The feasibility of constructing a cylindrical array with a plane rotating beam for interstitial thermal surgery

Thermal surgery has been shown to be a useful therapeutic option when external ultrasound applicators cannot be used as their beam will not reach the target site. If plane transducers are used, the ultrasound beam has to be rotated in order to generate a sufficiently large volume of necrosis. However, rotating deep-seated interstitial applicators and controlling their shooting direction presents major technical problems. The purpose of this study is to evaluate the feasibility of constructing a cylindrical array with a plane rotating beam for ablating esophageal tumors by interstitial hyperthermia. The feasibility of such an array has been initially evaluated using a plane array (which is easier to make from a technical point of view). This array was made with a new piezoelectric material because its mechanical properties make it ideal for the construction of a cylindrical array in the future. We showed that the beam of each array element is sufficiently divergent and that cross-coupling is small enough to generate a plane wave from a cylindrical array. In addition, power tests and electro-acoustic efficiency measurements demonstrated that the output was sufficient to induce tissue necrosis in the relevant conditions.     

Temporal and spatial apodization in defocused acoustic transmission microscopy

Two non-confocally adjusted spherical transducers are employed to implement an acoustic microscope operating in transmission with an approximately line-shaped point spread function (PSF). Such a PSF is of advantage in acoustic transmission line tomography and spatially resolved velocity measurements in solids. The foci of the transducers are viewed as diffraction-limited point transducers and appropriate time-selective signal acquisition is designed to restrict the ultrasound wave paths to the line connecting them. It is found that for typical commercially available transducers the largest contribution to the detected signal is not due to the direct ultrasound wave but due to the edge waves emanating from the rim of the focusing transducer. This poses constraints on achieving a line-shaped PSF in defocused acoustic transmission microscopy. It is shown that, due to the strong contribution from edge waves, it is impossible to achieve a line-shaped PSF in the case of application of a long exciting toneburst. The influence of the exciting pulse length, as well as the position of the time gate on the obtainable PSF is investigated.     

Optimization of un-tethered, low voltage, 20-100kHz flexural transducers for biomedical ultrasonics applications

This paper describes optimization of un-tethered, low voltage, 20-100 kHz flexural transducers for biomedical ultrasonics applications. The goal of this work was to design a fully wearable, low weight (<100 g), battery operated, piezoelectric ultrasound applicator providing maximum output pressure amplitude at the minimum excitation voltage.Such implementation of ultrasound applicators that can operate at the excitation voltages on the order of only 10-25 V is needed in view of the emerging evidence that spatial-peak temporal-peak ultrasound intensity (I_SPTP) on the order of 100 mW/cm² delivered at frequencies below 100 kHz can have beneficial therapeutic effects. The beneficial therapeutic applications include wound management of chronic ulcers and non-invasive transdermal delivery of insulin and liposome encapsulated drugs.The early prototypes of the 20 and 100 kHz applicators were optimized using the maximum electrical power transfer theorem, which required a punctilious analysis of the complex impedance of the piezoelectric disks mounted in appropriately shaped metal housings.In the implementation tested, the optimized ultrasound transducer applicators were driven by portable, customized electronics, which controlled the excitation voltage amplitude and facilitated operation in continuous wave (CW) or pulsed mode with adjustable (10-90%) duty cycle. The driver unit was powered by remotely located rechargeable lithium (Li) polymer batteries. This was done to further minimize the weight of the applicator unit making it wearable. With DC voltage of approximately 15 V the prototypes were capable of delivering pressure amplitudes of about 55 kPa or 100 mW/cm² (I_SPTP). This level of acoustic output was chosen as it is considered safe and side effects free, even at prolonged exposure.     

Characterization of cylindrical ultrasonic transducers using acoustic holography

We present the results of studying the vibrational velocity distribution over the surface of cylindrical ultrasound transducers by acoustic holography. We describe two approaches for acoustic holography: the spatial spectrum method and the Rayleigh integral method. In the case of cylindrical sources the spectral method has a specific feature in comparison to the case of quasi-plane sources: small-scale spectrum components having the form of evanescent (nonpropagating) waves near the source, turn into propagating waves at a certain distance from the source. The use of such a mixed type of waves makes it possible to increase the holographic resolution. To conduct holography of cylindrical sources by the Rayleigh integral method, a modification consisting in the superimposing of boundaries on the integration region is proposed. We present the results of numerical simulation and physical experiments on holography of small cylindrical piezoelectric transducers. We demonstrate that the proposed methods of holography make it possible to recover the vibration structure of source surfaces up to order of the wavelength scales.     

Acoustic field modeling for physiotherapy ultrasound applicators by using approximated functions of measured non-uniform radiation distributions

The strongest therapeutic effects in ultrasonic physiotherapy are mainly produced at the first centimeters, i.e. close to the applicator surface and, in general, only in the near-field zone. The acoustic field produced in practice by this type of transducers differs from the classical models because the vibration distribution on the real transducer surfaces is non-uniform. However, neither models using uniform distribution, nor those using typical non-uniform distribution patterns for the source accurately represent the radiation of this kind of transducers. Although this therapy is widely used and many efforts have been made in experimentally studying the patterns of ultrasound radiation produced during physiotherapy applications (IEC-61689, 1998), additional modeling researches still would be needed in order to achieve improved models giving field patterns closer to the measured ultrasonic results. In this paper, acoustic patterns produced from two source radiation functions are proposed and evaluated for field modeling of physiotherapy applicators. Both the functions are approximations to the pressure distribution measured close to the emitting surface and they are based on the modulation of the classical simply-supported function using either sinusoidal or Bessel-type distributions. The simply-supported function is accounted for the radiator-fixing condition and the modulation function simulates the complex vibration distribution of this kind of transducer. The modulator Bessel function is based on reports about Bessel-type vibration distributions found in piezoelectric disk resonators. The use of a selected sinusoidal segment represents another analytical option for obtaining an approximated behavior of the measured data in a real applicator. Both the field models are implemented using the finite element method (FEM) to obtain the numerical solution of wave equation at each point in the radiated space. The solution is reached by considering axisymmetric radiation in attenuation-free media. The results indicate the viability of applying an adequate model for acoustic field calculation by simulating the radiating distribution on the emitting surface as either sinusoidal or Bessel-modulated functions. Models using both the functions describe reasonably real behaviors, but those based on Bessel functions are better correlated with the measurements. The results for three commercial applicators indicate the possibility of representing, with adequate verisimilitude, the acoustic field radiated by physiotherapy ultrasound transducers using linear combinations of Bessel profiles describing the radiation source.     

Measuring technique for static electricity using focused sound

A novel method is proposed for non-contact measurement of the distribution of electrostatic charge on a surface based on scanning the sample surface with a focused high frequency acoustic beam to excite movement of the sample surface. An electric field is induced by exciting a charged film-like object, and an electric field sensor measures it instead of an electrostatic field. The focused ultrasound waves are generated by controlling individually the phase of each 285 airborne ultrasound transducers.     

Axial time-averaged acoustic radiation force on a cylinder in a nonviscous fluid revisited

Objective

The present research examines the acoustic radiation force of axisymmetric waves incident upon a cylinder of circular surface immersed in a nonviscous fluid. The attempt here is to unify the various treatments of radiation force on a cylinder with arbitrary radius and provide a formulation suitable for any axisymmetric incident wave.

Method and results

Analytical equations are derived for the acoustic scattering field and the axial acoustic radiation force. A general formulation for the radiation force function, which is the radiation force per unit energy density per unit cross-sectional surface, is derived. Specialized forms of the radiation force function are provided for several types of incident waves including plane progressive, plane standing, plane quasi-standing, cylindrical progressive diverging, cylindrical progressive converging and cylindrical standing and quasi-standing diverging waves (with an extension to the case of spherical standing and quasi-standing diverging waves incident upon a sphere).

Significance and some potential applications

This study may be helpful essentially due to its inherent value as a canonical problem in physical acoustics. Potential applications include particle manipulation of cylindrical shaped structures in biomedicine, micro-gravity environments, fluid dynamics properties of cylindrical capillary bridges, and the micro-fabrication of new cylindrical crystals to better control light beams.     

Measurement of cylindrical Rayleigh surface waves using line-focused PVDF transducers and defocusing measurement method

Line-focused PVDF transducers and defocusing measurement method are applied in this work to determine the dispersion curve of the Rayleigh-like surface waves propagating along the circumferential direction of a solid cylinder. Conventional waveform processing method has been modified to cope with the non-linear relationship between phase angle of wave interference and defocusing distance induced by a cylindrically curved surface. A cross correlation method is proposed to accurately extract the cylindrical Rayleigh wave velocity from measured data. Experiments have been carried out on one stainless steel and one glass cylinders. The experimentally obtained dispersion curves are in very good agreement with their theoretical counterparts. Variation of cylindrical Rayleigh wave velocity due to the cylindrical curvature is quantitatively verified using this new method. Other potential applications of this measurement method for cylindrical samples will be addressed.     

Arbitrary shaped, liquid filled reverberators with non-resonant transducers for broadband focusing of ultrasound using Time Reversed Acoustics

The ability to generate short focused ultrasonic pulses with duration on the order of one period of carrier frequency depends on the bandwidth of the transmitter as the pulse duration is inversely proportional to the bandwidth. Conventional focusing arrays used for focusing ultrasound have limited bandwidth due to the resonant nature of the piezoelements generating ultrasound. Theoretically it is possible to build a broadband phased array composed of “non-resonant” elements: wedge-shaped or flat-concave piezotransducers, though there are numerous technical difficulties in designing arrays with hundreds of elements of complex shape. This task is much easier to realize in an alternative technique of ultrasound focusing based on the principles of Time Reversed Acoustics (TRA) because in TRA systems, effective focusing can be achieved with just a few, or even one, transducers. The goal of this study is to demonstrate the possibility of broadband focusing of ultrasonic waves using a TRA system with non-resonant transducers and to explore the factors affecting the performance of such a system. A new type of TRA reverberators, such as water-filled thin-wall plastic vessels, which can be used with the submersible piezotransducers fixed internally in the reverberator, are proposed and tested. The experiments are conducted in a water tank with the walls and bottom covered by a sound absorbing lining. A needle hydrophone mounted on a 3D positioning system is used as a beacon for the TRA focusing and then for measuring the spatial distribution of the focused ultrasound field. The bandwidth and spatial distribution of the signal focused by the TRA system using a single channel with the resonant versus non-resonant transducers have been analyzed. Two types of non-resonant transducers were tested: a flat-concave transducer with a diameter of 30 mm, and a thickness varying from 2 mm in the center to 11 mm at the edge, and a specially designed submersible transducer having an uneven shape with a diameter of about 25 mm and a thickness varying from 2 to 6 mm. It was shown that TRA focusing system using non-resonant transducer had a bandwidth at 10 dB of 500 kHz while the resonant transducer provided about 100 kHz bandwidth. Correspondingly, the extended bandwidth of the TRA focusing system, especially toward higher frequencies, provides a 50% sharper spatial distribution. Furthermore, the relative level of the background ultrasound was reduced by a factor up to 3 as more frequencies were added coherently in focus and incoherently out of focus. Advantages of water-filled reverberators made of thin-wall plastic vessels include easy manufacturing, low costs, extreme simplicity, and good acoustical matching with soft tissues, important for biomedical applications.     

Signal processing for damage detection using two different array transducers

This work describes an investigation into the development of a new health monitoring system for aeronautical applications. The health monitoring system is based on the emission and reception of Lamb waves by multi-element piezoelectric transducers (i.e., arrays) bonded to the structure. The emitter array consists of three different elementary bar transducers. These transducers have the same thickness and length but different widths. The receiver array has 32 same elements. This system offers the possibility to understand the nature of the generated waves and to determine the sensitivity of each mode to possible damage. It presents two principal advantages: Firstly, by exciting all elements in phase, it is possible to generate several Lamb modes in the same time. Secondly, the two-dimensional fourier transform (2D-FT) of the received signal can be easily computed. Experimental results concerning an aluminum plate with different hole sizes will be shown. The A0-, S0-, A1-, S1- and S2-modes are generated at the same time. This study shows that the A0 mode seems particularly interesting to detect flaws of this geometrical type.     

Excitation of bulk elastic waves from the surfaces of piezocrystals with 3m symmetry

We have used the method of successive approximations to solve the problem of exciting bulk elastic waves from the surfaces of piezoelectric materials with 3m symmetry. In the approximation of a given electric field created by a two-electrode transducer on the surface of a piezoelectric sample, we found the displacement distribution of acoustic modes excited by the transducer. We determined the parameters for an equivalent circuit of a two-electrode transmitter, taking into account piezo additions and losses during the transformation for the surface piezotransducer deposited on 135^o Y-cut lithium niobate. We show that it is possible to use surface transducers in acousto-optic modulators in the UHF region.     

Diagnostics of spatial structure of vortex multiplets in a swirl flow

Results on investigation of vortex unstable breakdown are presented. The structure of vortex multiplets was visualized in a vertical cylindrical container made of transparent organic glass of the optic quality with the inner diameter of 288 mm and rotating upper lid. Visualization was performed for different heights of this cylinder. The working liquid was 80-percent water-glycerin mixture, and small air bubbles were used as the tracers. The lid was rotated with a constant angular velocity under the studied conditions, and air was accumulated in the zones of decreased pressure on axes of vortices. Visualization of flow structure for unstable swirl flows and cylinder aspect ratios from 3.2 to 5.5 allowed first identification of these regimes as multispiral breakdowns with formation of helical-like vortex duplets, triplets, and quadruplets.     

DISPERSION OF WAVES IN IMMERSED LAMINATED COMPOSITE HOLLOW CYLINDERS

A layer element method (LEM) is presented for analyzing frequency and group velocity dispersive behaviours of waves in a laminated composite cylinder surrounded by a fluid. The LEM applies finite elements to model the radial displacement of the cylinder and the radial pressure of the fluid, and complex exponentials to express the axial and circumferential displacements of the cylinder as well as the axial and tangential pressures of the fluid. The dispersive equation for the fluid-loaded cylinder follows from variational techniques. The frequency and group velocity dispersive relationships of the fluid-coupling cylinder are obtained by means of the Rayleigh quotient. Numerical results are given for hybrid laminated composite cylinders and cylindrical shells submerged in water. The addition of the fluid is proven to have considerable impact on the group velocity spectra of waves in laminated composite cylinders.     

Leaky helical flexural wave backscattering contributions from tilted cylindrical shells in water: observations and modeling

For tilt angles smaller than the meridional ray coupling condition previously investigated [S. F. Morse et al., J. Acoust. Soc. Am. 103, 785-794 (1998)], flexural helical waves on cylindrical shells can significantly enhance the backscattering. These contributions are compared and modeled here for an empty cylinder. Experiments using tone bursts were performed on a tilted stainless steel shell to investigate the contributions caused by flexural leaky Lamb waves above the coincidence frequency of the shell. In some of the measurements the tone bursts were of sufficient duration to superpose helical wave contributions of successive circumnavigations, along with the meridional contribution near the critical tilt, to arrive at a quasi-steady-state backscattering amplitude for the cylinder. These measurements are compared with an approximate numerical partial-wave series solution and a ray theory as a function of the tilt angle. The data for ka = 20 follow the basic shape of the ray theory and the relevant features of the partial-wave model. They illustrate the importance of the interference of successive helical wave contributions. Measurements (also as a function of the tilt angle) using tone bursts that were sufficiently short to separate the earliest helical wave contribution from later contributions also support the ray theory.     

Experience in the design of free-cylinder pressure transducers to about 1 GPa

Abstract

Free-cylinder pressure transducers for pressure measurements to about 1.0 GPa have been developed; they use at present foil strain gauges bonded on the cylindrical surface in order to measure strains as a function of the applied hydrostatic pressure. All such transducers can be used with thin-or thick-film gauges; distortions of the active cylinder can be measured also by optical techniques. Pressure transducers of three types (different design as to pressure full scale and cylinder materials) are described and their metrological characteristics are given as well.     

Study of the second harmonics in nonlinear scattering of interacting acoustic waves by a rigid cylinder

The field formed by the second harmonics in the case of the nonlinear scattering of interacting plane acoustic waves by a rigid cylinder is considered. The method of successive approximations is used to obtain the solutions to the inhomogeneous wave equation in the first and second approximations. Asymptotic expressions are derived for the components of the total acoustic pressure of the second harmonics, and the scattering diagrams for these components are presented.     

Measurement of dependence of backscatter coefficient from cylinders on frequency and diameter using focused transducers--with applications in trabecular bone

A theory for the elastic scattering response from a cylinder insonified by a plane wave was previously derived by Faran. In the present paper, the empirical relationship between Faran's theory and measurements of backscatter coefficient from cylindrical targets using focused transducers is investigated. Experimental measurements of dependence of backscatter coefficient on frequency and diameter for nylon wires are reported. It is found that, under certain conditions (including weak, incoherent scattering), backscatter coefficient measurements from collections of cylindrical scatterers may be meaningfully compared with Faran's model predictions. At low frequencies, the theory and experimental measurements exhibit similar dependences on frequency and diameter, provided that the scatterers are not too densely packed. At higher frequencies, the fine structure of Faran's predictions becomes difficult to reproduce experimentally with a focused transducer. Implications regarding applications to characterization of trabecular bone are discussed.     

New approach to the excitation of plate waves for piezoelectric thick-film devices

A method is presented for exciting the propagation of plate waves in elastic guides. It is implemented in a device whose minimum working structure consists of a non-piezoelectric plane guide and two piezoelectric transducers operating as a generator and detector. The device is entirely in accordance with thick-film technology standard procedures. Both transducers are composed of a PZT ferroelectric layer deposited on a ceramic substrate and a suitable system of three coplanar metal electrodes placed inside the same layer. Beside setting the wavelength of propagation, the electrode system promotes piezoelectric deformations parallel to the substrate simultaneously contracting and extending contiguous active regions in the layer. Pure shear stresses are then induced on the involved guide surface, alternately distributed, with the spatial periodicity of the wave that will propagate in the guide. The propagation of several kinds of guided waves is possible so the selection of the one that meets a specific device design best is allowed.This work describes the design, realization and operation of a prototype structure consisting of an alumina plate guide and two pairs of piezoelectric thick-film transducers realized on it. The results related to the propagation of symmetric and asymmetric Lamb modes are reported. Moreover, the potential of the method is highlighted, emphasizing its effectiveness, easy implementation and application in the development of devices for the sensing and non-destructive testing areas.     

Measurements of mutual radiation impedance between baffled cylindrical shell transducers

The mutual radiation impedances between two baffled cylindrical shell transducers, made of PZT-4 piezoelectric rings with one half of the cylindrical surface covered by a compliant baffle, were determined in experiments as a function of separation distance using an experimental technique recently described [B. Aronov, J. Acoust. Soc. Am. 119, 3822-3830 (2006)]. Two baffled cylindrical shell transducers were connected electrically in parallel and the input electrical admittance was measured at different separations when the two transducers were operated in phase and then 180 degrees out-of-phase in both the coaxial and horizontal (side-by-side) alignments. The mutual radiation impedances were then computed using an electrical equivalent circuit to determine the significance of interaction for cylindrical elements in these array geometries.     

Amplification and drift-related nonreciprocity of the shear wave scattering by a semiconductor cylinder in a piezoelectric

The scattering of a plane monochromatic shear wave by a circular semiconductor cylinder soldered into a piezoelectric of class 6mm(4mm, ∞m) is considered for the case when an azimuth drift current occurs in the cylinder. It is found that the drift-related nonequivalence of scattering in opposite azimuth directions of wave propagation around the cylinder is the origin of the asymmetry of the polar scattering pattern while the effective (for the partial waves travelling around the cylinder in the drift direction with a sufficiently high angular velocity) acoustoelectronic amplification reduces the total scattering loss and can make it negative. A relatively strong contribution of the plasma and drift to the scattering is predicted for the case of acoustic matching between the materials of the cylinder and the surrounding piezoelectric.