Increasing the modal density in plates for mono-element focusing in air.

Acoustic focusing experiments usually require large arrays of transducers. It has been shown by Etaix et al. [J. Acoust. Soc. Am. 131, 395-399 (2012)] that the use of a cavity allows reducing this number of transducers. This paper presents experiments with Duralumin plates (the cavities) containing scatterers to improve the contrast of focusing. The use of a scatterer array in the plate allows increasing the modal density at given frequencies. The scatterers used are membranes and buttons that are manufactured in Duralumin plates. Their resonances are studied both experimentally and numerically. Such scatterers present the advantage of having a tunable frequency resonance, which allows controlling the frequencies at which the modal density increases. The dispersion relations of plates with scatterer array show high modal density at given frequencies. Finally acoustic focusing experiments in air, using these plates, are compared to the ones of simple duralumin plates demonstrating the improvement of contrast. Acoustic source localization is also realized using these plates.

Analysis of Non-Contact Multichannel Recording of Cardiac Vibration: Visual Seismocardiogram.

Seismocardiography (SCG) is the recent research focus for cardiac monitoring and diagnosis. Contact based single channel accelerometer recordings suffer from limitations due to sensor placements and propagation delay. This work uses the airborne ultrasound device named Surface Motion Camera (SMC) for non-contact multichannel recording of the chest surface vibrations and proposes visualization techniques (vSCG) to enable simultaneous evaluation of both time and spatial variations of the vibrations. Recordings are performed on 10 healthy volunteers. The time propagation of vertical scans and 2D vibration contour maps at specific cardiac events are shown. These allow for a reproducible way for in-depth analysis of cardio mechanical activities, as compared to single channel SCG.

Coupling Between Posture and Respiration Among the Postural Chain: Toward a Screening Tool for Respiratory-Related Balance Disorders.

Alteration of posturo-respiratory coupling (PRC) may precede postural imbalance in patients with chronic respiratory disease. PRC assessment would be appropriate for early detection of respiratory-related postural dysfunction. PRC may be evaluated by respiratory emergence (REm), the proportion of postural oscillations attributed to breathing activity; assessed by motion analysis) as measured from the displacement of the center of pressure (CoP) (measured with a force platform). To propose a simplified method of PRC assessment (using motion capture only), we hypothesized that the REm can appropriately be measured derived from single body segment the postural oscillations of a single body segment rather than whole body postural oscillations. An optoelectronic system recorded the breathing pattern and the postural oscillations of six body segments in 50 healthy participants (22 women), 34 years [26; 48]. The CoP displacements were assessed using a force platform. One-minute recordings were made in standing position in four conditions by varying vision (eyes opened/closed) and jaw position (rest position/dental contact). The Sway Path and Mean Velocity of the CoP and of the representative point of each body segment were recorded. The REm was measured along the major and the minor axis of the 95% confidence ellipse of the CoP position (REm_MajorAxisCoP; REm_MinorAxisCoP) and of that of each body segment. SwayPathCoP and MVCoP varied widely across the four conditions (par< 0.000001). These changes were related to the visual condition ( [Formula: see text]) while the jaw position had no effect. The REm_MajorAxisCoP and the REm_MinorAxisCoP changed across conditions ( [Formula: see text]); this was related to vision while jaw induced changes only for the REm_MinorAxisCoP. The SwayPath, the Mean Velocity and the REm of all body segments were significantly correlated to the CoP, but the highest correlations were observed for the thorax, the pelvis and the shoulder. PRC may be assessed from the postural oscillations of thorax, pelvis and shoulder. This should simplify the evaluation of respiratory-related postural interactions in the clinical environment, by using a single device to simultaneously assess postural oscillations on body segments, and breathing pattern. In addition, this study provides reference data for PRC and its sensory-related modulations on body segments along the postural chain.

Bats seek refuge in cluttered environment when exposed to white and red lights at night.

BACKGROUND: Artificial light at night is recognized as an increasing threat to biodiversity. However, information on the way highly mobile taxa such as bats spatially respond to light is limited. Following the hypothesis of a behavioural adaptation to the perceived risks of predation, we hypothesised that bats should avoid lit areas by shifting their flight route to less exposed conditions. METHODS: Using 3D acoustic localization at four experimentally illuminated sites, we studied how the distance to streetlights emitting white and red light affected the Probability of bats Flying Inside the Forest (PFIF) versus along the forest edge. RESULTS: We show that open-, edge-, and narrow-space foraging bats strongly change flight patterns by increasing PFIF when getting closer to white and red streetlights placed in the forest edge. These behavioural changes occurred mainly on the streetlight side where light was directed. CONCLUSIONS: The results show that bats cope with light exposure by actively seeking refuge in cluttered environment, potentially due to involved predation risks. This is a clear indication that bats make use of landscape structures when reacting to light, and shows the potential of vegetation and streetlight orientation in mitigating effects of light. The study nevertheless calls for preserving darkness as the most efficient way.

Physiological Validation of an Airborne Ultrasound Based Surface Motion Camera for a Contactless Characterization of Breathing Pattern in Humans.

Characterizing the breathing pattern in naturally breathing humans brings important information on respiratory mechanics, respiratory muscle, and breathing control. However, measuring breathing modifies breathing (observer effect) through the effects of instrumentation and awareness: measuring human breathing under true ecological conditions is currently impossible. This study tested the hypothesis that non-contact vibrometry using airborne ultrasound (SONAR) could measure breathing movements in a contactless and invisible manner. Thus, first, we evaluated the validity of SONAR measurements by testing their interchangeability with pneumotachograph (PNT) measurements obtained at the same time. We also aimed at evaluating the observer effect by comparing breathing variability obtained by SONAR versus SONAR-PNT measurements. Twenty-three healthy subjects (12 men and 11 women; mean age 33 years - range: 20-54) were studied during resting breathing while sitting on a chair. Breathing activity was described in terms of ventilatory flow measured using a PNT and, either simultaneously or sequentially, with a SONAR device measuring the velocity of the surface motion of the chest wall. SONAR was focused either anteriorly on the xiphoid process or posteriorly on the lower part of the costal margin. Discrete ventilatory temporal and volume variables and their coefficients of variability were calculated from the flow signal (PNT) and the velocity signal (SONAR) and tested for interchangeability (Passing-Bablok regression). Tidal volume (VT) and displacement were linearly related. Breathing frequency (BF), total cycle time (TT), inspiratory time (TI), and expiratory time (TE) met interchangeability criteria. Their coefficients of variation were not statistically significantly different with PNT and SONAR-only. This was true for both the anterior and the posterior SONAR measurements. Non-contact vibrometry using airborne ultrasound is a valid tool for measuring resting breathing pattern.

A0 mode interaction with a plate free edge: theory and experiments at very low frequency by thickness product.

When a plane acoustic wave reaches a medium with an impedance infinite or null, it experiences a phase shift of zero or pi and its amplitude on the edge is maximum or vanishes. The case of a flexion wave (A0 Lamb wave) at a free end is also simple; its amplitude is multiplied by a factor 2 square root 2 and the phase shift is pi/2. The evanescent wave at the origin of these phenomena, perfectly described by the classical flexural plate theory, is identified as the imaginary A1 mode of the exact Rayleigh-Lamb theory. The experiences confirm the theoretical predictions.

Acoustic impact localization in plates: properties and stability to temperature variation.

Localizing an impact generated by a simple finger knock on plate-shaped solid objects is made possible in an acoustic time reversal experiment. It is shown that the technique works with a single accelerometer. To better understand the phenomenon and to know exactly the nature of the created waves, a two-dimensional (2-D) elastic simulation is used, showing that in a very good approximation the A0 Lamb mode is the only propagating one. However, it is shown that, within one wavelength distance from the edges, evanescent waves must be taken into account. As a first consequence, the ability to distinguish two neighboring impacts improves when the plate thickness decreases and the frequency increases. As a second consequence, it is expected theoretically that temperature variations lead to a stretching or a contraction of acoustic signatures. The experimental demonstration used a heterodyne interferometer to measure the impulse responses created by a knock on a plate during the cooling. A simple algorithm is shown to perfectly compensate for temperature impacts, which demonstrates the feasibility of the technique for outdoor time reversal interactive experiments.

Non-contact and through-clothing measurement of the heart rate using ultrasound vibrocardiography.

We present a novel non-contact system for monitoring the heart rate on human subjects with clothes. Our approach is based on vibrocardiography, and measures locally skin displacements. Vibrocardiography with a laser Doppler vibrometer already allows monitoring of this vital sign, but can only be used on bare skin and requires an expensive piece of equipment. We propose here to use an airborne pulse-Doppler ultrasound system operating in the 20-60 kHz range, and comprised of an emitter focusing the ultrasound pulses on skin and a microphone recording the reflected waves. Our implementation was validated in vitro and on two healthy human subjects, using simultaneously laser vibrocardiography and electrocardiography as references. Accurate measurements of the heart rate on clothed skin suggest that our non-contact ultrasonic method could be implemented both inside and outside the clinical environment, and therefore benefit both medical and safety applications.