Thickness dependences of acoustic bandgaps with different generation mechanisms in phononic crystals immersed in water.

The thickness dependences of acoustic bandgaps were theoretically and experimentally investigated in two-dimensional phononic crystals (PCs) immersed in water. The acoustic pressure transmission coefficients were measured as a function of the PC thickness in order to understand the characteristics of the transmission loss through the PCs. The acoustic bandgaps can be classified into two types of generation mechanisms from the perspective of acoustic diffraction modes: Bragg bandgap and non-zeroth order diffraction (NZOD) bandgap. The NZOD bandgaps show larger transmission losses and shorter decay lengths with increasing PC thickness than the Bragg bandgaps.

Zeroth-order resonance phenomenon in an acoustic composite right/left-handed metamaterial resonator.

This study proposes an acoustic theory that describes the resonance phenomena in a resonator made of acoustic composite right/left-handed (CRLH) metamaterials, and verifies it through numerical simulation. The established theory for a microwave CRLH metamaterial resonator is adapted to explain the resonance phenomena in an acoustic CRLH metamaterial resonator. In particular, attention is focused on the zeroth-order resonance phenomenon which has several interesting properties. When a resonator is composed of a CRLH metamaterial, a resonance with a flat acoustic field distribution may occur at one of the frequencies where the wavenumber becomes zero. This resonance is called zeroth-order resonance. Through numerical simulation, such unusual resonance phenomenon in acoustics is observed in more detail and the proposed theory is verified. The results of the theory and the numerical simulation clearly show that zeroth-order resonance can exist at those frequencies where the acoustic field distribution is flat due to infinite wavelength. It is also shown that the resonance frequency and the Q factor of this resonance depend on the boundary condition at both ends of the resonator, and they basically do not change even when the number of units is reduced or increased.

Relationships of the group velocity of the time-reversed Lamb wave with bone properties in cortical bone in vitro.

The present study aims to investigate the feasibility of using the time-reversed Lamb wave as a new method for noninvasive characterization of long cortical bones. The group velocity of the time-reversed Lamb wave launched by using the modified time reversal method was measured in 15 bovine tibiae, and their correlations with the bone properties of the tibia were examined. The group velocity of the time-reversed Lamb wave showed significant positive correlations with the bone properties (r=0.55-0.81). The best univariate predictor of the group velocity of the time-reversed Lamb wave was the cortical thickness, yielding an adjusted squared correlation coefficient (r2) of 0.64. These results imply that the group velocity of the time-reversed Lamb wave, in addition to the velocities of the first arriving signal and the slow guided wave, could potentially be used as a discriminator for osteoporosis.

Characterization of the geometry of microscale periodic structures using acoustic microscopy.

Periodic structures are very common in both scientific investigations and engineering applications. The geometry of the periodic structure is important for its designed functionality. Although the techniques such as optical and electron microscopy are capable of measuring the periodicity of microscale periodically-corrugated structures, they cannot be used to measure the height or depth of the corrugation. The technique of acoustic microscopy has been developed rapidly and it has been applied in the studies of steel integrated structures, ferro-elastic ceramics, human retina, semiconductors, composites, etc. In acoustic microscopy, V(z) curves have been used to investigate the visco-elastic parameters of thin sliced samples of composites, animal tissue, etc., while in this work it is applied in characterizing the geometry of periodically corrugated structures. The measurements of the geometry of periodic structures obtained using acoustic microscopy are compared with those obtained using optical microscopy, and the reliability of this acoustic technique is also examined.

Direct exfoliation and dispersion of two-dimensional materials in pure water via temperature control.

The high-volume synthesis of two-dimensional (2D) materials in the form of platelets is desirable for various applications. While water is considered an ideal dispersion medium, due to its abundance and low cost, the hydrophobicity of platelet surfaces has prohibited its widespread use. Here we exfoliate 2D materials directly in pure water without using any chemicals or surfactants. In order to exfoliate and disperse the materials in water, we elevate the temperature of the sonication bath, and introduce energy via the dissipation of sonic waves. Storage stability greater than one month is achieved through the maintenance of high temperatures, and through atomic and molecular level simulations, we further discover that good solubility in water is maintained due to the presence of platelet surface charges as a result of edge functionalization or intrinsic polarity. Finally, we demonstrate inkjet printing on hard and flexible substrates as a potential application of water-dispersed 2D materials.

Propagation of time-reversed Lamb waves in bovine cortical bone in vitro.

The present study aims to investigate the propagation of time-reversed Lamb waves in bovine cortical bone in vitro. The time-reversed Lamb waves were successfully launched at 200 kHz in 18 bovine tibiae through a time reversal process of Lamb waves. The group velocities of the time-reversed Lamb waves in the bovine tibiae were measured using the axial transmission technique. They showed a significant correlation with the cortical thickness and tended to follow the theoretical group velocity of the lowest order antisymmetrical Lamb wave fairly well, consistent with the behavior of the slow guided wave in long cortical bones.

Correlations between ultrasonic guided wave velocities and bone properties in bovine tibia in vitro.

Correlations between ultrasonic guided wave velocities and bone properties were investigated in bovine tibia in vitro. The velocities of the first arriving signal and the slow guided wave, termed V(FAS) and V(SGW), along the long axis of the tibia were measured at 200 kHz in 20 bovine tibiae using the axial transmission technique. V(FAS) yielded significant negative correlation coefficients of -0.54 to -0.66 with the bone properties. In contrast, V(SGW) yielded strong positive correlation coefficients of 0.68-0.84. The best univariate predictor of V(FAS) and V(SGW) was the cortical thickness yielding adjusted squared correlation coefficients of 0.41 and 0.69, respectively.

Nonlinear parameter estimation in water-saturated sandy sediment with difference frequency acoustic wave.

Difference frequency acoustic wave from nonlinear interaction of two primary acoustic waves at frequencies of 76 and 114 kHz was utilized with a parametric acoustic array theory to estimate the nonlinearity parameter of water-saturated sandy sediment. Such nonlinearity parameter can be used as background information for the nonlinear acoustic investigation of bottom or sub-bottom profiling in the ocean sandy sediments. Because of its lower attenuation the difference frequency acoustic wave method can be usefully applied to estimate the nonlinearity parameter of ocean sediment in the ocean as well as under laboratory conditions. The nonlinearity parameter beta for the water-saturated sandy sediment used as a reference in this study was estimated as beta=80.5+/-5.1 at the difference frequency of 38 kHz. It was agreed very well with that estimated at the difference frequency of 67 kHz, when two primary frequencies were 137 and 204 kHz. The estimated nonlinearity parameter of water-saturated sandy sediment in this study was also compared and analyzed with those estimated in previously published literatures. It was suggested that the difference frequency wave method used to estimate the nonlinearity parameter of water-saturated sandy sediment can be employed as a good method to estimate the nonlinearity parameters of fluid-like granular media.

Predictions of the modified Biot-Attenborough model for the dependence of phase velocity on porosity in cancellous bone.

The modified Biot-Attenborough (MBA) model for acoustic wave propagation in porous media has been found useful to predict wave properties in cancellous bone. The present study is aimed at applying the MBA model to predict the dependence of phase velocity on porosity in cancellous bone. The MBA model predicts a phase velocity that decreases nonlinearly with porosity. The optimum values for input parameters of the MBA model, such as compressional speed c(m) of solid bone and phase velocity parameter s(2), were determined by comparing the predictions with previously published measurements in human calcaneus and bovine cancellous bone. The value of the phase velocity parameter s(2)=1.23 was obtained by curve fitting to the experimental data for 53 human calcaneus samples only, assuming a compressional speed c(m)=2500 m/s of solid bone. The root-mean-square error (RMSE) of the curve fit was 15.3m/s. The optimized value of s(2) for all 75 cancellous bone samples including 22 bovine samples was 1.42 with a value of 55 m/s for the RMSE of the curve fit. The latter fit was obtained by using of a value of c(m)=3200 m/s. Although the MBA model relies on the empirical parameters determined from experimental data, it is expected that the model can be usefully employed as a practical tool in the field of clinical ultrasonic bone assessment.

Frequency dependencies of phase velocity and attenuation coefficient in a water-saturated sandy sediment from 0.3 to 1.0 MHz.

The frequency-dependent phase velocity and attenuation coefficient for the fast longitudinal wave in a water-saturated sandy sediment were measured over the frequency range from 0.3 to 1.0 MHz. The experimental data of phase velocity exhibited the significant negative dispersion, with the mean rate of decline of 120 +/- 20 m/s/MHz. The Biot model predicted the approximately nondispersive phase velocity and the grain-shearing (GS) model exhibited the slightly positive dispersion. In contrast, the predictions of the multiple scattering models for the negative dispersion in the glass-grain composite were in general agreement with the experimental data for the water-saturated sandy sediment measured here. The experimental data of attenuation coefficient was found to increase nonlinearly with frequency from 0.3 to 1.0 MHz. However, both the Biot and the GS models yielded the attenuation coefficient increasing almost linearly with frequency. The total attenuation coefficient given by the algebraic sum of absorption and scattering components showed a reasonable agreement with the experimental data for overall frequencies. This study suggests that the scattering is the principal mechanism responsible for the variations of phase velocity and attenuation coefficient with frequency in water-saturated sandy sediments at high frequencies.

Experimental study on subharmonic and ultraharmonic acoustic waves in water-saturated sandy sediment.

Experimental observations of the subharmonic and ultraharmonic acoustic waves in water-saturated sandy sediment are reported in this paper. Acoustic pressures of both nonlinear acoustic waves strongly depend on the driving acoustic pressure at a transducer. The first ultraharmonic wave reaches a saturation value as the driving acoustic pressure increases. The acoustic pressure levels of both nonlinear acoustic waves exhibit some fluctuations in comparison with that of the primary acoustic wave as the receiving distance of hydrophone increases in sediment. The subharmonic and the ultraharmonic phenomena in this study show close resemblance to those produced in bubbly water.

Acousto-mechanical and thermal properties of clotted blood.

The efficacy of ultrasound-assisted thrombolysis as an adjunct treatment of ischemic stroke is being widely investigated. To determine the role of ultrasound hyperthermia in the process of blood clot disruption, the acousto-mechanical and thermal properties of clotted blood were measured in vitro, namely, density, speed of sound, frequency-dependent attenuation, specific heat, and thermal conductivity. The amplitude coefficient of attenuation of the clots was determined for 120 kHz, 1.0 MHz, and 3.5 MHz ultrasound at room temperature (20 +/- 2 degrees C). The attenuation coefficient ranged from 0.10 to 0.30 Np/cm in porcine clots and from 0.09 to 0.23 Np/cm in human clots. The experimentally determined values of specific heat and thermal conductivity for porcine clotted blood are (3.2 +/- 0.5) x 10(3) J/kg x K and 0.55 +/- 0.13 W/m x K, respectively, and for human clotted blood are (3.5 +/- 0.8) x 10(3) J/kg x K and 0.59 +/- 0.11 W/m x K, respectively. Measurements of the acousto-mechanical and thermal properties of clotted blood can be helpful in theoretical modeling of ultrasound hyperthermia in ultrasound-assisted thrombolysis and other high-intensity focused ultrasound applications.

Comparison of acoustic characteristics predicted by Biot's theory and the modified Biot-Attenborough model in cancellous bone.

Biot's theory and the modified Biot-Attenborough (MBA) model are applied to predict the dependences of acoustic characteristics on frequency and on porosity in cancellous bone. The phase velocities and the attenuation coefficients predicted by both theories are compared with the experimental data of bovine cancellous bone specimens published in the literature. Biot's theory successfully predicts the dependences of the phase velocity on frequency and on porosity in cancellous bone, whereas a significant discrepancy is observed between the predicted and the measured attenuation coefficients. The MBA model agrees well with the frequency and the porosity dependences of the phase velocity and the attenuation coefficient experimentally measured in bovine bones. Although the MBA model relies on phenomenological parameters derived from the experimental data, its approach to cancellous bone can be usefully employed in the field of clinical ultrasonic bone assessment.

Feasibility of bone assessment with leaky Lamb waves in bone phantoms and a bovine tibia.

In this study, the effect of cortical thickness variation on the propagation of leaky Lamb waves is investigated by using an axial transmission technique commonly used to characterize long bones. Three Lucite plates with thicknesses of 1, 3, and 5 mm as bone phantoms and one bovine tibia with a cortical thickness of 2 mm were used at various low frequencies. Experimental measurements in bone phantoms show that the peak frequency and amplitude of excited Lamb modes strongly depend on the thickness of the Lucite plate. In the bovine tibia, the S0 and A0 Lamb modes are consistently observed in the frequency-thickness region from 0.2 to 1.0 MHz mm, and can be effectively launched at a frequency of 200 kHz, suggesting 200 kHz to be the optimal signal frequency for in vivo clinical applications. It can be also seen that both modes are affected by the frequency-thickness product, but the effect is greater for the A0 mode. Hence, the A0 Lamb mode seems more sensitive to cortical thickness change due to aging and osteoporosis. This study suggests that the use of leaky Lamb waves is feasible for ultrasonic bone assessment.

Acoustic diagnosis for porous medium with circular cylindrical pores.

Acoustic transmission coefficient and phase velocity of a Lucite slab with circular cylindrical pores with a nonrigid pore frame were experimentally and theoretically investigated. For theoretical investigation a new phenomenological model, the modified Biot-Attenborough (MBA) model, was proposed. The MBA model takes into account both the first kind and the second kind of waves introduced by Biot. It also separately considers viscous and thermal effects with three new phenomenological parameters: boundary, phase velocity, and impedance parameters. The theoretical estimation with three phenomenological parameters shows reasonably good agreement with the experimental data. The physical characteristics of porous medium such as porosity and pore size can be inversely analyzed in terms of the acoustic data such as the transmission coefficient and phase velocity as the functions of porosity and frequency. This makes acoustic diagnosis possible for noninvasively investigating physical characteristics of porous media such as bones and ocean sediments.

Acoustic wave propagation in bovine cancellous bone: application of the Modified Biot-Attenborough model.

Acoustic wave propagation in bovine cancellous bone is experimentally and theoretically investigated in the frequency range of 0.5-1 MHz. The phase velocity, attenuation coefficient, and broadband ultrasonic attenuation (BUA) of bovine cancellous bone are measured as functions of frequency and porosity. For theoretical estimation, the Modified Biot-Attenborough (MBA) model is employed with three new phenomenological parameters: the boundary condition, phase velocity, and impedance parameters. The MBA model is based on the idealization of cancellous bone as a nonrigid porous medium with circular cylindrical pores oriented normal to the surface. It is experimentally observed that the phase velocity is approximately nondispersive and the attenuation coefficient linearly increases with frequency. The MBA model predicts a slightly negative dispersion of phase velocity linearly with frequency and the nonlinear relationships of attenuation and BUA with porosity. The experimental results are in good agreement with the theoretical results estimated with the MBA model. It is expected that the MBA model can be usefully employed in the field of clinical bone assessment for the diagnosis of osteoporosis.

Correlations between acoustic properties and bone density in bovine cancellous bone from 0.5 to 2 MHz.

Correlations between acoustic properties and bone density were investigated in the 12 defatted bovine cancellous bone specimens in vitro. Speed of sound (SOS) and broadband ultrasonic attenuation (BUA) were measured in three different frequency bandwidths from 0.5 to 2 MHz using three matched pairs of transducers with the center frequencies of 1, 2.25, and 3.5 MHz. The relative orientation between ultrasonic beam and bone specimen was the mediolateral (ML) direction of the bovine tibia. SOS shows significant linear positive correlation with apparent density for all three pairs of transducers. However, BUA shows relatively weak correlation with apparent density. SOS and BUA are only weakly correlated with each other. The linear combination of SOS and BUA in a multiple regression model leads to a significant improvement in predicting apparent density. The correlations among SOS, BUA, and bone density can be effectively and clearly represented in the three-dimensional space by the multiple regression model. These results suggest that the frequency range up to 1.5 MHz and the multiple regression model in the three-dimensional space can be useful in the osteoporosis diagnosis.