In vivo biomicroscopy with ultrasound

We propose the use of inverse scattering theory methods to analyse high frequency ultrasound reflection data to provide high resolution images of living tissue. Conventional ultrasound imaging uses the pulse-echo method which can only resolve structures which are large compared to the wavelength of the ultrasound. Inverse scattering analysis, on the other hand, can image details as small as a quarter wavelength. This makes possible a significant improvement in resolution and has many potential applications in the detection and study of disease. We report here results obtained using this method to produce images of the retina, where we were able to resolve details as small as 50 micron in a 300 micron layer.     

Superresolution imaging of scatterers in ultrasound B-scan imaging

A number of imaging systems exhibit speckle, which is caused by the interaction of a coherent pulse reflecting off of random reflectors. The limitations of these systems are quite serious because the speckle phenomenon creates a pattern of nulls and peaks from subresolvable scatterers or targets that are difficult to interpret. Another limitation of these pulse-echo imaging systems is that their resolution is dependent on the full spatial extent of the propagating pulse, usually several wavelengths in the axial or propagating dimension and typically longer in the transverse direction. This limits the spatial resolution to many multiples of the wavelength. This paper focuses on the particular case of ultrasound B-scan imaging and develops an inverse filter solution that eliminates both the speckle phenomenon and the poor resolution dependency on the pulse length and width to produce super-resolution ultrasound (SURUS) images. The key to the inverse filter is the creation of pulse shapes that have stable inverses. This is derived by use of the standard Z-transform and related properties. Although the focus of this paper is on examples from ultrasound imaging systems, the results are applicable to other pulse-echo imaging systems that also can exhibit speckle statistics.     

Time reversal of speckle noise

Focusing a wave in an unknown inhomogeneous medium is an open problem in wave physics. This work presents an iterative method able to focus in pulse-echo mode in an inhomogeneous medium containing a random distribution of scatterers. By performing a coherent summation of the random echoes backscattered from a set of points surrounding the desired focus, a virtual bright pointlike reflector is generated. A time-reversal method enables an iterative convergence towards the optimal wave field focusing at the location of this virtual scatterer. Thanks to this iterative time-reversal process, it is possible to focus at any arbitrary point in the heterogeneous medium even in the absence of pointlike source. An experimental demonstration is given for the correction of strongly distorted images in the field of medical ultrasound imaging. This concept enables envisioning many other applications in wave physics.     

Harmonic pulsed excitation and motion detection of a vibrating reflective target

Elasticity imaging is an emerging medical imaging modality. Methods involving acoustic radiation force excitation and pulse-echo ultrasound motion detection have been investigated to assess the mechanical response of tissue. In this work new methods for dynamic radiation force excitation and motion detection are presented. The theory and model for harmonic motion detection of a vibrating reflective target are presented. The model incorporates processing of radio frequency data acquired using pulse-echo ultrasound to measure harmonic motion with amplitudes ranging from 100 to 10,000 nm. A numerical study was performed to assess the effects of different parameters on the accuracy and precision of displacement amplitude and phase estimation and showed how estimation errors could be minimized. Harmonic pulsed excitation is introduced as a multifrequency radiation force excitation method that utilizes ultrasound tonebursts repeated at a rate f(r). The radiation force, consisting of frequency components at multiples of f(r), is generated using 3.0 MHz ultrasound, and motion detection is performed simultaneously with 9.0 MHz pulse-echo ultrasound. A parameterized experimental analysis showed that displacement can be measured with small errors for motion with amplitudes as low as 100 nm. The parameterized numerical and experimental analyses provide insight into how to optimize acquisition parameters to minimize measurement errors.     

A numerical dispersion compensation technique for time recompression of Lamb wave signals

A Fourier domain numerical reconstruction technique has been created in order to eliminate the time spread of Lamb wave signals caused by their dispersive nature. This method allows a good time compaction of the echoes obtained from a Lamb wave inspection. In a pulse-echo setup, reflection peaks coming from targets located close one from each other that could not be separated or seen within raw signals are identified using this procedure. The utility of this new technique goes from simple signal analysis to imaging purposes such as the improvement of B-scan images or SAFT processing. It has been tested in three different situations with the S0 mode generated in a frequency bandwidth where it is highly dispersive. The reconstruction of a pure reflection coming from the edge of a plate, the separation of the echoes resulting from reflections on two targets near one each other and the effects of the presence of an obstacle between the emitter and the receiver are treated. Good results are obtained for every case studied.     

Direct estimation of aberrating delays in pulse-echo imaging systems

Nearfield fluctuations in wave propagation velocity and system timing errors are among the sources of focusing aberrations in pulse-echo imaging systems. For situations in which the source of these errors can be modeled by a stationary phase aberrator placed in front of the transmitter and receiver aperture, appropriate electronic delays might be applied to the signals associated with each array element in order to restore the system to focus. A method is described and evaluated for estimating the set of aberrating delays in a linear array utilizing data from a single two-dimensional scan. The underlying principle is analogous to that of phase closure used for one-way passive interferometry and readily generalizes to two-dimensional arrays. Although the following theory is developed in the context of acoustic imaging, the general approach is applicable to other pulse-echo systems, such as radar.     

Elastic constants of antiferromagnetic chromium-vanadium alloys

Single crystals of chromium alloys containing 0.67 and 1.5% vanadium were prepared by the floating-zone technique. Elastic constants and attenuation were measured by the pulse-echo method between 77 and 300 K. The changes of the elastic properties in the paramagnetic and antiferromagnetic states and in particular at the magnetic transition are described and discussed.     

Flaw location errors in extruded stainless steel piping

Refracted shear waves in extruded stainless steel pipes were found to change their velocity and direction (beam skewing) as they propagated through the pipe thickness. These variations in refracted angles and velocities result in flaw location errors during ultrasonic examination. Two techniques, one using refracted shear waves in pitch-catch mode and the other refracted longitudinal waves in pulse-echo mode, are discussed as to their feasibility in determining the flaw location accurately in these pipes. The result of the work was that a two-scan approach using refracted shear waves in pulse-echo for flaw detection and refracted longitudinal waves in pulse-echo for flaw location was recommended.     

Reproducibility of human eye length measurement by ultrasound in vivo.

This article deals with the reproducibility of the ultrasound pulse echo method for the measurement of intra-ocular distances. It analyses individual kinds of errors and evaluates the minimum size of an intra-ocular pathological formation which still could be traced by the pulse-echo method.     

Determination of ultrasonic wave velocities and phase velocity dispersion curves of an Inconel 600 plate using resonant ultrasound spectroscopy and leaky Lamb waves

A plate of Inconel 600 was interrogated using the resonant ultrasound spectroscopy (RUS) and the reflected leaky Lamb waves (LLW). It was found that the plate used in the present work has anisotropy in its material properties by the RUS. The longitudinal and the transverse wave velocities of the Inconel 600 plate were determined by the RUS, ultrasonic pulse-echo method and cut-off frequencies of the LLWs. The wave velocities in the direction of thickness determined by the RUS under the assumption of the orthotropic symmetry were quite similar to those obtained by other methods, the pulse-echo method and from cut-off frequencies. The reflected LLW from the plate was measured with varying the incident angle. The dispersion curves obtained from the reflected LLWs show good agreement with the theoretical calculation in general. The mismatches may be caused by anisotropy of the plate.     

Extensions of the scattering-object function and the pulser-receiver impulse response in the field II formalism

The pulse-echo impulse-response format in the Field II formalism is generalized to separately located transmitter and receiver. To first order in sound velocity and density perturbations, identical results for the scattering-object function are obtained for the Morse-Ingard and the Chernov formulation in both the temporal and frequency domains: f(s)=-[2Delta(c/c)+(Delta(rho/rho))(1-cos(theta))] where for ultrasonic pulse-echo or transmission modality, cos(theta) approximately -1 or +1, respectively.     

Ultrasonic imaging of solid surfaces using a focussed air-coupled capacitance transducer

A variety of small solid objects have been imaged in atmospheric air using a focussed, micromachined air-coupled capacitance transducer. The transducer, which was capable of generating and receiving ultrasound in air over a large frequency bandwidth (< 100 kHz 1.5 MHz) was employed in a pulse-echo arrangement such that generated waves reflected off the surface of the object before returning to the same transducer for detection. By raster scanning the transducer in a plane and recording the detected ultrasonic echo amplitude as a function of transducer position, images of object surfaces were obtained. As the transducer had been fitted with a micromachined Fresnel zone-plate, the ultrasonic waves could be focussed to a spot-size of 680 μm so as to provide images of high lateral resolution. One of the key factors in making the Fresnel zone-plate function effectively in these imaging applications involved the inclusion of a second aperture in front of the zone-plate. This additional aperture blocked the zone-plate's side-lobes and reduced the appearance of multiple (diffracted) images.     

Ultrasonic sensitivity-improved fiber-optic Fabry-Perot interferometer using a beam collimator and its application for ultrasonic imaging of seismic physical models

An ultrasonic sensitivity-improved fiber-optic Fabry-Perot interferometer(FPI) is proposed and employed for ultrasonic imaging of seismic physical models(SPMs). The FPI comprises a flexible ultra-thin gold film and the end face of a graded-index multimode fiber(MMF), both of which are enclosed in a ceramic tube. The MMF in a specified length can collimate the diverged light beam and compensate for the light loss inside the air cavity, leading to an increased spectral fringe visibility and thus a steeper spectral slope. By using the spectral sideband filtering technique, the collimated FPI shows an improved ultrasonic response. Moreover, two-dimensional images of two SPMs are achieved in air by reconstructing the pulse-echo signals through using the time-of-flight approach. The proposed sensor with easy fabrication and compact size can be a good candidate for high-sensitivity and high-precision nondestructive testing of SPMs.     

Some non-linear aspects of the electronic stages in time-domain modelling of NDE pulse-echo ultrasonic systems

Electronics interfacing with NDE probes frequently include non-linear switching devices and semiconductor networks, which influence the excitation pulses and detected echo signals. Classical approaches to modelling a pulse-echo process use ideal assumptions for the electronics and do not consider these influences on the echoes, which can be very relevant in HF cases. This paper proposes new ways to consider these non-linear effects in a time-domain simulation process, extending previous approaches by including new elements in the modelling. Specific electrical models covering the pulse-echo process are applied in the evaluation of echo-graphic signals. They include semiconductor devices and other non-ideal elements. From these models, and using SPICE as a simulation tool, strong non-linear effects on pulsed responses, computed for both E/R stages of typical NDE transceivers, are analysed.     

The determination of the relative permittivity of periodic stratified media based on the iterative time-reversal method

In this paper, we present a new method to determine the relative permittivity of periodic stratified media using the iterative time-reversal method. Based on transmission line theory, the focal peak value of iterative time-reversal electro- magnetic waves, which contain information about the periodic stratified medium, is computed in pulse-echo mode. Using the relationship between the focal peak value and the relative permittivity of the periodic stratified medium, the relative permittivity can be obtained by measuring the focal peak value. Numerical simulations are conducted, and the results demonstrate the feasibility of the proposed approach to the measurement of the relative permittivity of a periodic stratified medium.     

Flexible piezoelectric transducer for ultrasonic inspection of non-planar components

This paper presents the fabrication and characterisation of a flexible ultrasonic transducer using commercially available PZT-5A piezoelectric fibers which are lapped to form rectangular piezoelectric elements. The key feature in the device construction is the inclusion of gaps between the piezoelectric fibers to ensure good flexibility in the plane normal to the fiber direction. The spatial response of the transducer ultrasonic output was assessed using acoustographic imaging. The flexibility of the transducer and its applicability in pulse-echo mode on curved sections was demonstrated by testing on a 38 mm diameter steel rod. The transducer response was found to be broad band and highly non uniform but good pulse-echo performance was achieved at 5 MHz.     

In vitro comparative study of vibro-acoustography versus pulse-echo ultrasound in imaging permanent prostate brachytherapy seeds

Background

Permanent prostate brachytherapy (PPB) is a common treatment for early stage prostate cancer. While the modern approach using trans-rectal ultrasound guidance has demonstrated excellent outcome, the efficacy of PPB depends on achieving complete radiation dose coverage of the prostate by obtaining a proper radiation source (seed) distribution. Currently, brachytherapy seed placement is guided by trans-rectal ultrasound imaging and fluoroscopy. A significant percentage of seeds are not detected by trans-rectal ultrasound because certain seed orientations are invisible making accurate intra-operative feedback of radiation dosimetry very difficult, if not impossible. Therefore, intra-operative correction of suboptimal seed distributions cannot easily be done with current methods. Vibro-acoustography (VA) is an imaging modality that is capable of imaging solids at any orientation, and the resulting images are speckle free.

Objective and methods

The purpose of this study is to compare the capabilities of VA and pulse-echo ultrasound in imaging PPB seeds at various angles and show the sensitivity of detection to seed orientation. In the VA experiment, two intersecting ultrasound beams driven at f₁ = 3.00 MHz and f₂ = 3.020 MHz respectively were focused on the seeds attached to a latex membrane while the amplitude of the acoustic emission produced at the difference frequency 20 kHz was detected by a low frequency hydrophone.

Results

Finite element simulations and results of experiments conducted under well-controlled conditions in a water tank on a series of seeds indicate that the seeds can be detected at any orientation with VA, whereas pulse-echo ultrasound is very sensitive to the seed orientation.

Conclusion

It is concluded that vibro-acoustography is superior to pulse-echo ultrasound for detection of PPB seeds.     

Pulse echo comparison method with FSUPER to measure velocity dispersion in n-tetradecane in water emulsions

In this paper, a pulse-echo comparison method for measuring ultrasound velocity dispersion in n-tetradecane emulsions is presented. The method was based on an existing device but used a new measurement strategy. Ultrasound velocity in n-tetradecane in water emulsions was measured around the frequency range 1-14 MHz. The results were compared with theoretical prediction. The method is capable of development as an on-line real time method to characterize food emulsions.     

Computerized ultrasonic tomography for testing solid propellant rocket motors

Certain types of defects, such as inhomogeneities in, for example, a plastic-like propellant, are not easily detected by pulse-echo techniques, so a through transmission technique is required. However, the shape of the test object may not permit transmission through the object in any required direction as is normally necessary for computerized ultrasonic tomography.A solid propellant rocket motor is such an object and in the course of this work a scanning technique is employed together with a suitable reconstruction algorithm to obtain a reconstructed image of the cross-section under investigation, overcoming the problem of not being able to transmit pulses through the object along every line normally required. Both a computer simulation and a real system were realized for the test object and images were produced from both. The time of flight of an ultrasonic beam through the specimen is the parameter used in the reconstruction (sound velocity measurement).     

Location of multiple proximate flaws using perpendicular NDT ultrasonic arrays

An improved method for ultrasonic location of multiple flaws using perpendicular ultrasonic arrays, working in near-field conditions, is presented. The method uses the pulse-echo technique and is based on the processing of the information acquired by both the elemental emitting transducers and their adjacent ones. This type of processing improves the performance of a previous method that sometimes presents limitations for the detection of multiples flaws. This new method is applied to a set of ultrasonic traces, obtained with an ultrasonic prototype specifically designed for testing this method, showing the improvement obtained in imaging results.