acoustic or thermo-acoustic tomography)–both of which are based on non-ionizing optical and ultrasonic waves. The goal of these technologies is to combine the contrast advantage of the optical properties and the resolution advantage of ultrasound. In these two technologies, the imaging contrast is based primarily on the optical properties of biological tissues, and the imaging resolution is based primarily on the ultrasonic waves that either are provided externally or produced internally, within the biological tissues. In fact, ultrasonic mediation overcomes both the resolution disadvantage of pure optical imaging in thick tissues and the contrast and speckle disadvantages of pure ultrasonic imaging. In our discussion of AOT, the relationship between modulation depth and acoustic amplitude is clarified. Potential clinical applications of ultrasound-mediated biophotonic imaging include early cancer detection, functional imaging, and molecular imaging. PMID:15096709

  10. Optical Detection of Ultrasound in Photoacoustic Imaging

    PubMed Central

    Dong, Biqin; Sun, Cheng; Zhang, Hao F.

    2017-01-01

    Objective Photoacoustic (PA) imaging emerges as a unique tool to study biological samples based on optical absorption contrast. In PA imaging, piezoelectric transducers are commonly used to detect laser-induced ultrasonic waves. However, they typically lack adequate broadband sensitivity at ultrasonic frequency higher than 100 MHz while their bulky size and optically opaque nature cause technical difficulties in integrating PA imaging with conventional optical imaging modalities. To overcome these limitations, optical methods of ultrasound detection were developed and shown their unique applications in photoacoustic imaging. Methods We provide an overview of recent technological advances in optical methods of ultrasound detection and their applications in PA imaging. A general theoretical framework describing sensitivity, bandwidth, and angular responses of optical ultrasound detection is also introduced. Results Optical methods of ultrasound detection can provide improved detection angle and sensitivity over significantly extended bandwidth. In addition, its versatile variants also offer additional advantages, such as device miniaturization, optical transparency, mechanical flexibility, minimal electrical/mechanical crosstalk, and potential noncontact PA imaging. Conclusion The optical ultrasound detection methods discussed in this review and their future evolution may play an important role in photoacoustic imaging for biomedical study and clinical diagnosis. PMID:27608445

  11. Human waves in stadiums

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Farkas, I.; Helbing, D.; Vicsek, T.

    2003-12-01

    Mexican wave first widely broadcasted during the 1986 World Cup held in Mexico, is a human wave moving along the stands of stadiums as one section of spectators stands up, arms lifting, then sits down as the next section does the same. Here we use variants of models originally developed for the description of excitable media to demonstrate that this collective human behaviour can be quantitatively interpreted by methods of statistical physics. Adequate modelling of reactions to triggering attempts provides a deeper insight into the mechanisms by which a crowd can be stimulated to execute a particular pattern of behaviour and represents a possible tool of control during events involving excited groups of people. Interactive simulations, video recordings and further images are available at the webpage dedicated to this work: http://angel.elte.hu/wave.

  12. Subresolution Displacements in Finite Difference Simulations of Ultrasound Propagation and Imaging.

    PubMed

    Pinton, Gianmarco F

    2017-03-01

    Time domain finite difference simulations are used extensively to simulate wave propagation. They approximate the wave field on a discrete domain with a grid spacing that is typically on the order of a tenth of a wavelength. The smallest displacements that can be modeled by this type of simulation are thus limited to discrete values that are integer multiples of the grid spacing. This paper presents a method to represent continuous and subresolution displacements by varying the impedance of individual elements in a multielement scatterer. It is demonstrated that this method removes the limitations imposed by the discrete grid spacing by generating a continuum of displacements as measured by the backscattered signal. The method is first validated on an ideal perfect correlation case with a single scatterer. It is subsequently applied to a more complex case with a field of scatterers that model an acoustic radiation force-induced displacement used in ultrasound elasticity imaging. A custom finite difference simulation tool is used to simulate propagation from ultrasound imaging pulses in the scatterer field. These simulated transmit-receive events are then beamformed into images, which are tracked with a correlation-based algorithm to determine the displacement. A linear predictive model is developed to analytically describe the relationship between element impedance and backscattered phase shift. The error between model and simulation is λ/ 1364 , where λ is the acoustical wavelength. An iterative method is also presented that reduces the simulation error to λ/ 5556 over one iteration. The proposed technique therefore offers a computationally efficient method to model continuous subresolution displacements of a scattering medium in ultrasound imaging. This method has applications that include ultrasound elastography, blood flow, and motion tracking. This method also extends generally to finite difference simulations of wave propagation, such as electromagnetic or

  13. Monitoring of thermal therapy based on shear modulus changes: I. shear wave thermometry.

    PubMed

    Arnal, Bastien; Pernot, Mathieu; Tanter, Mickael

    2011-02-01

    The clinical applicability of high-intensity focused ultrasound (HIFU) for noninvasive therapy is today hampered by the lack of robust and real-time monitoring of tissue damage during treatment. The goal of this study is to show that the estimation of local tissue elasticity from shear wave imaging (SWI) can lead to the 2-D mapping of temperature changes during HIFU treatments. This new concept of shear wave thermometry is experimentally implemented here using conventional ultrasonic imaging probes. HIFU treatment and monitoring were, respectively, performed using a confocal setup consisting of a 2.5-MHz single-element transducer focused at 30 mm on ex vivo samples and an 8-MHz ultrasound diagnostic probe. Thermocouple measurements and ultrasound-based thermometry were used as a gold standard technique and were combined with SWI on the same device. The SWI sequences consisted of 2 successive shear waves induced at different lateral positions. Each wave was created using 100-μs pushing beams at 3 depths. The shear wave propagation was acquired at 17,000 frames/s, from which the elasticity map was recovered. HIFU sonications were interleaved with fast imaging acquisitions, allowing a duty cycle of more than 90%. Elasticity and temperature mapping was achieved every 3 s, leading to realtime monitoring of the treatment. Tissue stiffness was found to decrease in the focal zone for temperatures up to 43°C. Ultrasound-based temperature estimation was highly correlated to stiffness variation maps (r² = 0.91 to 0.97). A reversible calibration phase of the changes of elasticity with temperature can be made locally using sighting shots. This calibration process allows for the derivation of temperature maps from shear wave imaging. Compared with conventional ultrasound-based approaches, shear wave thermometry is found to be much more robust to motion artifacts.

  14. [Research on Shielding of Emboli with the Phase-Controlled Ultrasound].

    PubMed

    Liu, Chuang; Bai, Jingfeng

    2016-01-01

    The postoperative neurological complications is associated with intraoperative cerebral emboli, which results from extracorporeal circulation and operation. It can effectively reduce the incidence of neurological complications with ultrasonic radiation. In fluids, a particle will change it's motion trail when it is acted by the radiation force generated by the ultrasound. This article mainly discuss how to shielding emboli with ultrasound. The equipment can transmit phased ultrasonic signals, which is designed on a FPGA development board. The board can generate a square wave, which is converted into a sine wave through a power amplifier. In addition, the control software has been developed on Qt development environment. The result indicates it's feasible to shielding emboli with ultrasonic radiation force. This article builds a strong foundation for the future research.

  15. A simple model of ultrasound propagation in a cavitating liquid. Part I: Theory, nonlinear attenuation and traveling wave generation.

    PubMed

    Louisnard, O

    2012-01-01

    The bubbles involved in sonochemistry and other applications of cavitation oscillate inertially. A correct estimation of the wave attenuation in such bubbly media requires a realistic estimation of the power dissipated by the oscillation of each bubble, by thermal diffusion in the gas and viscous friction in the liquid. Both quantities and calculated numerically for a single inertial bubble driven at 20 kHz, and are found to be several orders of magnitude larger than the linear prediction. Viscous dissipation is found to be the predominant cause of energy loss for bubbles small enough. Then, the classical nonlinear Caflish equations describing the propagation of acoustic waves in a bubbly liquid are recast and simplified conveniently. The main harmonic part of the sound field is found to fulfill a nonlinear Helmholtz equation, where the imaginary part of the squared wave number is directly correlated with the energy lost by a single bubble. For low acoustic driving, linear theory is recovered, but for larger drivings, namely above the Blake threshold, the attenuation coefficient is found to be more than 3 orders of magnitude larger then the linear prediction. A huge attenuation of the wave is thus expected in regions where inertial bubbles are present, which is confirmed by numerical simulations of the nonlinear Helmholtz equation in a 1D standing wave configuration. The expected strong attenuation is not only observed but furthermore, the examination of the phase between the pressure field and its gradient clearly demonstrates that a traveling wave appears in the medium. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  16. History of shock wave lithotripsy

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Delius, Michael

    2000-07-01

    The first reports on the fragmentation of human calculi with ultrasound appeared in the fifties. Initial positive results with an extracorporeal approach with continuous wave ultrasound could, however, not be reproduced. A more promising result was found by generating the acoustic energy either in pulsed or continuous form directly at the stone surface. The method was applied clinically with success. Extracorporeal shock-wave generators unite the principle of using single ultrasonic pulses with the principle of generating the acoustic energy outside the body and focusing it through the skin and body wall onto the stone. Häusler and Kiefer reported the first successful contact-free kidney stone destruction by shock waves. They had put the stone in a water filled cylinder and generated a shock wave with a high speed water drop which was fired onto the water surface. To apply the new principle in medicine, both Häusler and Hoff's group at Dornier company constructed different shock wave generators for the stone destruction; the former used a torus-shaped reflector around an explosion wire, the latter the electrode-ellipsoid system. The former required open surgery to access the kidney stone, the latter did not. It was introduced into clinical practice after a series of experiments in Munich.

  17. Neocortical dynamics at multiple scales: EEG standing waves, statistical mechanics, and physical analogs.

    PubMed

    Ingber, Lester; Nunez, Paul L

    2011-02-01

    The dynamic behavior of scalp potentials (EEG) is apparently due to some combination of global and local processes with important top-down and bottom-up interactions across spatial scales. In treating global mechanisms, we stress the importance of myelinated axon propagation delays and periodic boundary conditions in the cortical-white matter system, which is topologically close to a spherical shell. By contrast, the proposed local mechanisms are multiscale interactions between cortical columns via short-ranged non-myelinated fibers. A mechanical model consisting of a stretched string with attached nonlinear springs demonstrates the general idea. The string produces standing waves analogous to large-scale coherent EEG observed in some brain states. The attached springs are analogous to the smaller (mesoscopic) scale columnar dynamics. Generally, we expect string displacement and EEG at all scales to result from both global and local phenomena. A statistical mechanics of neocortical interactions (SMNI) calculates oscillatory behavior consistent with typical EEG, within columns, between neighboring columns via short-ranged non-myelinated fibers, across cortical regions via myelinated fibers, and also derives a string equation consistent with the global EEG model. Copyright © 2010 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  18. Comb-push ultrasound shear elastography of breast masses: initial results show promise.

    PubMed

    Denis, Max; Mehrmohammadi, Mohammad; Song, Pengfei; Meixner, Duane D; Fazzio, Robert T; Pruthi, Sandhya; Whaley, Dana H; Chen, Shigao; Fatemi, Mostafa; Alizad, Azra

    2015-01-01

    To evaluate the performance of Comb-push Ultrasound Shear Elastography (CUSE) for classification of breast masses. CUSE is an ultrasound-based quantitative two-dimensional shear wave elasticity imaging technique, which utilizes multiple laterally distributed acoustic radiation force (ARF) beams to simultaneously excite the tissue and induce shear waves. Female patients who were categorized as having suspicious breast masses underwent CUSE evaluations prior to biopsy. An elasticity estimate within the breast mass was obtained from the CUSE shear wave speed map. Elasticity estimates of various types of benign and malignant masses were compared with biopsy results. Fifty-four female patients with suspicious breast masses from our ongoing study are presented. Our cohort included 31 malignant and 23 benign breast masses. Our results indicate that the mean shear wave speed was significantly higher in malignant masses (6 ± 1.58 m/s) in comparison to benign masses (3.65 ± 1.36 m/s). Therefore, the stiffness of the mass quantified by the Young's modulus is significantly higher in malignant masses. According to the receiver operating characteristic curve (ROC), the optimal cut-off value of 83 kPa yields 87.10% sensitivity, 82.61% specificity, and 0.88 for the area under the curve (AUC). CUSE has the potential for clinical utility as a quantitative diagnostic imaging tool adjunct to B-mode ultrasound for differentiation of malignant and benign breast masses.

  19. Letters: Noise Equalization for Ultrafast Plane Wave Microvessel Imaging

    PubMed Central

    Song, Pengfei; Manduca, Armando; Trzasko, Joshua D.

    2017-01-01

    Ultrafast plane wave microvessel imaging significantly improves ultrasound Doppler sensitivity by increasing the number of Doppler ensembles that can be collected within a short period of time. The rich spatiotemporal plane wave data also enables more robust clutter filtering based on singular value decomposition (SVD). However, due to the lack of transmit focusing, plane wave microvessel imaging is very susceptible to noise. This study was designed to: 1) study the relationship between ultrasound system noise (primarily time gain compensation-induced) and microvessel blood flow signal; 2) propose an adaptive and computationally cost-effective noise equalization method that is independent of hardware or software imaging settings to improve microvessel image quality. PMID:28880169

  20. High-Intensity Focused Ultrasound Therapy: an Overview for Radiologists

    PubMed Central

    Kim, Young-sun; Choi, Min Joo; Lim, Hyo Keun; Choi, Dongil

    2008-01-01

    High-intensity focused ultrasound therapy is a novel, emerging, therapeutic modality that uses ultrasound waves, propagated through tissue media, as carriers of energy. This completely non-invasive technology has great potential for tumor ablation as well as hemostasis, thrombolysis and targeted drug/gene delivery. However, the application of this technology still has many drawbacks. It is expected that current obstacles to implementation will be resolved in the near future. In this review, we provide an overview of high-intensity focused ultrasound therapy from the basic physics to recent clinical studies with an interventional radiologist's perspective for the purpose of improving the general understanding of this cutting-edge technology as well as speculating on future developments. PMID:18682666

  1. Ultrasound Velocity Measurements in High-Chromium Steel Under Plastic Deformation

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Lunev, Aleksey; Bochkareva, Anna; Barannikova, Svetlana; Zuev, Lev

    2016-04-01

    In the present study, the variation of the propagation velocity of ultrasound in the plastic deformation of corrosion-resistant high-chromium steel 40X13 with ferrite-carbide (delivery status), martensitic (quenched) and sorbitol (after high-temperature tempering) structures have beem studied/ It is found that each state shows its view of the loading curve. In the delivery state diagram loading is substantially parabolic throughout, while in the martensitic state contains only linear strain hardening step and in the sorbitol state the plastic flow curve is three-step. The velocity of ultrasonic surface waves (Rayleigh waves) was measured simultaneously with the registration of the loading curve in the investigated steel in tension. It is shown that the dependence of the velocity of ultrasound in active loading is determined by the law of plastic flow, that is, the staging of the corresponding diagram of loading. Structural state of the investigated steel is not only changing the type of the deformation curve under uniaxial tension, but also changes the nature of ultrasound speed of deformation.

  2. External vibration multi-directional ultrasound shearwave elastography (EVMUSE): application in liver fibrosis staging.

    PubMed

    Zhao, Heng; Song, Pengfei; Meixner, Duane D; Kinnick, Randall R; Callstrom, Matthew R; Sanchez, William; Urban, Matthew W; Manduca, Armando; Greenleaf, James F; Chen, Shigao

    2014-11-01

    Shear wave speed can be used to assess tissue elasticity, which is associated with tissue health. Ultrasound shear wave elastography techniques based on measuring the propagation speed of the shear waves induced by acoustic radiation force are becoming promising alternatives to biopsy in liver fibrosis staging. However, shear waves generated by such methods are typically very weak. Therefore, the penetration may become problematic, especially for overweight or obese patients. In this study, we developed a new method called external vibration multi-directional ultrasound shearwave elastography (EVMUSE), in which external vibration from a loudspeaker was used to generate a multi-directional shear wave field. A directional filter was then applied to separate the complex shear wave field into several shear wave fields propagating in different directions. A 2-D shear wave speed map was reconstructed from each individual shear wave field, and a final 2-D shear wave speed map was constructed by compounding these individual wave speed maps. The method was validated using two homogeneous phantoms and one multi-purpose tissue-mimicking phantom. Ten patients undergoing liver magnetic resonance elastography (MRE) were also studied with EVMUSE to compare results between the two methods. Phantom results showed EVMUSE was able to quantify tissue elasticity accurately with good penetration. In vivo EVMUSE results were well correlated with MRE results, indicating the promise of using EVMUSE for liver fibrosis staging.

  3. External Vibration Multi-directional Ultrasound Shearwave Elastography (EVMUSE): Application in Liver Fibrosis Staging

    PubMed Central

    Zhao, Heng; Song, Pengfei; Meixner, Duane D.; Kinnick, Randall R.; Callstrom, Matthew R.; Sanchez, William; Urban, Matthew W.; Manduca, Armando; Greenleaf, James F.

    2014-01-01

    Shear wave speed can be used to assess tissue elasticity, which is associated with tissue health. Ultrasound shear wave elastography techniques based on measuring the propagation speed of the shear waves induced by acoustic radiation force are becoming promising alternatives to biopsy in liver fibrosis staging. However, shear waves generated by such methods are typically very weak. Therefore, the penetration may become problematic, especially for overweight or obese patients. In this study, we developed a new method called External Vibration Multi-directional Ultrasound Shearwave Elastography (EVMUSE), in which external vibration from a loudspeaker was used to generate a multi-directional shear wave field. A directional filter was then applied to separate the complex shear wave field into several shear wave fields propagating in different directions. A two-dimensional (2D) shear wave speed map was reconstructed from each individual shear wave field, and a final 2D shear wave speed map was constructed by compounding these individual wave speed maps. The method was validated using two homogeneous phantoms and one multi-purpose tissue-mimicking phantom. Ten patients undergoing liver Magnetic Resonance Elastography (MRE) were also studied with EVMUSE to compare results between the two methods. Phantom results showed EVMUSE was able to quantify tissue elasticity accurately with good penetration. In vivo EVMUSE results were well correlated with MRE results, indicating the promise of using EVMUSE for liver fibrosis staging. PMID:25020066

  4. 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.

  5. Direct method for imaging elemental distribution profiles with long-period x-ray standing waves

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Kohli, Vaibhav; Bedzyk, Michael J.; Fenter, Paul

    2010-02-01

    A model-independent Fourier-inversion method for imaging elemental profiles from multilayer and total-external reflection x-ray standing wave (XSW) data is developed for the purpose of understanding the assembly of atoms, ions, and molecules at well-defined interfaces in complex environments. The direct-method formalism is derived for the case of a long-period XSW generated by low-angle specular reflection in an attenuating overlayer medium. It is validated through comparison with simulated and experimental data to directly obtain an elemental distribution contained within the overlayer. We demonstrate this formalism by extracting the one-dimensional profile of Ti normal to the surface for a TiO2/Si/Mo trilayer deposited on a Si substrate using the TiKα fluorescence yield measured in air and under an aqueous electrolyte. The model-independent results demonstrate reduced coherent fractions for the in situ results associated with an incoherency of the x-ray beam (which are attributed to fluorescence excitation by diffusely or incoherently scattered x-rays). The uniqueness and limitations of the approach are discussed.

  6. Multiparametric Quantitative Ultrasound Imaging in Assessment of Chronic Kidney Disease.

    PubMed

    Gao, Jing; Perlman, Alan; Kalache, Safa; Berman, Nathaniel; Seshan, Surya; Salvatore, Steven; Smith, Lindsey; Wehrli, Natasha; Waldron, Levi; Kodali, Hanish; Chevalier, James

    2017-11-01

    To evaluate the value of multiparametric quantitative ultrasound imaging in assessing chronic kidney disease (CKD) using kidney biopsy pathologic findings as reference standards. We prospectively measured multiparametric quantitative ultrasound markers with grayscale, spectral Doppler, and acoustic radiation force impulse imaging in 25 patients with CKD before kidney biopsy and 10 healthy volunteers. Based on all pathologic (glomerulosclerosis, interstitial fibrosis/tubular atrophy, arteriosclerosis, and edema) scores, the patients with CKD were classified into mild (no grade 3 and <2 of grade 2) and moderate to severe (at least 2 of grade 2 or 1 of grade 3) CKD groups. Multiparametric quantitative ultrasound parameters included kidney length, cortical thickness, pixel intensity, parenchymal shear wave velocity, intrarenal artery peak systolic velocity (PSV), end-diastolic velocity (EDV), and resistive index. We tested the difference in quantitative ultrasound parameters among mild CKD, moderate to severe CKD, and healthy controls using analysis of variance, analyzed correlations of quantitative ultrasound parameters with pathologic scores and the estimated glomerular filtration rate (GFR) using Pearson correlation coefficients, and examined the diagnostic performance of quantitative ultrasound parameters in determining moderate CKD and an estimated GFR of less than 60 mL/min/1.73 m 2 using receiver operating characteristic curve analysis. There were significant differences in cortical thickness, pixel intensity, PSV, and EDV among the 3 groups (all P < .01). Among quantitative ultrasound parameters, the top areas under the receiver operating characteristic curves for PSV and EDV were 0.88 and 0.97, respectively, for determining pathologic moderate to severe CKD, and 0.76 and 0.86 for estimated GFR of less than 60 mL/min/1.73 m 2 . Moderate to good correlations were found for PSV, EDV, and pixel intensity with pathologic scores and estimated GFR. The

  7. Stiffness at shear-wave elastography and patient presentation predicts upgrade at surgery following an ultrasound-guided core biopsy diagnosis of ductal carcinoma in situ.

    PubMed

    Evans, A; Purdie, C A; Jordan, L; Macaskill, E J; Flynn, J; Vinnicombe, S

    2016-11-01

    The aim of this study is to establish predictors of invasion in lesions yielding an ultrasound-guided biopsy diagnosis of ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS). Patients subjected to ultrasound-guided core biopsy yielding DCIS were studied. At shear-wave elastography (SWE) a threshold of 50 kPa was used for mean elasticity (Emean) to dichotomise the elasticity data between invasive and non-invasive masses. Data recorded included the mammographic and ultrasound features, the referral source, and grade of DCIS in the biopsy. The chi-square test was used to detect statistical significance. Of 57 lesions, 24 (42%) had invasion at excision. Symptomatic patients and patients with stiff lesions were more likely to have invasion than patients presenting through screening and with soft lesions (58% [14 of 24] versus 30% [10 of 33], p=0.03) and (51% [20 of 39] versus 22% [4 of 18], p=0.04). No other factors showed a relationship with invasion. Combining the two predictors of invasion improved risk stratification with symptomatic and stiff lesions having a risk of invasion of 67% (12 of 18) and soft lesions presenting at screening having only a 17% (2 of 12) risk of invasion (p=0.02). Stiffness on SWE and the referral source of the patient are predictors of occult invasion in women with an ultrasound-guided core biopsy diagnosis of DCIS. Copyright © 2016 The Royal College of Radiologists. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  8. Simultaneous laser excitation of backward volume and perpendicular standing spin waves in full-Heusler Co2FeAl0.5Si0.5 films

    PubMed Central

    Chen, Zhifeng; Yan, Yong; Li, Shufa; Xu, Xiaoguang; Jiang, Yong; Lai, Tianshu

    2017-01-01

    Spin-wave dynamics in full-Heusler Co2FeAl0.5Si0.5 films are studied using all-optical pump-probe magneto-optical polar Kerr spectroscopy. Backward volume magnetostatic spin-wave (BVMSW) mode is observed in films with thickness ranging from 20 to 100 nm besides perpendicular standing spin-wave (PSSW) mode, and found to be excited more efficiently than the PSSW mode. The field dependence of the effective Gilbert damping parameter appears especial extrinsic origin. The relationship between the lifetime and the group velocity of BVMSW mode is revealed. The frequency of BVMSW mode does not obviously depend on the film thickness, but the lifetime and the effective damping appear to do so. The simultaneous excitation of BVMSW and PSSW in Heusler alloy films as well as the characterization of their dynamic behaviors may be of interest for magnonic and spintronic applications. PMID:28195160

  9. Improved shear wave group velocity estimation method based on spatiotemporal peak and thresholding motion search

    PubMed Central

    Amador, Carolina; Chen, Shigao; Manduca, Armando; Greenleaf, James F.; Urban, Matthew W.

    2017-01-01

    Quantitative ultrasound elastography is increasingly being used in the assessment of chronic liver disease. Many studies have reported ranges of liver shear wave velocities values for healthy individuals and patients with different stages of liver fibrosis. Nonetheless, ongoing efforts exist to stabilize quantitative ultrasound elastography measurements by assessing factors that influence tissue shear wave velocity values, such as food intake, body mass index (BMI), ultrasound scanners, scanning protocols, ultrasound image quality, etc. Time-to-peak (TTP) methods have been routinely used to measure the shear wave velocity. However, there is still a need for methods that can provide robust shear wave velocity estimation in the presence of noisy motion data. The conventional TTP algorithm is limited to searching for the maximum motion in time profiles at different spatial locations. In this study, two modified shear wave speed estimation algorithms are proposed. The first method searches for the maximum motion in both space and time (spatiotemporal peak, STP); the second method applies an amplitude filter (spatiotemporal thresholding, STTH) to select points with motion amplitude higher than a threshold for shear wave group velocity estimation. The two proposed methods (STP and STTH) showed higher precision in shear wave velocity estimates compared to TTP in phantom. Moreover, in a cohort of 14 healthy subjects STP and STTH methods improved both the shear wave velocity measurement precision and the success rate of the measurement compared to conventional TTP. PMID:28092532

  10. Improved Shear Wave Group Velocity Estimation Method Based on Spatiotemporal Peak and Thresholding Motion Search.

    PubMed

    Amador Carrascal, Carolina; Chen, Shigao; Manduca, Armando; Greenleaf, James F; Urban, Matthew W

    2017-04-01

    Quantitative ultrasound elastography is increasingly being used in the assessment of chronic liver disease. Many studies have reported ranges of liver shear wave velocity values for healthy individuals and patients with different stages of liver fibrosis. Nonetheless, ongoing efforts exist to stabilize quantitative ultrasound elastography measurements by assessing factors that influence tissue shear wave velocity values, such as food intake, body mass index, ultrasound scanners, scanning protocols, and ultrasound image quality. Time-to-peak (TTP) methods have been routinely used to measure the shear wave velocity. However, there is still a need for methods that can provide robust shear wave velocity estimation in the presence of noisy motion data. The conventional TTP algorithm is limited to searching for the maximum motion in time profiles at different spatial locations. In this paper, two modified shear wave speed estimation algorithms are proposed. The first method searches for the maximum motion in both space and time [spatiotemporal peak (STP)]; the second method applies an amplitude filter [spatiotemporal thresholding (STTH)] to select points with motion amplitude higher than a threshold for shear wave group velocity estimation. The two proposed methods (STP and STTH) showed higher precision in shear wave velocity estimates compared with TTP in phantom. Moreover, in a cohort of 14 healthy subjects, STP and STTH methods improved both the shear wave velocity measurement precision and the success rate of the measurement compared with conventional TTP.

  11. Characterization of Ultrasound Energy Diffusion Due to Small-Size Damage on an Aluminum Plate Using Piezoceramic Transducers

    PubMed Central

    Lu, Guangtao; Feng, Qian; Li, Yourong; Wang, Hao; Song, Gangbing

    2017-01-01

    During the propagation of ultrasonic waves in structures, there is usually energy loss due to ultrasound energy diffusion and dissipation. The aim of this research is to characterize the ultrasound energy diffusion that occurs due to small-size damage on an aluminum plate using piezoceramic transducers, for the future purpose of developing a damage detection algorithm. The ultrasonic energy diffusion coefficient is related to the damage distributed in the medium. Meanwhile, the ultrasonic energy dissipation coefficient is related to the inhomogeneity of the medium. Both are usually employed to describe the characteristics of ultrasound energy diffusion. The existence of multimodes of Lamb waves in metallic plate structures results in the asynchronous energy transport of different modes. The mode of Lamb waves has a great influence on ultrasound energy diffusion as a result, and thus has to be chosen appropriately. In order to study the characteristics of ultrasound energy diffusion in metallic plate structures, an experimental setup of an aluminum plate with a through-hole, whose diameter varies from 0.6 mm to 1.2 mm, is used as the test specimen with the help of piezoceramic transducers. The experimental results of two categories of damages at different locations reveal that the existence of damage changes the energy transport between the actuator and the sensor. Also, when there is only one dominate mode of Lamb wave excited in the structure, the ultrasound energy diffusion coefficient decreases approximately linearly with the diameter of the simulated damage. Meanwhile, the ultrasonic energy dissipation coefficient increases approximately linearly with the diameter of the simulated damage. However, when two or more modes of Lamb waves are excited, due to the existence of different group velocities between the different modes, the energy transport of the different modes is asynchronous, and the ultrasonic energy diffusion is not strictly linear with the size of

  12. State-of-the-Art Materials for Ultrasound-Triggered Drug Delivery

    PubMed Central

    Sirsi, Shashank; Borden, Mark

    2014-01-01

    Ultrasound is a unique and exciting theranostic modality that can be used to track drug carriers, trigger drug release and improve drug deposition with high spatial precision. In this review, we briefly describe the mechanisms of interaction between drug carriers and ultrasound waves, including cavitation, streaming and hyperthermia, and how those interactions can promote drug release and tissue uptake. We then discuss the rational design of some state-of-the-art materials for ultrasound-triggered drug delivery and review recent progress for each drug carrier, focusing on the delivery of chemotherapeutic agents such as doxorubicin. These materials include nanocarrier formulations, such as liposomes and micelles, designed specifically for ultrasound-triggered drug release, as well as microbubbles, microbubble-nanocarrier hybrids, microbubble-seeded hydrogels and phase-change agents. PMID:24389162

  13. Dynamic Transmit-Receive Beamforming by Spatial Matched Filtering for Ultrasound Imaging with Plane Wave Transmission.

    PubMed

    Chen, Yuling; Lou, Yang; Yen, Jesse

    2017-07-01

    During conventional ultrasound imaging, the need for multiple transmissions for one image and the time of flight for a desired imaging depth limit the frame rate of the system. Using a single plane wave pulse during each transmission followed by parallel receive processing allows for high frame rate imaging. However, image quality is degraded because of the lack of transmit focusing. Beamforming by spatial matched filtering (SMF) is a promising method which focuses ultrasonic energy using spatial filters constructed from the transmit-receive impulse response of the system. Studies by other researchers have shown that SMF beamforming can provide dynamic transmit-receive focusing throughout the field of view. In this paper, we apply SMF beamforming to plane wave transmissions (PWTs) to achieve both dynamic transmit-receive focusing at all imaging depths and high imaging frame rate (>5000 frames per second). We demonstrated the capability of the combined method (PWT + SMF) of achieving two-way focusing mathematically through analysis based on the narrowband Rayleigh-Sommerfeld diffraction theory. Moreover, the broadband performance of PWT + SMF was quantified in terms of lateral resolution and contrast from both computer simulations and experimental data. Results were compared between SMF beamforming and conventional delay-and-sum (DAS) beamforming in both simulations and experiments. At an imaging depth of 40 mm, simulation results showed a 29% lateral resolution improvement and a 160% contrast improvement with PWT + SMF. These improvements were 17% and 48% for experimental data with noise.

  14. Quantitative Assessment of Skin Stiffness in Localized Scleroderma Using Ultrasound Shear-Wave Elastography.

    PubMed

    Wang, Liyun; Yan, Feng; Yang, Yujia; Xiang, Xi; Qiu, Li

    2017-07-01

    The purpose of this study was to evaluate the usefulness of ultrasound shear-wave elastography (US-SWE) in characterization of localized scleroderma (LS), as well as in the disease staging. A total of 21 patients with 37 LS lesions were enrolled in this study. The pathologic stage (edema, sclerosis or atrophy) of the lesions was characterized by pathologic examination. The skin elastic modulus (E-values including E mean , E min , E max and E sd ) and thickness (h) was evaluated both in LS lesions and site-matched unaffected skin (normal controls) using US-SWE. The relative difference of E-values (E RD ) was calculated between each pair of lesions and its normal control for comparison among different pathologic stages. Of the 37 LS lesions, 2 were in edema, 22 were in sclerosis and 13 were in atrophy. US-SWE results showed a significant increase of skin elastic modulus and thickness in all lesions (p < 0.001 in sclerosis and p < 0.05 in atrophy) compared with the normal controls. The measured skin elastic modulus and thickness were greater in sclerosis than in atrophy. However, once normalized by skin thickness, the atrophic lesions, which were on average thinner, appeared significantly stiffer than those of the sclerosis (normalized E RD : an increase of 316.3% in atrophy vs. 50.6% in sclerosis compared with the controls, p = 0.007). These findings suggest that US-SWE allows for quantitative evaluation of the skin stiffness of LS lesions in different stages; however, the E-values directly provided by the US-SWE system alone do not distinguish between the stages, and the normalization by skin thickness is necessary. This non-invasive, real-time imaging technique is an ideal tool for assessing and monitoring LS disease severity and progression. Copyright © 2017 World Federation for Ultrasound in Medicine & Biology. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  15. Ultrasound wave assisted adsorption of congo red using gold-magnetic nanocomposite loaded on activated carbon: Optimization of process parameters.

    PubMed

    Dil, Ebrahim Alipanahpour; Ghaedi, Mehrorang; Asfaram, Arash; Bazrafshan, Ali Akbar

    2018-09-01

    In this study, gold-magnetic nanocomposite in the presence of ultrasound wave assisted was synthesized and loaded on activated carbon (Au-Fe 3 O 4 -NCs-AC) by simple, fast and low-cost process. This novel material was applied for ultrasound assisted adsorption of congo red (CR) as model of toxic and even carcinogenic substance from aqueous solution. The detail of morphology and identity of Au-Fe 3 O 4 -AC was characterized by SEM and TEM techniques and correlation among response to variables such as pH (2-10), adsorbent mass (0.005-0.025 g), initial CR concentration (10-30 mg L -1 ) and ultrasound time (2-6 min) was investigated by response surface methodology (RSM) under central composite design (CCD). Analysis of variance (ANOVA) exhibit a high R 2 value of 0.999 and confirm suitability of constructed second-order regression model for excellent evaluation and prediction of the experimental data. The interaction and main factor and optimum conditions of the under study process were determined from response surface plots based on desirability function. The maximum CR adsorption were achieved at pH of 4, 15 mg L -1 of CR, 0.017 g of Au-Fe 3 O 4 -AC and 5 min sonication which owing to 99.49% removal efficiency is highly recommended for future CR removal from different matrixes. Adsorption kinetic follow second-order rate expression in combination to inter particle diffusion and equilibrium adsorption data best represented by the Langmuir isotherm with maximum mono-layer adsorption capacity of 43.88 mg g -1 . Copyright © 2018 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  16. Ultrasound finite element simulation sensitivity to anisotropic titanium microstructures

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Freed, Shaun; Blackshire, James L.; Na, Jeong K.

    2016-02-01

    Analytical wave models are inadequate to describe complex metallic microstructure interactions especially for near field anisotropic property effects and through geometric features smaller than the wavelength. In contrast, finite element ultrasound simulations inherently capture microstructure influences due to their reliance on material definitions rather than wave descriptions. To better understand and quantify heterogeneous crystal orientation effects to ultrasonic wave propagation, a finite element modeling case study has been performed with anisotropic titanium grain structures. A parameterized model has been developed utilizing anisotropic spheres within a bulk material. The resulting wave parameters are analyzed as functions of both wavelength and sphere to bulk crystal mismatch angle.

  17. Micro-crack detection in CFRP laminates using coda wave NDE

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Dayal, Vinay; Barnard, Dan; Livings, Richard

    2018-04-01

    Coda Waves or diffuse field has been touted to be an NDE method that does not require the damage to be in the path of the ultrasound. The object is insonified with ultrasound and instead of catching the first or second arrival, the waves are allowed to bounce multiple times. This aspect is very important in structural health monitoring (SHM) where the potential damage development location is unknown. Researchers have used Coda waves in the interrogation of seismic damage and metallic materials. In this work we have applied the technique to composite material, and present the results herein. The coda wave and acoustic emission signals are recorded simultaneously and corroborated. Development of small incipient damage in the form of micro-crack and their detection is the objective of this work.

  18. Does shear wave ultrasound independently predict axillary lymph node metastasis in women with invasive breast cancer?

    PubMed

    Evans, Andrew; Rauchhaus, Petra; Whelehan, Patsy; Thomson, Kim; Purdie, Colin A; Jordan, Lee B; Michie, Caroline O; Thompson, Alastair; Vinnicombe, Sarah

    2014-01-01

    Shear wave elastography (SWE) shows promise as an adjunct to greyscale ultrasound examination in assessing breast masses. In breast cancer, higher lesion stiffness on SWE has been shown to be associated with features of poor prognosis. The purpose of this study was to assess whether lesion stiffness at SWE is an independent predictor of lymph node involvement. Patients with invasive breast cancer treated by primary surgery, who had undergone SWE examination were eligible. Data were retrospectively analysed from 396 consecutive patients. The mean stiffness values were obtained using the Aixplorer® ultrasound machine from SuperSonic Imagine Ltd. Measurements were taken from a region of interest positioned over the stiffest part of the abnormality. The average of the mean stiffness value obtained from each of two orthogonal image planes was used for analysis. Associations between lymph node involvement and mean lesion stiffness, invasive cancer size, histologic grade, tumour type, ER expression, HER-2 status and vascular invasion were assessed using univariate and multivariate logistic regression. At univariate analysis, invasive size, histologic grade, HER-2 status, vascular invasion, tumour type and mean stiffness were significantly associated with nodal involvement. Nodal involvement rates ranged from 7 % for tumours with mean stiffness <50 kPa to 41 % for tumours with a mean stiffness of >150 kPa. At multivariate analysis, invasive size, tumour type, vascular invasion, and mean stiffness maintained independent significance. Mean stiffness at SWE is an independent predictor of lymph node metastasis and thus can confer prognostic information additional to that provided by conventional preoperative tumour assessment and staging.

  19. Ultrasound shear wave simulation based on nonlinear wave propagation and Wigner-Ville Distribution analysis

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Bidari, Pooya Sobhe; Alirezaie, Javad; Tavakkoli, Jahan

    2017-03-01

    This paper presents a method for modeling and simulation of shear wave generation from a nonlinear Acoustic Radiation Force Impulse (ARFI) that is considered as a distributed force applied at the focal region of a HIFU transducer radiating in nonlinear regime. The shear wave propagation is simulated by solving the Navier's equation from the distributed nonlinear ARFI as the source of the shear wave. Then, the Wigner-Ville Distribution (WVD) as a time-frequency analysis method is used to detect the shear wave at different local points in the region of interest. The WVD results in an estimation of the shear wave time of arrival, its mean frequency and local attenuation which can be utilized to estimate medium's shear modulus and shear viscosity using the Voigt model.

  20. Shear wave elastography with a new reliability indicator.

    PubMed

    Dietrich, Christoph F; Dong, Yi

    2016-09-01

    Non-invasive methods for liver stiffness assessment have been introduced over recent years. Of these, two main methods for estimating liver fibrosis using ultrasound elastography have become established in clinical practice: shear wave elastography and quasi-static or strain elastography. Shear waves are waves with a motion perpendicular (lateral) to the direction of the generating force. Shear waves travel relatively slowly (between 1 and 10 m/s). The stiffness of the liver tissue can be assessed based on shear wave velocity (the stiffness increases with the speed). The European Federation of Societies for Ultrasound in Medicine and Biology has published Guidelines and Recommendations that describe these technologies and provide recommendations for their clinical use. Most of the data available to date has been published using the Fibroscan (Echosens, France), point shear wave speed measurement using an acoustic radiation force impulse (Siemens, Germany) and 2D shear wave elastography using the Aixplorer (SuperSonic Imagine, France). More recently, also other manufacturers have introduced shear wave elastography technology into the market. A comparison of data obtained using different techniques for shear wave propagation and velocity measurement is of key interest for future studies, recommendations and guidelines. Here, we present a recently introduced shear wave elastography technology from Hitachi and discuss its reproducibility and comparability to the already established technologies.

  1. Shear wave elastography with a new reliability indicator

    PubMed Central

    Dong, Yi

    2016-01-01

    Non-invasive methods for liver stiffness assessment have been introduced over recent years. Of these, two main methods for estimating liver fibrosis using ultrasound elastography have become established in clinical practice: shear wave elastography and quasi-static or strain elastography. Shear waves are waves with a motion perpendicular (lateral) to the direction of the generating force. Shear waves travel relatively slowly (between 1 and 10 m/s). The stiffness of the liver tissue can be assessed based on shear wave velocity (the stiffness increases with the speed). The European Federation of Societies for Ultrasound in Medicine and Biology has published Guidelines and Recommendations that describe these technologies and provide recommendations for their clinical use. Most of the data available to date has been published using the Fibroscan (Echosens, France), point shear wave speed measurement using an acoustic radiation force impulse (Siemens, Germany) and 2D shear wave elastography using the Aixplorer (SuperSonic Imagine, France). More recently, also other manufacturers have introduced shear wave elastography technology into the market. A comparison of data obtained using different techniques for shear wave propagation and velocity measurement is of key interest for future studies, recommendations and guidelines. Here, we present a recently introduced shear wave elastography technology from Hitachi and discuss its reproducibility and comparability to the already established technologies. PMID:27679731

  2. Ultrasound as a Noninvasive Method to Assess Changes of Intracranial Volume and Pressure During Simulated Microgravity

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Murthy, G.; Yost, W. T.; Ballard, R. E.; Watenpaugh, D. E.; Kawai, Y.; Hargens, A. R.

    1994-01-01

    Headaches are commonly experienced by astronauts in microgravity and by subjects undergoing head-down tilt (simulated microgravity on Earth). Exposure to microgravity probably elevates blood pressure and flow in the head which may increase intracranial volume (ICV) and pressure (ICP) and in turn cause headache. Due to the slightly compliant nature of the cranial vault and the encasement of brain and its vasculature within this vault, any increase of ICV will increase ICP and slightly distend the cranium. Previous studies document perivascular edema and increased ICP in rhesus monkeys during head-down tilt. Elevated ICP has also been reported in humans during head-down tilt. ICP measurements in healthy humans are rare because of the invasiveness of currently-available measurement techniques. Therefore, we proposed a noninvasive ultrasound technique to assess changes of ICV and JCP. The ultrasound principle is based on compliance of the cranial vault. A 450 kHz ultrasound stimulus is transmitted through the cranium by a transducer every 7.5-10 msec. The ultrasound wave enters the brain tissue, reflects off the opposite side of the cranium and is received by the same transducer. The detected wave is compared for phase quadrature (90 deg.to transmitted wave). Because the electronic circuitry of the device maintains a 90 deg. phase (phi), any alterations in the detected wave caused by an increase of ICV and ICP will be reflected as a change in the wave frequency. Phase shift is directly proportional to path length of the wave, DELTA x, which is expressed as DELTA x = phi lambda/2 pi where lambda is wavelength. Elevated ICV and ICP expand the cranial vault and increase path length of the wave (a measure of intracranial distance). Increased path length equals reduced frequency of the detected wave. Reduced frequency is then related to elevated ICP. This technique has potential uses for ICP studies of astronauts in space and head trauma patients on Earth.

  3. 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

  4. Noninvasive Evaluation of Varying Pulse Pressures in vivo Using Brachial Sphymomanometry, Applanation Tonometry, and Pulse Wave Ultrasound Manometry.

    PubMed

    Li, Ronny X; Ip, Ada; Sanz-Miralles, Elena; Konofagou, Elisa E

    2017-06-01

    The routine assessment and monitoring of hypertension may benefit from the evaluation of arterial pulse pressure (PP) at more central locations (e.g. the aorta) rather solely at the brachial artery. Pulse Wave Ultrasound Manometry (PWUM) was previously developed by our group to provide direct, noninvasive aortic PP measurements using ultrasound elasticity imaging. Using PWUM, radial applanation tonometry, and brachial sphygmomanometry, this study investigated the feasibility of noninvasively obtaining direct PP measurements at multiple arterial locations in normotensive, pre-hypertensive, and hypertensive human subjects. Two-way ANOVA indicated a significantly higher aortic PP in the hypertensive subjects, while radial and brachial PP were not significantly different among the subject groups. No strong correlation (r 2 < 0.45) was observed between aortic and radial/brachial PP in normal and pre-hypertensive subjects, suggesting that increases in PP throughout the arterial tree may not be uniform in relatively compliant arteries. However, there was a relatively strong positive correlation between aortic PP and both radial and brachial PP in hypertensive subjects (r 2 = 0.68 and 0.87, respectively). PWUM provides a low-cost, non-invasive, and direct means of measuring the pulse pressure in large central arteries such as the aorta. When used in conjunction with peripheral measurement devices, PWUM allows for the routine screening of hypertension and monitoring of BP-lowering drugs based on the PP from multiple arterial sites.

  5. Modelflow Estimates of Stroke Volume Do Not Correlate With Doppler Ultrasound Estimates During Upright Posture

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Ferguson, Connor R.; Lee, Stuart M. C.; Stenger, Michael B.; Platts, Steven H.; Laurie, Steven S.

    2014-01-01

    Orthostatic intolerance affects 60-80% of astronauts returning from long-duration missions, representing a significant risk to completing mission-critical tasks. While likely multifactorial, a reduction in stroke volume (SV) represents one factor contributing to orthostatic intolerance during stand and head up tilt (HUT) tests. Current measures of SV during stand or HUT tests use Doppler ultrasound and require a trained operator and specialized equipment, restricting its use in the field. BeatScope (Finapres Medical Systems BV, The Netherlands) uses a modelflow algorithm to estimate SV from continuous blood pressure waveforms in supine subjects; however, evidence supporting the use of Modelflow to estimate SV in subjects completing stand or HUT tests remain scarce. Furthermore, because the blood pressure device is held extended at heart level during HUT tests, but allowed to rest at the side during stand tests, changes in the finger arterial pressure waveform resulting from arm positioning could alter modelflow estimated SV. The purpose of this project was to compare Doppler ultrasound and BeatScope estimations of SV to determine if BeatScope can be used during stand or HUT tests. Finger photoplethysmography was used to acquire arterial pressure waveforms corrected for hydrostatic finger-to-heart height using the Finometer (FM) and Portapres (PP) arterial pressure devices in 10 subjects (5 men and 5 women) during a stand test while simultaneous estimates of SV were collected using Doppler ultrasound. Measures were made after 5 minutes of supine rest and while subjects stood for 5 minutes. Next, SV estimates were reacquired while each arm was independently raised to heart level, a position similar to tilt testing. Supine SV estimates were not significantly different between all three devices (FM: 68+/-20, PP: 71+/-21, US: 73+/-21 ml/beat). Upon standing, the change in SV estimated by FM (-18+/-8 ml) was not different from PP (-21+/-12), but both were significantly

  6. Ultrasonic wave propagation in trabecular bone predicted by the stratified model

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Lin, W.; Qin, Y. X.; Rubin, C.

    2001-01-01

    The objective of this study was to investigate ultrasound propagation in trabecular bone by considering the wave reflection and transmission in a multilayered medium. The use of ultrasound to identify those at risk of osteoporosis is a promising diagnostic method providing a measure of bone mineral density (BMD). A stratified model was proposed to study the effect of transmission and reflection of ultrasound wave within the trabecular architecture on the relationship between ultrasound and BMD. The results demonstrated that ultrasound velocity in trabecular bone was highly correlated with the bone apparent density (r=0.97). Moreover, a consistent pattern of the frequency dependence of ultrasound attenuation coefficient has been observed between simulation using this model and experimental measurement of trabecular bone. The normalized broadband ultrasound attenuation (nBUA) derived from the simulation results revealed that nBUA was nonlinear with respect to trabecular porosity and BMD. The curve of the relationship between nBUA and BMD was parabolic in shape, and the peak magnitude of nBUA was observed at approximately 60% of bone porosity. These results agreed with the published experimental data and demonstrated that according to the stratified model, reflection and transmission were important factors in the ultrasonic propagation through the trabecular bone.

  7. The use of lung ultrasound images for the differential diagnosis of pulmonary and cardiac interstitial pathology.

    PubMed

    Soldati, Gino; Demi, Marcello

    2017-06-01

    In recent years, great advances have been made in the use of lung ultrasound to detect pulmonary edema and interstitial changes in the lung. However, it is clear that B-lines oversimplify the description of the physical phenomena associated with their presence. The artifactual images that ultrasounds provide in interstitial pulmonary pathology are merely the ultimate outcome of the complex interaction of a specific acoustic wave with a specific three-dimensional biological structure. This interaction lacks a solid physical interpretation of the acoustic signs to support it. The aim of this paper was to describe the differences between the sonographic interstitial syndrome related to lung diseases and that related to cardiogenic edema in the light of current knowledge regarding the pleural plane's response to ultrasound waves.

  8. Bulk-wave ultrasonic propagation imagers

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Abbas, Syed Haider; Lee, Jung-Ryul

    2018-03-01

    Laser-based ultrasound systems are described that utilize the ultrasonic bulk-wave sensing to detect the damages and flaws in the aerospace structures. These systems apply pulse-echo or through transmission methods to detect longitudinal through-the-thickness bulk-waves. These thermoelastic waves are generated using Q-switched laser and non-contact sensing is performed using a laser Doppler vibrometer (LDV). Laser-based raster scanning is performed by either twoaxis translation stage for linear-scanning or galvanometer-based laser mirror scanner for angular-scanning. In all ultrasonic propagation imagers, the ultrasonic data is captured and processed in real-time and the ultrasonic propagation can be visualized during scanning. The scanning speed can go up to 1.8 kHz for two-axis linear translation stage based B-UPIs and 10 kHz for galvanometer-based laser mirror scanners. In contrast with the other available ultrasound systems, these systems have the advantage of high-speed, non-contact, real-time, and non-destructive inspection. In this paper, the description of all bulk-wave ultrasonic imagers (B-UPIs) are presented and their advantages are discussed. Experiments are performed with these system on various structures to proof the integrity of their results. The C-scan results produced from non-dispersive, through-the-thickness, bulk-wave detection show good agreement in detection of structural variances and damage location in all inspected structures. These results show that bulk-wave UPIs can be used for in-situ NDE of engineering structures.

  9. Nonthermal effects of therapeutic ultrasound: the frequency resonance hypothesis.

    PubMed

    Johns, Lennart D

    2002-07-01

    To present the frequency resonance hypothesis, a possible mechanical mechanism by which treatment with non-thermal levels of ultrasound stimulates therapeutic effects. The review encompasses a 4-decade history but focuses on recent reports describing the effects of nonthermal therapeutic levels of ultrasound at the cellular and molecular levels. A search of MEDLINE from 1965 through 2000 using the terms ultrasound and therapeutic ultrasound. The literature provides a number of examples in which exposure of cells to therapeutic ultrasound under nonthermal conditions modified cellular functions. Nonthermal levels of ultrasound are reported to modulate membrane properties, alter cellular proliferation, and produce increases in proteins associated with inflammation and injury repair. Combined, these data suggest that nonthermal effects of therapeutic ultrasound can modify the inflammatory response. The concept of the absorption of ultrasonic energy by enzymatic proteins leading to changes in the enzymes activity is not novel. However, recent reports demonstrating that ultrasound affects enzyme activity and possibly gene regulation provide sufficient data to present a probable molecular mechanism of ultrasound's nonthermal therapeutic action. The frequency resonance hypothesis describes 2 possible biological mechanisms that may alter protein function as a result of the absorption of ultrasonic energy. First, absorption of mechanical energy by a protein may produce a transient conformational shift (modifying the 3-dimensional structure) and alter the protein's functional activity. Second, the resonance or shearing properties of the wave (or both) may dissociate a multimolecular complex, thereby disrupting the complex's function. This review focuses on recent studies that have reported cellular and molecular effects of therapeutic ultrasound and presents a mechanical mechanism that may lead to a better understanding of how the nonthermal effects of ultrasound may be

  10. Interrogation of a ring-resonator ultrasound sensor using a fiber Mach-Zehnder interferometer.

    PubMed

    Peternella, Fellipe Grillo; Ouyang, Boling; Horsten, Roland; Haverdings, Michael; Kat, Pim; Caro, Jacob

    2017-12-11

    We experimentally demonstrate an interrogation procedure of a ring-resonator ultrasound sensor using a fiber Mach-Zehnder interferometer (MZI). The sensor comprises a silicon ring resonator (RR) located on a silicon-oxide membrane, designed to have its lowest vibrational mode in the MHz range, which is the range of intravascular ultrasound (IVUS) imaging. Ultrasound incident on the membrane excites its vibrational mode and as a result induces a modulation of the resonance wavelength of the RR, which is a measure of the amplitude of the ultrasound waves. The interrogation procedure developed is based on the mathematical description of the interrogator operation presented in Appendix A, where we identify the amplitude of the angular deflection Φ 0 on the circle arc periodically traced in the plane of the two orthogonal interrogator voltages, as the principal sensor signal. Interrogation is demonstrated for two sensors with membrane vibrational modes at 1.3 and 0.77 MHz, by applying continuous wave ultrasound in a wide pressure range. Ultrasound is detected at a pressure as low as 1.2 Pa. Two optical path differences (OPDs) of the MZI are used. Thus, different interference conditions of the optical signals are defined, leading to a higher apparent sensitivity for the larger OPD, which is accompanied by a weaker signal, however. Independent measurements using the modulation method yield a resonance modulation per unit of pressure of 21.4 fm/Pa (sensor #1) and 103.8 fm/Pa (sensor #2).

  11. Comb-Push Ultrasound Shear Elastography of Breast Masses: Initial Results Show Promise

    PubMed Central

    Song, Pengfei; Fazzio, Robert T.; Pruthi, Sandhya; Whaley, Dana H.; Chen, Shigao; Fatemi, Mostafa

    2015-01-01

    Purpose or Objective To evaluate the performance of Comb-push Ultrasound Shear Elastography (CUSE) for classification of breast masses. Materials and Methods CUSE is an ultrasound-based quantitative two-dimensional shear wave elasticity imaging technique, which utilizes multiple laterally distributed acoustic radiation force (ARF) beams to simultaneously excite the tissue and induce shear waves. Female patients who were categorized as having suspicious breast masses underwent CUSE evaluations prior to biopsy. An elasticity estimate within the breast mass was obtained from the CUSE shear wave speed map. Elasticity estimates of various types of benign and malignant masses were compared with biopsy results. Results Fifty-four female patients with suspicious breast masses from our ongoing study are presented. Our cohort included 31 malignant and 23 benign breast masses. Our results indicate that the mean shear wave speed was significantly higher in malignant masses (6 ± 1.58 m/s) in comparison to benign masses (3.65 ± 1.36 m/s). Therefore, the stiffness of the mass quantified by the Young’s modulus is significantly higher in malignant masses. According to the receiver operating characteristic curve (ROC), the optimal cut-off value of 83 kPa yields 87.10% sensitivity, 82.61% specificity, and 0.88 for the area under the curve (AUC). Conclusion CUSE has the potential for clinical utility as a quantitative diagnostic imaging tool adjunct to B-mode ultrasound for differentiation of malignant and benign breast masses. PMID:25774978

  12. Standing helicon induced by a rapidly bent magnetic field in plasmas

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Takahashi, Kazunori; Takayama, Sho; Komuro, Atsushi; Ando, Akira; Plasma physics Team

    2016-09-01

    An electron energy probability function and an rf magnetic field are measured in an rf hydrogen helicon source, where axial and transverse static magnetic fields are applied to the source by solenoids and to the diffusion chamber by filter magnets, respectively. It is demonstrated that the helicon wave is reflected by the rapidly bent magnetic field and the resultant standing wave heats the electrons between the source and the magnetic filter, while the electron cooling effect by the magnetic filter is maintained. It is interpreted that the standing wave is generated by the presence of spatially localized change of a refractive index. The application to the hydrogen negative ion source used for the neutral beam injection system for fusion plasma heating is discussed. This work is partially supported by grant-in-aid for scientific research (16H04084 and 26247096) from the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science.

  13. Photoacoustic-guided ultrasound therapy with a dual-mode ultrasound array

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Prost, Amaury; Funke, Arik; Tanter, Mickaël; Aubry, Jean-François; Bossy, Emmanuel

    2012-06-01

    Photoacoustics has recently been proposed as a potential method to guide and/or monitor therapy based on high-intensity focused ultrasound (HIFU). We experimentally demonstrate the creation of a HIFU lesion at the location of an optical absorber, by use of photoacoustic signals emitted by the absorber detected on a dual mode transducer array. To do so, a dedicated ultrasound array intended to both detect photoacoustic waves and emit HIFU with the same elements was used. Such a dual-mode array provides automatically coregistered reference frames for photoacoustic detection and HIFU emission, a highly desired feature for methods involving guidance or monitoring of HIFU by use of photoacoustics. The prototype is first characterized in terms of both photoacoustic and HIFU performances. The probe is then used to perform an idealized scenario of photoacoustic-guided therapy, where photoacoustic signals generated by an absorbing thread embedded in a piece of chicken breast are used to automatically refocus a HIFU beam with a time-reversal mirror and necrose the tissue at the location of the absorber.

  14. Ultrasound Transmission Times in Biologically Deteriorated Wood

    Treesearch

    Christopher Adam Senalik; Robert J. Ross; Rodney DeGroot

    2015-01-01

    The use of a variety of stress wave transmission techniques for the in-service condition assessment of deteriorated wood is well documented. This paper summarizes results from an extensive study designed to examine the relationship between ultrasound transmission times and the deterioration of exposed wood. Two hundred seventy (270) southern pine lumber specimens were...

  15. Lipid-shelled vehicles: engineering for ultrasound molecular imaging and drug delivery.

    PubMed

    Ferrara, Katherine W; Borden, Mark A; Zhang, Hua

    2009-07-21

    Ultrasound pressure waves can map the location of lipid-stabilized gas micro-bubbles after their intravenous administration in the body, facilitating an estimate of vascular density and microvascular flow rate. Microbubbles are currently approved by the Food and Drug Administration as ultrasound contrast agents for visualizing opacification of the left ventricle in echocardiography. However, the interaction of ultrasound waves with intravenously-injected lipid-shelled particles, including both liposomes and microbubbles, is a far richer field. Particles can be designed for molecular imaging and loaded with drugs or genes; the mechanical and thermal properties of ultrasound can then effect localized drug release. In this Account, we provide an overview of the engineering of lipid-shelled microbubbles (typical diameter 1000-10 000 nm) and liposomes (typical diameter 65-120 nm) for ultrasound-based applications in molecular imaging and drug delivery. The chemistries of the shell and core can be optimized to enhance stability, circulation persistence, drug loading and release, targeting to and fusion with the cell membrane, and therapeutic biological effects. To assess the biodistribution and pharmacokinetics of these particles, we incorporated positron emission tomography (PET) radioisotopes on the shell. The radionuclide (18)F (half-life approximately 2 h) was covalently coupled to a dipalmitoyl lipid, followed by integration of the labeled lipid into the shell, facilitating short-term analysis of particle pharmacokinetics and metabolism of the lipid molecule. Alternately, labeling a formed particle with (64)Cu (half-life 12.7 h), after prior covalent incorporation of a copper-chelating moiety onto the lipid shell, permits pharmacokinetic study of particles over several days. Stability and persistence in circulation of both liposomes and microbubbles are enhanced by long acyl chains and a poly(ethylene glycol) coating. Vascular targeting has been demonstrated with

  16. Standing Waves and Inquiry Using Water Droplets

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Sinclair, Dina; Vondracek, Mark

    2015-01-01

    Most high school and introductory college physics classes study simple harmonic motion and various wave phenomena. With the majority of states adopting the Next Generation Science Standards and pushing students to explore the scientific process for themselves, there is a growing demand for hands-on inquiry activities that involve and develop more…

  17. Finite element simulation of the mechanism of laser ultrasound induced pain weapon

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Zhou, Bo; Zhan, Ren Jun; Shan, Ning

    2018-03-01

    The Laser-Ultrasonic technique uses laser energy to generate ultrasound waves in various solids. In normal conditions, this technique is used to inspect large structures without destruction, but in military use, we hope get this destruction. Nociceptors in Human skin can feel cold, heat, mechanical and other stimuli, when the stimulus exceeds a certain threshold will produce pain. Based on this principle, a laser induced pain weapon may be made. The generated ultrasound wave form is affected by features of laser pulse. The results obtained from the finite element model of laser generated ultrasound are presented in terms of temperature and displacement. At first step, the transient temperature field can be precisely calculated by using the finite element method. Then, laser generated surface acoustic wave forms are calculated by coupling the temperature distribution. Displacement is used to represent the mechanical action of skin caused by laser ultrasound. Results from numerical simulation are compared with other references; the accuracy of the method is proved accordingly. The results of simulation in the given conditions demonstrate that the stresses generated by pulse laser in human skin model were about -8 and +4 MPa. According to the results of simulation, the max and min stress are both emerged in the range of 0 600 um, that is exactly the location of myelinated Aδ and unmyelinated C nociceptor. The value of stress is can be adjusted by chose suitable parameters of laser. The study provides a possibility for developing a new non-lethal weapon to control riots or crowd.

  18. Contrast-enhanced and targeted ultrasound.

    PubMed

    Postema, Michiel; Gilja, Odd Helge

    2011-01-07

    Ultrasonic imaging is becoming the most popular medical imaging modality, owing to the low price per examination and its safety. However, blood is a poor scatterer of ultrasound waves at clinical diagnostic transmit frequencies. For perfusion imaging, markers have been designed to enhance the contrast in B-mode imaging. These so-called ultrasound contrast agents consist of microscopically small gas bubbles encapsulated in biodegradable shells. In this review, the physical principles of ultrasound contrast agent microbubble behavior and their adjustment for drug delivery including sonoporation are described. Furthermore, an outline of clinical imaging applications of contrast-enhanced ultrasound is given. It is a challenging task to quantify and predict which bubble phenomenon occurs under which acoustic condition, and how these phenomena may be utilized in ultrasonic imaging. Aided by high-speed photography, our improved understanding of encapsulated microbubble behavior will lead to more sophisticated detection and delivery techniques. More sophisticated methods use quantitative approaches to measure the amount and the time course of bolus or reperfusion curves, and have shown great promise in revealing effective tumor responses to anti-angiogenic drugs in humans before tumor shrinkage occurs. These are beginning to be accepted into clinical practice. In the long term, targeted microbubbles for molecular imaging and eventually for directed anti-tumor therapy are expected to be tested.

  19. Contrast-enhanced and targeted ultrasound

    PubMed Central

    Postema, Michiel; Gilja, Odd Helge

    2011-01-01

    Ultrasonic imaging is becoming the most popular medical imaging modality, owing to the low price per examination and its safety. However, blood is a poor scatterer of ultrasound waves at clinical diagnostic transmit frequencies. For perfusion imaging, markers have been designed to enhance the contrast in B-mode imaging. These so-called ultrasound contrast agents consist of microscopically small gas bubbles encapsulated in biodegradable shells. In this review, the physical principles of ultrasound contrast agent microbubble behavior and their adjustment for drug delivery including sonoporation are described. Furthermore, an outline of clinical imaging applications of contrast-enhanced ultrasound is given. It is a challenging task to quantify and predict which bubble phenomenon occurs under which acoustic condition, and how these phenomena may be utilized in ultrasonic imaging. Aided by high-speed photography, our improved understanding of encapsulated microbubble behavior will lead to more sophisticated detection and delivery techniques. More sophisticated methods use quantitative approaches to measure the amount and the time course of bolus or reperfusion curves, and have shown great promise in revealing effective tumor responses to anti-angiogenic drugs in humans before tumor shrinkage occurs. These are beginning to be accepted into clinical practice. In the long term, targeted microbubbles for molecular imaging and eventually for directed anti-tumor therapy are expected to be tested. PMID:21218081

  20. [New ultrasound navigational system in extracorporeal lithotripsy: decreased fluoroscopy and radiation].

    PubMed

    Abid, N; Ravier, E; Codas, R; Crouzet, S; Martin, X

    2013-09-01

    Extracorporeal shock wave lithotripsy is the most common method of treatment for kidney stones. Both fluoroscopy and ultrasound imaging can be used to locate stones, but fluoroscopy is more frequently employed. Evaluation of a new stereotaxic navigational system: the stone was located using an ultrasound probe, and its 3D location was saved. The table automatically moved to position the stone at the focal point. A real-time follow-up was possible during treatment. Our objective was to demonstrate a decrease in the use of fluoroscopy to locate kidney stones for extracorporeal shock wave lithotripsy through the use of a 3D ultrasound stone locking system. Prospective analysis of the case records of the 20 patients preceding and the 20 patients succeeding the arrival of the ultrasound stone locking system Visio-Track (EDAP-TMS). We used a Student test to compare age, BMI, kidney stone size, number of shock waves and administered energy. Patient characteristics were comparable. The average age was 55 years old and the average kidney stone size was 10.7 mm. Radiation duration was 174.8 seconds in the group without Visio-Track versus 57.1 seconds in the group with it (P<0.0001). A similar result was observed for radiation doses: 5197.25 mGy x cm2 for the group without versus 1987.6 mGy x cm2 for the group with Visio-Track (P=0.0033). The stone locking system Visio-Track reduced fluoroscopy in our first group of patients, which decreased the patient's individual absorbed irradiation dose. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Masson SAS. All rights reserved.

  1. Analysis of Transient Shear Wave in Lossy Media.

    PubMed

    Parker, Kevin J; Ormachea, Juvenal; Will, Scott; Hah, Zaegyoo

    2018-07-01

    The propagation of shear waves from impulsive forces is an important topic in elastography. Observations of shear wave propagation can be obtained with numerous clinical imaging systems. Parameter estimations of the shear wave speed in tissues, and more generally the viscoelastic parameters of tissues, are based on some underlying models of shear wave propagation. The models typically include specific choices of the spatial and temporal shape of the impulsive force and the elastic or viscoelastic properties of the medium. In this work, we extend the analytical treatment of 2-D shear wave propagation in a biomaterial. The approach applies integral theorems relevant to the solution of the generalized Helmholtz equation, and does not depend on a specific rheological model of the tissue's viscoelastic properties. Estimators of attenuation and shear wave speed are derived from the analytical solutions, and these are applied to an elastic phantom, a viscoelastic phantom and in vivo liver using a clinical ultrasound scanner. In these samples, estimated shear wave group velocities ranged from 1.7 m/s in the liver to 2.5 m/s in the viscoelastic phantom, and these are lower-bounded by independent measurements of phase velocity. Copyright © 2018 World Federation for Ultrasound in Medicine and Biology. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  2. An examination of polyvinylidene fluoride capacitive sensors as ultrasound transducer for imaging applications

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Reyes-Ramírez, B.; García-Segundo, C.; García-Valenzuela, A.

    2014-05-01

    We investigate theoretically and experimentally the performance of low-noise capacitive sensors based on polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF) piezoelectric films to sense water-borne ultrasound signals for their use in photoacoustic tomography. We derive a mechanical-to-electrical transfer function of a piezoelectric capacitor sensor of infinite lateral dimensions and arbitrary thickness assuming that an ultrasound wave is normally incident. Then, we analyse the response for obliquely incident ultrasound waves on sensors of large but finite area and derive an expression for the angle dependence of the sensor's response. We also present experimental different measurements with home-made sensors and compare with our theoretical model. We present measurements of the sensors' response to harmonic signals of variable frequency in the range from 0.5 to 50 MHz and of the angular-dependence factor at 6 MHz. Additionally, because of the scope of interest in these kinds of sensors, we also tested the sensors' response for photoacoustic perturbations. These are generated by laser pulses from directly impinging on the sensor and from ultrasound perturbations produced on neoprene by the same kind of laser pulses and then travelling through water to the sensor.

  3. Enhancing Variable Friction Tactile Display Using an Ultrasonic Travelling Wave.

    PubMed

    Ghenna, Sofiane; Vezzoli, Eric; Giraud-Audine, Christophe; Giraud, Frederic; Amberg, Michel; Lemaire-Semail, Betty

    2017-01-01

    In Variable Friction Tactile Displays, an ultrasonic standing wave can be used to reduce the friction coefficient between a user's finger sliding and a vibrating surface. However, by principle, the effect is limited by a saturation due to the contact mechanics, and very low friction levels require very high vibration amplitudes. Besides, to be effective, the user's finger has to move. We present a device which uses a travelling wave rather than a standing wave. We present a control that allows to realize such a travelling wave in a robust way, and thus can be implemented on various plane surfaces. We show experimentally that the force produced by the travelling wave has two superimposed contributions. The first one is equal to the friction reduction produced by a standing of the same vibration amplitude. The second produces a driving force in the opposite direction of the travelling wave. As a result, the modulation range of the tangential force on the finger can be extended to zero and even negative values. Moreover, the effect is dependant on the relative direction of exploration with regards to the travelling wave, which is perceivable and confirmed by a psycho-physical study.

  4. A deconvolution method for deriving the transit time spectrum for ultrasound propagation through cancellous bone replica models.

    PubMed

    Langton, Christian M; Wille, Marie-Luise; Flegg, Mark B

    2014-04-01

    The acceptance of broadband ultrasound attenuation for the assessment of osteoporosis suffers from a limited understanding of ultrasound wave propagation through cancellous bone. It has recently been proposed that the ultrasound wave propagation can be described by a concept of parallel sonic rays. This concept approximates the detected transmission signal to be the superposition of all sonic rays that travel directly from transmitting to receiving transducer. The transit time of each ray is defined by the proportion of bone and marrow propagated. An ultrasound transit time spectrum describes the proportion of sonic rays having a particular transit time, effectively describing lateral inhomogeneity of transit times over the surface of the receiving ultrasound transducer. The aim of this study was to provide a proof of concept that a transit time spectrum may be derived from digital deconvolution of input and output ultrasound signals. We have applied the active-set method deconvolution algorithm to determine the ultrasound transit time spectra in the three orthogonal directions of four cancellous bone replica samples and have compared experimental data with the prediction from the computer simulation. The agreement between experimental and predicted ultrasound transit time spectrum analyses derived from Bland-Altman analysis ranged from 92% to 99%, thereby supporting the concept of parallel sonic rays for ultrasound propagation in cancellous bone. In addition to further validation of the parallel sonic ray concept, this technique offers the opportunity to consider quantitative characterisation of the material and structural properties of cancellous bone, not previously available utilising ultrasound.

  5. Imaging Performance of Quantitative Transmission Ultrasound

    PubMed Central

    Lenox, Mark W.; Wiskin, James; Lewis, Matthew A.; Darrouzet, Stephen; Borup, David; Hsieh, Scott

    2015-01-01

    Quantitative Transmission Ultrasound (QTUS) is a tomographic transmission ultrasound modality that is capable of generating 3D speed-of-sound maps of objects in the field of view. It performs this measurement by propagating a plane wave through the medium from a transmitter on one side of a water tank to a high resolution receiver on the opposite side. This information is then used via inverse scattering to compute a speed map. In addition, the presence of reflection transducers allows the creation of a high resolution, spatially compounded reflection map that is natively coregistered to the speed map. A prototype QTUS system was evaluated for measurement and geometric accuracy as well as for the ability to correctly determine speed of sound. PMID:26604918

  6. Ultrasound accelerated Claisen Schmidt condensation: A green route to chalcones

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Calvino, V.; Picallo, M.; López-Peinado, A. J.; Martín-Aranda, R. M.; Durán-Valle, C. J.

    2006-06-01

    Chalcones have been synthesized under sonochemical irradiation by Claisen-Schmidt condensation between benzaldehyde and acetophenone. Two basic activated carbons (Na and Cs-Norit) have been used as catalysts. The effect of the ultrasound activation has been studied. A substantial enhancing effect in the yield was observed when the carbon catalyst was activated under ultrasonic waves. This "green" method (combination of alkaline-doped carbon catalyst and ultrasound waves) has been applied to the synthesis of several chalcones with antibacterial properties achieving, in all cases, excellent activities and selectivities. A comparative study under non-sonic activation has showed that the yields are lower in silent conditions, indicating that the sonication exerts a positive effect on the activity of the catalyst. Cs-doped carbon is presented as the optimum catalyst, giving excellent activity for this type of condensation. Cs-Norit carbon catalyst can compete with the traditional NaOH/EtOH when the reaction is carried out under ultrasounds. The role of solvent in this reaction was studied with ethanol. High conversion was obtained in absence of solvent. The carbons were characterized by thermal analysis, nitrogen adsorption and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy.

  7. Non-Contact Inspection of Composites Using Air-Coupled Ultrasound

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Peters, J.; Kommareddy, V.; Liu, Z.; Fei, D.; Hsu, D.

    2003-03-01

    Conventional ultrasonic tests are conducted using water as a transmitting medium. Water coupled ultrasound cannot be applied to certain water-sensitive or porous materials and is more difficult to use in the field. In contrast, air-coupled ultrasound is non-contact and has clear advantages over water-coupled testing. The technology of air-coupled ultrasound has gained maturity in recent years. Some systems have become commercially available and researchers are pursuing several different modalities of air-coupled transduction. This paper reports our experience of applying air-coupled ultrasound to the inspection of flaws, damage, and normal internal structures of composite parts. Through-transmission C-scans at 400 kHz using a focused receiver has resolution sufficient to image honeycomb cells in the sandwich core. With the transmitter and receiver on the same side of a laminate. Lamb waves were generated and used for the imaging of substructures. Air-coupled scan results are presented for flaw detection and damage in aircraft composite structures.

  8. Shear wave elasticity imaging based on acoustic radiation force and optical detection.

    PubMed

    Cheng, Yi; Li, Rui; Li, Sinan; Dunsby, Christopher; Eckersley, Robert J; Elson, Daniel S; Tang, Meng-Xing

    2012-09-01

    Tissue elasticity is closely related to the velocity of shear waves within biologic tissue. Shear waves can be generated by an acoustic radiation force and tracked by, e.g., ultrasound or magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) measurements. This has been shown to be able to noninvasively map tissue elasticity in depth and has great potential in a wide range of clinical applications including cancer and cardiovascular diseases. In this study, a highly sensitive optical measurement technique is proposed as an alternative way to track shear waves generated by the acoustic radiation force. A charge coupled device (CCD) camera was used to capture diffuse photons from tissue mimicking phantoms illuminated by a laser source at 532 nm. CCD images were recorded at different delays after the transmission of an ultrasound burst and were processed to obtain the time of flight for the shear wave. A differential measurement scheme involving generation of shear waves at two different positions was used to improve the accuracy and spatial resolution of the system. The results from measurements on both homogeneous and heterogeneous phantoms were compared with measurements from other instruments and demonstrate the feasibility and accuracy of the technique for imaging and quantifying elasticity. The relative error in estimation of shear wave velocity can be as low as 3.3% with a spatial resolution of 2 mm, and increases to 8.8% with a spatial resolution of 1 mm for the medium stiffness phantom. The system is shown to be highly sensitive and is able to track shear waves propagating over several centimetres given the ultrasound excitation amplitude and the phantom material used in this study. It was also found that the reflection of shear waves from boundaries between regions with different elastic properties can cause significant bias in the estimation of elasticity, which also applies to other shear wave tracking techniques. This bias can be reduced at the expense of reduced spatial

  9. Positive temporal sharp waves in preterm infants with and without brain ultrasound lesions.

    PubMed

    Castro Conde, José Ramón; Martínez, Eduardo Doménech; Campo, Candelaria González; Pérez, Arturo Méndez; McLean, Michael Lee

    2004-11-01

    Clinical significance of neonatal positive temporal sharp waves (PTS) is controversial. The aim of this work is to study (1) PTS incidence in preterm infants with or without major ultrasound lesion (MUL) per gestational age (GA), and (2) the relationship between PTS in both sleep states and other electroencephalographic (EEG) findings with poor prognoses. 97 preterm infants of <27-36 weeks GA, and 12 full-term healthy infants were presented. Prospective study included (1) neurodevelopmental assessment at 40-42 weeks conceptional age (CA), (2) serial neurosonography, and (3) EEG recording at postnatal week 1, 2, 4 and at 40-42 weeks CA. In 50 neonates without MUL, peak PTS was at 31-32 weeks GA. In 47 neonates with MUL, PTS increased significantly from week 2 after birth, descending at the 4th. Neonates of <33 weeks GA with MUL showed significantly increased PTS at term. A significant relationship was found between PTS and other EEG abnormalities with poor neurologic prognoses. PTS incidence varied with sleep states, being predominant in indeterminate sleep in neonates with MUL. PTS increased significantly in infants with MUL, mainly at week 2 of postnatal life, persisting high until term CA, and correlated with other abnormal EEG findings. PTS are highly sensitive to MUL.

  10. From supersonic shear wave imaging to full-field optical coherence shear wave elastography

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Nahas, Amir; Tanter, Mickaël; Nguyen, Thu-Mai; Chassot, Jean-Marie; Fink, Mathias; Claude Boccara, A.

    2013-12-01

    Elasticity maps of tissue have proved to be particularly useful in providing complementary contrast to ultrasonic imaging, e.g., for cancer diagnosis at the millimeter scale. Optical coherence tomography (OCT) offers an endogenous contrast based on singly backscattered optical waves. Adding complementary contrast to OCT images by recording elasticity maps could also be valuable in improving OCT-based diagnosis at the microscopic scale. Static elastography has been successfully coupled with full-field OCT (FF-OCT) in order to realize both micrometer-scale sectioning and elasticity maps. Nevertheless, static elastography presents a number of drawbacks, mainly when stiffness quantification is required. Here, we describe the combination of two methods: transient elastography, based on speed measurements of shear waves induced by ultrasonic radiation forces, and FF-OCT, an en face OCT approach using an incoherent light source. The use of an ultrafast ultrasonic scanner and an ultrafast camera working at 10,000 to 30,000 images/s made it possible to follow shear wave propagation with both modalities. As expected, FF-OCT is found to be much more sensitive than ultrafast ultrasound to tiny shear vibrations (a few nanometers and micrometers, respectively). Stiffness assessed in gel phantoms and an ex vivo rat brain by FF-OCT is found to be in good agreement with ultrasound shear wave elastography.

  11. Babinet's principle in the Fresnel regime studied using ultrasound

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Hitachi, Akira; Takata, Momo

    2010-07-01

    The diffraction of ultrasound by a circular disk and an aperture of the same size has been investigated as a demonstration of Babinet's principle in the Fresnel regime. The amplitude and the phase of the diffracted ultrasonic waves are measured and a graphical treatment of the results is performed by drawing vectors in the complex plane. The results verify Babinet's principle. It is also found that the incident wave is π /2 behind the phase of the wave passing through on the central axis of a circular aperture. Because both waves travel the same path and the same distance, they should be in phase. This paradox has previously been regarded as a defect of Fresnel's theory.

  12. Breast Microcalcification Detection Using Super-Resolution Ultrasound Image Reconstruction

    DTIC Science & Technology

    2010-09-01

    microcalcifications often occur as one of two types: calcium oxalate dihydrate or calcium hydroxyapatite. Their sizes range approximately from 0.1 mm to 0.5 mm...super-resolution imaging, ultrasound imaging, wave equation. 1. INTRODUCTION Microcalcifications, tiny specks of mineral deposits ( calcium ), are the

  13. Investigations of High Pressure Acoustic Waves in Resonators with Seal-Like Features

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Daniels, Christopher C.; Steinetz, Bruce M.; Finkbeiner, Joshua R.; Li, Xiao-Fan; Raman, Ganesh

    2004-01-01

    1) Standing waves with maximum pressures of 188 kPa have been produced in resonators containing ambient pressure air; 2) Addition of structures inside the resonator shifts the fundamental frequency and decreases the amplitude of the generated pressure waves; 3) Addition of holes to the resonator does reduce the magnitude of the acoustic waves produced, but their addition does not prohibit the generation of large magnitude non-linear standing waves; 4) The feasibility of reducing leakage using non-linear acoustics has been confirmed.

  14. Standing shocks in a two-fluid solar wind

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Habbal, Shadia R.; Hu, You Qiu; Esser, Ruth

    1994-01-01

    We present a numerical study of the formation of standing shocks in the solar wind using a two-fluid time-dependent model in the presence of Alfven waves. Included in this model is the adiabatic cooling and thermal conduction of both electrons and protons. In this study, standing shocks develop in the flow when additional critical points form as a result of either localized momentum addition or rapid expansion of the flow tube below the existing sonic point. While the flow speed and density exhibit the same characteristics as found in earlier studies of the formation of standing shocks, the inclusion of electron and proton heat conduction produces different signatures in the electron and proton temperature profiles across the shock layer. Owing to the strong heat conduction, the electron temperature is nearly continuous across the shock, but its gradient has a negative jump across it, thus producing a net heat flux out of the shock layer. The proton temperature exhibits the same characteristics for shocks produced by momentum addition but behaves differently when the shock is formed by the rapid divergence of the flow tube. The adiabatic cooling in a rapidly diverging flow tube reduces the proton temperature so substantially that the proton heat conduction becomes negligible in the vicinity of the shock. As a result, protons experience a positive jump in temperature across the shock. While Alfven waves do not affect the formation of standing shocks, they contribute to the change of the mmomentum and energy balance across them. We also find that for this solar wind model the inclusion of thermal conduction and adiabatic cooling for the elctrons and protons increases significantly the range of parameters characterizing the formation of standing shocks over those previously found for isothermal and polytropic models.

  15. MR-Guided Unfocused Ultrasound Disruption of the Rat Blood-Brain Barrier

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Townsend, Kelly A.; King, Randy L.; Zaharchuk, Greg; Pauly, Kim Butts

    2011-09-01

    Therapeutic ultrasound with microbubbles can temporarily disrupt the blood-brain barrier (BBB) for drug delivery. Contrast-enhanced MRI (CE-MRI) can visualize gadolinium passage into the brain, indicating BBB opening. Previous studies used focused ultrasound, which is appropriate for the targeted delivery of drugs. The purpose of this study was to investigate unfocused ultrasound for BBB opening across the whole brain. In 10 rats, gadolinium-based MR contrast agent (Gd; 0.25 ml) was administered concurrent with ultrasound microbubbles (Optison, 0.25 ml) and circulated for 20 sec before sonication. A 753 kHz planar PZT transducer, diameter 1.8 cm, sonicated each rat brain with supplied voltage of 300, 400, or 500 mVpp for 10 sec in continuous wave mode, or at 500 mVpp at 20% duty cycle at 10 Hz for 30-300 sec. After sonication, coronal T1-weighted FSE CE-MRI images were acquired with a 3in surface coil. The imaging protocol was repeated 3-5 times after treatment. One control animal was given Gd and microbubbles, but not sonicated, and the other was given Gd and sonicated without microbubbles. Signal change in ROIs over the muscle, mesencephalon/ventricles, and the cortex/striatum were measured at 3-5 time points up to 36 min after sonication. Signal intensity was converted to % signal change compared to the initial image. In the controls, CE-MRI showed brightening of surrounding structures, but not the brain. In the continuous wave subjects, cortex/striatum signal did not increase, but ventricle/mesenchephalon signal did. Those that received pulsed sonications showed signal increases in both the cortex/striatum and ventricles/mesenchephalon. In conclusion, after pulsed unfocused ultrasound sonication, the BBB is disrupted across the whole brain, including cortex and deep grey matter, while continuous wave sonication affects only the ventricles and possibly deeper structures, without opening the cortex BBB. As time passes, the timeline of Gd passage into the brain

  16. Right atrial and right ventricular ultrasound-guided biopsy technique in standing horses.

    PubMed

    Decloedt, A; de Clercq, D; Ven, S; van der Vekens, N; Chiers, K; van Loon, G

    2016-05-01

    Endomyocardial biopsies could be a valuable tool in equine cardiology for diagnosing myocardial disease, which is probably underdiagnosed in horses because of lack of specific diagnostic measures and limitations of currently available diagnostic methods. To describe a technique for serial right atrial and right ventricular endomyocardial biopsy in standing horses using a percutaneous approach through the jugular vein. Prospective study. Biopsy was performed in 10 healthy standing horses sedated with detomidine, under continuous electrocardiography monitoring. A 10 cm (n = 6), 45 cm (n = 1) or 98 cm (n = 3) introducer sheath was inserted into the right jugular vein. Under echocardiographic guidance, a biopsy forceps was introduced through the sheath into the right ventricle and right atrium and endomyocardial biopsies were acquired. In all horses, 3 right ventricular biopsies were obtained from the right ventricular apex and 3 right atrial biopsies were obtained from the dorsal right atrial wall near the tuberculum intervenosum. The presence of myocardial tissue was confirmed by histology. All horses showed atrial and ventricular premature depolarisations associated with acquisition of the biopsies. In 9 horses, the arrhythmia disappeared after retraction of the forceps and introducer sheath. In one horse, ventricular premature depolarisations disappeared only after 8 h. No other complications were observed. Endomyocardial biopsy of the right atrium and right ventricle could be performed in standing horses using a percutaneous approach through the jugular vein and was not associated with complications other than temporary arrhythmias. This technique may be useful for research purposes or as a diagnostic tool, although further research is needed to establish the safety of the technique in clinical patients with myocardial disease. © 2015 EVJ Ltd.

  17. Ultrasound power deposition model for the chest wall.

    PubMed

    Moros, E G; Fan, X; Straube, W L

    1999-10-01

    An ultrasound power deposition model for the chest wall was developed based on secondary-source and plane-wave theories. The anatomic model consisted of a muscle-ribs-lung volume, accounted for wave reflection and refraction at muscle-rib and muscle-lung interfaces, and computed power deposition due to the propagation of both reflected and transmitted waves. Lung tissue was assumed to be air-equivalent. The parts of the theory and numerical program dealing with reflection were experimentally evaluated by comparing simulations with acoustic field measurements using several pertinent reflecting materials. Satisfactory agreement was found. A series of simulations were performed to study the influence of angle of incidence of the beam, frequency, and thickness of muscle tissue overlying the ribs on power deposition distributions that may be expected during superficial ultrasound (US) hyperthermia of chest wall recurrences. Both reflection at major interfaces and attenuation in bone were the determining factors affecting power deposition, the dominance of one vs. the other depending on the angle of incidence of the beam. Sufficient energy is reflected by these interfaces to suggest that improvements in thermal doses to overlying tissues are possible with adequate manipulation of the sound field (advances in ultrasonic heating devices) and prospective treatment planning.

  18. 80-MHz intravascular ultrasound transducer using PMN-PT free-standing film.

    PubMed

    Li, Xiang; Wu, Wei; Chung, Youngsoo; Shih, Wan Y; Shih, Wei-Heng; Zhou, Qifa; Shung, K Kirk

    2011-11-01

    [Pb(Mg(1/3)Nb(2/3))O(3)](0.63)[PbTiO(3)](0.37) (PMN-PT) free-standing film of comparable piezoelectric properties to bulk material with thickness of 30 μm has been fabricated using a modified precursor coating approach. At 1 kHz, the dielectric permittivity and loss were 4364 and 0.033, respectively. The remnant polarization and coercive field were 28 μC/cm(2) and 18.43 kV/cm. The electromechanical coupling coefficient k(t) was measured to be 0.55, which was close to that of bulk PMN-PT single-crystal material. Based on this film, high-frequency (82 MHz) miniature ultrasonic transducers were fabricated with 65% bandwidth and 23 dB insertion loss. Axial and lateral resolutions were determined to be as high as 35 and 176 μm. In vitro intravascular imaging on healthy rabbit aorta was performed using the thin film transducers. In comparison with a 35-MHz IVUS transducer, the 80-MHz transducer showed superior resolution and contrast with satisfactory penetration depth. The imaging results suggest that PMN-PT free-standing thin film technology is a feasible and efficient way to fabricate very-high-frequency ultrasonic transducers.

  19. Ultrasound Monitoring of Jugular Venous Pulse during Space Missions: Proof of Concept.

    PubMed

    Zamboni, Paolo; Sisini, Francesco; Menegatti, Erica; Taibi, Angelo; Gadda, Giacomo; Tavoni, Valentina; Malagoni, Anna Maria; Tessari, Mirko; Gianesini, Sergio; Gambaccini, Mauro

    2018-03-01

    The jugular venous pulse (JVP) is one of the main parameters of cardiac function and is used by cardiologists in diagnosing heart failure. Its waveform comprises three positive waves (a, c and v) and two negative waves (x and y). Recently, it was found that JVP can be extrapolated from an ultrasound (US) video recording of the internal jugular vein (IJV), suggesting its application in space missions, on which US scanners are already widely used. To date, the feasibility of assessing JVP in microgravity (microG) has not been investigated. To verify the feasibility of JVP assessment in microG, we tested a protocol of self-performed B-mode ultrasound on the International Space Station (ISS). The protocol consisted of a video recording of IJV synchronized with electrocardiogram that produces a cross-sectional area time trace (JVP trace) (in cm 2 ). The scans were acquired in six experimental sessions; two pre-flight (BDC1 and -2), two in space (ISS1 and -2) and two post-flight (Houston PF1, Cologne PF2). We measured the mean and standard deviation of the JVP waves and the phase relationship between such waves and P and T waves on the electrocardiogram. We verified that such parameters had the same accuracy on Earth as they did under microG, and we compared their values. The sensitivity, specificity and accuracy of JVP trace in microgravity are higher than those on Earth. The sequence of (a, c, and v) ascents and (x and y) descents along the cardiac cycle in microG is the same as that on Earth. The cause-and-effect relationship between the P and T waves on the electrocardiogram and a and v waves, respectively, of JVP is also confirmed in microG. Our experiment indicated the feasibility of deriving a JVP trace from a B-mode US examination self-performed by an astronaut in microG. Copyright © 2018 World Federation for Ultrasound in Medicine and Biology. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  20. What are the characteristics of breast cancers misclassified as benign by quantitative ultrasound shear wave elastography?

    PubMed

    Vinnicombe, S J; Whelehan, P; Thomson, K; McLean, D; Purdie, C A; Jordan, L B; Hubbard, S; Evans, A J

    2014-04-01

    Shear wave elastography (SWE) is a promising adjunct to greyscale ultrasound in differentiating benign from malignant breast masses. The purpose of this study was to characterise breast cancers which are not stiff on quantitative SWE, to elucidate potential sources of error in clinical application of SWE to evaluation of breast masses. Three hundred and two consecutive patients examined by SWE who underwent immediate surgery for breast cancer were included. Characteristics of 280 lesions with suspicious SWE values (mean stiffness >50 kPa) were compared with 22 lesions with benign SWE values (<50 kPa). Statistical significance of the differences was assessed using non-parametric goodness-of-fit tests. Pure ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS) masses were more often soft on SWE than masses representing invasive breast cancer. Invasive cancers that were soft were more frequently: histological grade 1, tubular subtype, ≤10 mm invasive size and detected at screening mammography. No significant differences were found with respect to the presence of invasive lobular cancer, vascular invasion, hormone and HER-2 receptor status. Lymph node positivity was less common in soft cancers. Malignant breast masses classified as benign by quantitative SWE tend to have better prognostic features than those correctly classified as malignant. • Over 90 % of cancers assessable with ultrasound have a mean stiffness >50 kPa. • 'Soft' invasive cancers are frequently small (≤10 mm), low grade and screen-detected. • Pure DCIS masses are more often soft than invasive cancers (>40 %). • Large symptomatic masses are better evaluated with SWE than small clinically occult lesions. • When assessing small lesions, 'softness' should not raise the threshold for biopsy.

  1. Ultrasound pregnancy

    MedlinePlus

    Pregnancy sonogram; Obstetric ultrasonography; Obstetric sonogram; Ultrasound - pregnancy; IUGR - ultrasound; Intrauterine growth - ultrasound; Polyhydramnios - ultrasound; Oligohydramnios - ultrasound; Placenta previa - ultrasound; Multiple pregnancy - ultrasound; ...

  2. Ultrasonic tracking of shear waves using a particle filter.

    PubMed

    Ingle, Atul N; Ma, Chi; Varghese, Tomy

    2015-11-01

    This paper discusses an application of particle filtering for estimating shear wave velocity in tissue using ultrasound elastography data. Shear wave velocity estimates are of significant clinical value as they help differentiate stiffer areas from softer areas which is an indicator of potential pathology. Radio-frequency ultrasound echo signals are used for tracking axial displacements and obtaining the time-to-peak displacement at different lateral locations. These time-to-peak data are usually very noisy and cannot be used directly for computing velocity. In this paper, the denoising problem is tackled using a hidden Markov model with the hidden states being the unknown (noiseless) time-to-peak values. A particle filter is then used for smoothing out the time-to-peak curve to obtain a fit that is optimal in a minimum mean squared error sense. Simulation results from synthetic data and finite element modeling suggest that the particle filter provides lower mean squared reconstruction error with smaller variance as compared to standard filtering methods, while preserving sharp boundary detail. Results from phantom experiments show that the shear wave velocity estimates in the stiff regions of the phantoms were within 20% of those obtained from a commercial ultrasound scanner and agree with estimates obtained using a standard method using least-squares fit. Estimates of area obtained from the particle filtered shear wave velocity maps were within 10% of those obtained from B-mode ultrasound images. The particle filtering approach can be used for producing visually appealing SWV reconstructions by effectively delineating various areas of the phantom with good image quality properties comparable to existing techniques.

  3. Ultrasonic tracking of shear waves using a particle filter

    PubMed Central

    Ingle, Atul N.; Ma, Chi; Varghese, Tomy

    2015-01-01

    Purpose: This paper discusses an application of particle filtering for estimating shear wave velocity in tissue using ultrasound elastography data. Shear wave velocity estimates are of significant clinical value as they help differentiate stiffer areas from softer areas which is an indicator of potential pathology. Methods: Radio-frequency ultrasound echo signals are used for tracking axial displacements and obtaining the time-to-peak displacement at different lateral locations. These time-to-peak data are usually very noisy and cannot be used directly for computing velocity. In this paper, the denoising problem is tackled using a hidden Markov model with the hidden states being the unknown (noiseless) time-to-peak values. A particle filter is then used for smoothing out the time-to-peak curve to obtain a fit that is optimal in a minimum mean squared error sense. Results: Simulation results from synthetic data and finite element modeling suggest that the particle filter provides lower mean squared reconstruction error with smaller variance as compared to standard filtering methods, while preserving sharp boundary detail. Results from phantom experiments show that the shear wave velocity estimates in the stiff regions of the phantoms were within 20% of those obtained from a commercial ultrasound scanner and agree with estimates obtained using a standard method using least-squares fit. Estimates of area obtained from the particle filtered shear wave velocity maps were within 10% of those obtained from B-mode ultrasound images. Conclusions: The particle filtering approach can be used for producing visually appealing SWV reconstructions by effectively delineating various areas of the phantom with good image quality properties comparable to existing techniques. PMID:26520761

  4. PRESAGE® as a new calibration method for high intensity focused ultrasound therapy

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Costa, M.; McErlean, C.; Rivens, I.; Adamovics, J.; Leach, M. O.; ter Haar, G.; Doran, S. J.

    2015-01-01

    High Intensity Focused ultrasound (HIFU) is a non-invasive cancer therapy that makes use of the mainly thermal effects of ultrasound to destroy tissue. In order to achieve reliable treatment planning, it is necessary to characterise the ultrasound source (transducer) and to understand how the wave propagates in tissue and the energy deposition in the focal region. This novel exploratory study investigated how HIFU affects PRESAGE®, an optical phantom used for radiotherapy dosimetry, which is potentially a rapid method of calibrating the transducer. Samples, of two different formulations, were exposed to focused ultrasound and imaged using Optical Computed Tomography. First results showed that, PRESAGE® changes colour on ultrasound exposure (darker green regions were observed) with the alterations being related to the acoustic power and sample composition. Future work will involve quantification of these alterations and understanding how to relate them to the mechanisms of action of HIFU.

  5. Novel Method for Vessel Cross-Sectional Shear Wave Imaging.

    PubMed

    He, Qiong; Li, Guo-Yang; Lee, Fu-Feng; Zhang, Qihao; Cao, Yanping; Luo, Jianwen

    2017-07-01

    Many studies have investigated the applications of shear wave imaging (SWI) to vascular elastography, mainly on the longitudinal section of vessels. It is important to investigate SWI in the arterial cross section when evaluating anisotropy of the vessel wall or complete plaque composition. Here, we proposed a novel method based on the coordinate transformation and directional filter in the polar coordinate system to achieve vessel cross-sectional shear wave imaging. In particular, ultrasound radiofrequency data were transformed from the Cartesian to the polar coordinate system; the radial displacements were then estimated directly. Directional filtering was performed along the circumferential direction to filter out the reflected waves. The feasibility of the proposed vessel cross-sectional shear wave imaging method was investigated through phantom experiments and ex vivo and in vivo studies. Our results indicated that the dispersion relation of the shear wave (i.e., the guided circumferential wave) within the vessel can be measured via the present method, and the elastic modulus of the vessel can be determined. Copyright © 2017 World Federation for Ultrasound in Medicine & Biology. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  6. Imaging two-dimensional mechanical waves of skeletal muscle contraction.

    PubMed

    Grönlund, Christer; Claesson, Kenji; Holtermann, Andreas

    2013-02-01

    Skeletal muscle contraction is related to rapid mechanical shortening and thickening. Recently, specialized ultrasound systems have been applied to demonstrate and quantify transient tissue velocities and one-dimensional (1-D) propagation of mechanical waves during muscle contraction. Such waves could potentially provide novel information on musculoskeletal characteristics, function and disorders. In this work, we demonstrate two-dimensional (2-D) mechanical wave imaging following the skeletal muscle contraction. B-mode image acquisition during multiple consecutive electrostimulations, speckle-tracking and a time-stamp sorting protocol were used to obtain 1.4 kHz frame rate 2-D tissue velocity imaging of the biceps brachii muscle contraction. The results present novel information on tissue velocity profiles and mechanical wave propagation. In particular, counter-propagating compressional and shear waves in the longitudinal direction were observed in the contracting tissue (speed 2.8-4.4 m/s) and a compressional wave in the transverse direction of the non-contracting muscle tissue (1.2-1.9 m/s). In conclusion, analysing transient 2-D tissue velocity allows simultaneous assessment of both active and passive muscle tissue properties. Copyright © 2013 World Federation for Ultrasound in Medicine & Biology. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  7. Modeling stick-slip-separation dynamics in a bimodal standing wave ultrasonic motor

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Li, Xiang; Yao, Zhiyuan; Lv, Qibao; Liu, Zhen

    2016-11-01

    Ultrasonic motor (USM) is an electromechanical coupling system with ultrasonic vibration, which is driven by the frictional contact force between the stator (vibrating body) and the rotor/slider (driven body). Stick-slip motion can occur at the contact interface when USM is operating, which may affect the performance of the motor. This paper develops a physically-based model to investigate the complex stick-slip-separation dynamics in a bimodal standing wave ultrasonic motor. The model includes both friction nonlinearity and intermittent separation nonlinearity of the system. Utilizing Hamilton's principle and assumed mode method, the dynamic equations of the stator are deduced. Based on the dynamics of the stator and the slider, sticking force during the stick phase is derived, which is used to examine the stick-to-slip transition. Furthermore, the stick-slip-separation kinematics is analyzed by establishing analytical criteria that predict the transition between stick, slip and separation of the interface. Stick-slip-separation motion is observed in the resulting model, and numerical simulations are performed to study the influence of parameters on the range of possible motions. Results show that stick-slip motion can occur with greater preload and smaller voltage amplitude. Furthermore, a dimensionless parameter is proposed to predict the occurrence of stick-slip versus slip-separation motions, and its role in designing ultrasonic motors is discussed. It is shown that slip-separation motion is favorable for the slider velocity.

  8. A New Gravitational-wave Signature from Standing Accretion Shock Instability in Supernovae

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Kuroda, Takami; Kotake, Kei; Takiwaki, Tomoya

    2016-09-01

    We present results from fully relativistic three-dimensional core-collapse supernova simulations of a non-rotating 15{M}⊙ star using three different nuclear equations of state (EoSs). From our simulations covering up to ˜350 ms after bounce, we show that the development of the standing accretion shock instability (SASI) differs significantly depending on the stiffness of nuclear EoS. Generally, the SASI activity occurs more vigorously in models with softer EoS. By evaluating the gravitational-wave (GW) emission, we find a new GW signature on top of the previously identified one, in which the typical GW frequency increases with time due to an accumulating accretion to the proto-neutron star (PNS). The newly observed quasi-periodic signal appears in the frequency range from ˜100 to 200 Hz and persists for ˜150 ms before neutrino-driven convection dominates over the SASI. By analyzing the cycle frequency of the SASI sloshing and spiral modes as well as the mass accretion rate to the emission region, we show that the SASI frequency is correlated with the GW frequency. This is because the SASI-induced temporary perturbed mass accretion strikes the PNS surface, leading to the quasi-periodic GW emission. Our results show that the GW signal, which could be a smoking-gun signature of the SASI, is within the detection limits of LIGO, advanced Virgo, and KAGRA for Galactic events.

  9. Sonocrystallization-application of radiation forces from acoustic standing waves for configurable assembly

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Shields, Charles

    Acoustic radiation forces offer a promising approach to rapidly arrange particles across a broad range of scales, yet it remains largely unexplored compared to classical methods like centrifugation, electrophoresis, and magnetophoresis. Acoustic forces offer numerous advantages, including scalability, programmability, and the ability to manipulate particles of variable composition (i.e., without narrowly defined electromagnetic or other properties). While some groups have shown the ability to concentrate particles with ultrasonic radiation, the capabilities and limitations for precise particle assembly and morphological control remain poorly understood. Here, I will discuss our recent efforts to explore the flexibility and limitations of acoustophoresis to rapidly arrange microparticles into organized and programmable structures. In order to execute these studies, we employ a simple ``sonocrystallization chamber'' that creates multidimensional bulk acoustic standing waves to propel particles toward the pressure nodes or antinodes, depending on their contrast factor. We can thus create thousands of size-limited assemblies within minutes. We pair these experiments with simulations and theory to model the migration kinetics and assembly patterns of different particles types. I will further discuss how we have extended these results to understand the lower particle size limit for assembly in systems such as gold nanoparticles with diameters <200 nm. Finally, I will show how we incorporated a simple light-based crosslinking approach for stabilizing the assembly in the small particle limit (i.e., beyond the acoustic focusing limit), which might enable use in a variety of plasmonic and photonic applications.

  10. Technical aspects of contrast-enhanced ultrasound (CEUS) examinations: tips and tricks.

    PubMed

    Greis, C

    2014-01-01

    Ultrasound contrast agents have substantially extended the clinical value of ultrasound, allowing the assessment of blood flow and distribution in real-time down to microcapillary level. Selective imaging of contrast agent signals requires a contrast-specific imaging mode on the ultrasound scanner, allowing real-time separation of tissue and contrast agent signals. The creation of a contrast image requires a specific interaction between the insonated ultrasound wave and the contrast agent microbubbles, leading to persistent oscillation of the bubbles. Several technical and procedural parameters have a significant influence on the quality of CEUS images and should be controlled carefully to obtain good image quality and a reliable diagnosis. Achieving the proper balance between the respective parameters is a matter of technical knowledge and experience. Appropriate training and education should be mandatory for every investigator performing CEUS examinations.

  11. Development of transducer arrays for ultrasound-computer tomography

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Stotzka, Rainer; Gobel, Georg; Schlote-Holubek, Klaus

    2003-05-01

    Ultrasound computer-tomography (USCT) is a novel ultrasound imaging method capable of producing volume images with both high spatial and temporal resolution. Several thousand ultrasound transducers are arranged in a cylindrical array around a tank containing the object to be examined coupled by water. Every single transducer is small enough to emit an almost spherical sound-wave. While one transducer is transmitting, all others receive simultaneously. Our experimental setup, using only a few transducers simulating a ring-shaped geometry, showed even nylon threads (0.1 mm) with an image quality superior to clinical in-use ultrasound scanners. In order to build a complete circular array several thousand transducers, with cylindrical sound field characteristics, are needed. Since such transducer arrays are hardly available and expensive, we developed inexpensive transducer arrays consisting of 8 elements. Each array is based on a plate of lead titanate zirconate ceramics (PZT) sawn into 8 elements of 0.3 mm width, 3.8 mm height and 0.5 mm pitch. Each element has a mean frequency of 3.8 MHz and can be triggered separately. The main challenge was the development of production steps with reproducible results. Our transducer arrays show only small variances in the sound field characteristics which are strongly required for ultrasound tomography.

  12. TH-A-207B-02: QIBA Ultrasound Elasticity Imaging System Biomarker Qualification and User Testing of Systems

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

    Garra, B.

    Imaging of tissue elastic properties is a relatively new and powerful approach to one of the oldest and most important diagnostic tools. Imaging of shear wave speed with ultrasound is has been added to most high-end ultrasound systems. Understanding this exciting imaging mode aiding its most effective use in medicine can be a rewarding effort for medical physicists and other medical imaging and treatment professionals. Assuring consistent, quantitative measurements across the many ultrasound systems in a typical imaging department will constitute a major step toward realizing the great potential of this technique and other quantitative imaging. This session will targetmore » these two goals with two presentations. A. Basics and Current Implementations of Ultrasound Imaging of Shear Wave Speed and Elasticity - Shigao Chen, Ph.D. Learning objectives-To understand: Introduction: Importance of tissue elasticity measurement Strain vs. shear wave elastography (SWE), beneficial features of SWE The link between shear wave speed and material properties, influence of viscosity Generation of shear waves External vibration (Fibroscan) ultrasound radiation force Point push Supersonic push (Aixplorer) Comb push (GE Logiq E9) Detection of shear waves Motion detection from pulse-echo ultrasound Importance of frame rate for shear wave imaging Plane wave imaging detection How to achieve high effective frame rate using line-by-line scanners Shear wave speed calculation Time to peak Random sample consensus (RANSAC) Cross correlation Sources of bias and variation in SWE Tissue viscosity Transducer compression or internal pressure of organ Reflection of shear waves at boundaries B. Elasticity Imaging System Biomarker Qualification and User Testing of Systems – Brian Garra, M.D. Learning objectives-To understand: Goals Review the need for quantitative medical imaging Provide examples of quantitative imaging biomarkers Acquaint the participant with the purpose of the RSNA Quantitative

  13. 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.

  14. Quantitative shear wave optical coherence elastography (SW-OCE) with acoustic radiation force impulses (ARFI) induced by phase array transducer

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Song, Shaozhen; Le, Nhan Minh; Wang, Ruikang K.; Huang, Zhihong

    2015-03-01

    Shear Wave Optical Coherence Elastography (SW-OCE) uses the speed of propagating shear waves to provide a quantitative measurement of localized shear modulus, making it a valuable technique for the elasticity characterization of tissues such as skin and ocular tissue. One of the main challenges in shear wave elastography is to induce a reliable source of shear wave; most of nowadays techniques use external vibrators which have several drawbacks such as limited wave propagation range and/or difficulties in non-invasive scans requiring precisions, accuracy. Thus, we propose linear phase array ultrasound transducer as a remote wave source, combined with the high-speed, 47,000-frame-per-second Shear-wave visualization provided by phase-sensitive OCT. In this study, we observed for the first time shear waves induced by a 128 element linear array ultrasound imaging transducer, while the ultrasound and OCT images (within the OCE detection range) were triggered simultaneously. Acoustic radiation force impulses are induced by emitting 10 MHz tone-bursts of sub-millisecond durations (between 50 μm - 100 μm). Ultrasound beam steering is achieved by programming appropriate phase delay, covering a lateral range of 10 mm and full OCT axial (depth) range in the imaging sample. Tissue-mimicking phantoms with agarose concentration of 0.5% and 1% was used in the SW-OCE measurements as the only imaging samples. The results show extensive improvements over the range of SW-OCE elasticity map; such improvements can also be seen over shear wave velocities in softer and stiffer phantoms, as well as determining the boundary of multiple inclusions with different stiffness. This approach opens up the feasibility to combine medical ultrasound imaging and SW-OCE for high-resolution localized quantitative measurement of tissue biomechanical property.

  15. Are Prenatal Ultrasound Scans Associated with the Autism Phenotype? Follow-Up of a Randomised Controlled Trial

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Stoch, Yonit K.; Williams, Cori J.; Granich, Joanna; Hunt, Anna M.; Landau, Lou I.; Newnham, John P.; Whitehouse, Andrew J. O.

    2012-01-01

    An existing randomised controlled trial was used to investigate whether multiple ultrasound scans may be associated with the autism phenotype. From 2,834 single pregnancies, 1,415 were selected at random to receive ultrasound imaging and continuous wave Doppler flow studies at five points throughout pregnancy (Intensive) and 1,419 to receive a…

  16. Shear wave mapping of skeletal muscle using shear wave wavefront reconstruction based on ultrasound color flow imaging

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Yamakoshi, Yoshiki; Yamamoto, Atsushi; Kasahara, Toshihiro; Iijima, Tomohiro; Yuminaka, Yasushi

    2015-07-01

    We have proposed a quantitative shear wave imaging technique for continuous shear wave excitation. Shear wave wavefront is observed directly by color flow imaging using a general-purpose ultrasonic imaging system. In this study, the proposed method is applied to experiments in vivo, and shear wave maps, namely, the shear wave phase map, which shows the shear wave propagation inside the medium, and the shear wave velocity map, are observed for the skeletal muscle in the shoulder. To excite the shear wave inside the skeletal muscle of the shoulder, a hybrid ultrasonic wave transducer, which combines a small vibrator with an ultrasonic wave probe, is adopted. The shear wave velocity of supraspinatus muscle, which is measured by the proposed method, is 4.11 ± 0.06 m/s (N = 4). This value is consistent with those obtained by the acoustic radiation force impulse method.

  17. Ultrafast Ultrasound Imaging of Ocular Anatomy and Blood Flow

    PubMed Central

    Urs, Raksha; Ketterling, Jeffrey A.; Silverman, Ronald H.

    2016-01-01

    Purpose Ophthalmic ultrasound imaging is currently performed with mechanically scanned single-element probes. These probes have limited capabilities overall and lack the ability to image blood flow. Linear-array systems are able to detect blood flow, but these systems exceed ophthalmic acoustic intensity safety guidelines. Our aim was to implement and evaluate a new linear-array–based technology, compound coherent plane-wave ultrasound, which offers ultrafast imaging and depiction of blood flow at safe acoustic intensity levels. Methods We compared acoustic intensity generated by a 128-element, 18-MHz linear array operated in conventionally focused and plane-wave modes and characterized signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) and lateral resolution. We developed plane-wave B-mode, real-time color-flow, and high-resolution depiction of slow flow in postprocessed data collected continuously at a rate of 20,000 frames/s. We acquired in vivo images of the posterior pole of the eye by compounding plane-wave images acquired over ±10° and produced images depicting orbital and choroidal blood flow. Results With the array operated conventionally, Doppler modes exceeded Food and Drug Administration safety guidelines, but plane-wave modalities were well within guidelines. Plane-wave data allowed generation of high-quality compound B-mode images, with SNR increasing with the number of compounded frames. Real-time color-flow Doppler readily visualized orbital blood flow. Postprocessing of continuously acquired data blocks of 1.6-second duration allowed high-resolution depiction of orbital and choroidal flow over the cardiac cycle. Conclusions Newly developed high-frequency linear arrays in combination with plane-wave techniques present opportunities for the evaluation of ocular anatomy and blood flow, as well as visualization and analysis of other transient phenomena such as vessel wall motion over the cardiac cycle and saccade-induced vitreous motion. PMID:27428169

  18. Transvaginal ultrasound

    MedlinePlus

    Endovaginal ultrasound; Ultrasound - transvaginal; Fibroids - transvaginal ultrasound; Vaginal bleeding - transvaginal ultrasound; Uterine bleeding - transvaginal ultrasound; Menstrual bleeding - transvaginal ultrasound; ...

  19. Classification of biological cells using a sound wave based flow cytometer

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Strohm, Eric M.; Gnyawali, Vaskar; Van De Vondervoort, Mia; Daghighi, Yasaman; Tsai, Scott S. H.; Kolios, Michael C.

    2016-03-01

    A flow cytometer that uses sound waves to determine the size of biological cells is presented. In this system, a microfluidic device made of polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) was developed to hydrodynamically flow focus cells in a single file through a target area. Integrated into the microfluidic device was an ultrasound transducer with a 375 MHz center frequency, aligned opposite the transducer was a pulsed 532 nm laser focused into the device by a 10x objective. Each passing cell was insonfied with a high frequency ultrasound pulse, and irradiated with the laser. The resulting ultrasound and photoacoustic waves from each cell were analyzed using signal processing methods, where features in the power spectra were compared to theoretical models to calculate the cell size. Two cell lines with different size distributions were used to test the system: acute myeloid leukemia cells (AML) and melanoma cells. Over 200 cells were measured using this system. The average calculated diameter of the AML cells was 10.4 +/- 2.5 μm using ultrasound, and 11.4 +/- 2.3 μm using photoacoustics. The average diameter of the melanoma cells was 16.2 +/- 2.9 μm using ultrasound, and 18.9 +/- 3.5 μm using photoacoustics. The cell sizes calculated using ultrasound and photoacoustic methods agreed with measurements using a Coulter Counter, where the AML cells were 9.8 +/- 1.8 μm and the melanoma cells were 16.0 +/- 2.5 μm. These results demonstrate a high speed method of assessing cell size using sound waves, which is an alternative method to traditional flow cytometry techniques.

  20. Application of ultrasound treatment for improving the physicochemical, functional and rheological properties of myofibrillar proteins.

    PubMed

    Amiri, Amir; Sharifian, Parisa; Soltanizadeh, Nafiseh

    2018-05-01

    The aim of this study was to evaluate the impact of duration (10, 20 and 30min) and power (100 and 300W) of high-intensity ultrasound (20kHz) on physicochemical properties of beef myofibrillar proteins in order to investigate novel process for modification of its functional characteristics. Results showed that augmentation of duration and power of ultrasound led to enhance pH. Also, the water holding capacity and gel strength were improved by increasing pH. The highest value in pH, reactive sulfhydryl content, water holding capacity and gel strength was obtained in sample subjected to 30min of ultrasound at 300W. The particle size distribution of the proteins was decreased after ultrasound treatment because of the cavitation force of ultrasound waves. In this circumstance, an improvement of emulsifying properties can be obtained. Ultrasonic waves had significant effects on the rheological properties of myofibrillar proteins. Treated samples were more elastic and stiffer than control, although the inverse trend was observed after 30min treatment at each power. Finally, a reducing trend in viscosity was observed by increasing time and power of sonication. Ultrasonic treatment could successfully improve functional properties with effect on physicochemical properties of myofibrillar proteins. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.