Ultrasonics最新文献

{"title":"Acoustic vortex induced bubble cage: An on-demand light guide in turbid media","authors":"Zong-Han Hsieh ,&nbsp;Ching-Hsiang Fan ,&nbsp;Hsiu-Hui Tu ,&nbsp;Chia-Wen Hu ,&nbsp;Meng-Lin Li ,&nbsp;Chih-Kuang Yeh","doi":"10.1016/j.ultras.2025.107761","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.ultras.2025.107761","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Guiding light in a scattering medium poses significant challenges, thus limiting the use of the optical device. We propose using an acoustic-vortex-induced bubble cage to confine light distribution within scattering media. The acoustic vortex creates a central null-pressure region surrounded by a high-pressure area, forming a ring-shaped bubble cage via cavitation. This structure acts as a light guide, confining photons within the central null during travel. Phantom experiments demonstrate a 50 % reduction in laser beam width and a 16.4 % ±1.0 % improvement in photon fluence. Effective photon confinement requires the laser beam width to match or be smaller than the central null width. It was also explored that a bubble cage acts as an optical lens, which can focus and steer photons. This technique offers reversible, on-demand, and non-contact photon manipulation in scattering mediums.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":23522,"journal":{"name":"Ultrasonics","volume":"156 ","pages":"Article 107761"},"PeriodicalIF":3.8,"publicationDate":"2025-07-09","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144614912","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"物理与天体物理","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Impact of low-amplitude pulse interspersed with histotripsy treatment of Staphylococcus aureus biofilms on Surgical Mesh","authors":"Timothy A. Bigelow ,&nbsp;Andrew C. Petersen ,&nbsp;Dingiswayo A. Chikhwaza ,&nbsp;Huaiqing Wu ,&nbsp;Hongbo Yu ,&nbsp;Kalpana Gupta ,&nbsp;Kamal M.F. Itani","doi":"10.1016/j.ultras.2025.107730","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.ultras.2025.107730","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Ultrasound histotripsy has shown great potential for destroying bacteria biofilms on hernia mesh. The therapy could be further enhanced by reducing the necessary treatment times. In this study, we evaluated the inclusion of a low-amplitude pulse spaced between each of the high-amplitude histotripsy pulses on the effectiveness of the therapy for different treatment durations. The low-amplitude pulse consisted of between 20 and 500 cycles at 1.05 MHz with rarefactional pressure amplitudes varying from 0 (no low-amplitude pulse) to −1.9 MPa. The scan speed was varied as 0.2 <span><math><mrow><mi>mm</mi><mo>/</mo><mi>s</mi></mrow></math></span>, 0.8 <span><math><mrow><mi>mm</mi><mo>/</mo><mi>s</mi></mrow></math></span>, and 1.5 <span><math><mrow><mi>mm</mi><mo>/</mo><mi>s</mi></mrow></math></span> (0.18 BW/<span><math><mi>s</mi></math></span>, 0.72 BW/<span><math><mi>s</mi></math></span>, 1.35 BW/<span><math><mi>s</mi></math></span> where BW is beamwidth). The step size between scan lines was 0.2 mm or 0.4 mm (0.18 BW and 0.36 BW). The pulse repetition frequency (PRF) was varied between 62.5 and 500 Hz with the low-amplitude pulses (if present) positioned <span><math><mrow><mn>500</mn><mspace></mspace><mi>μ</mi><mi>s</mi></mrow></math></span> after the histotripsy pulses. The number of colony-forming units on the mesh samples was significantly reduced when a low-amplitude pulse was included between the therapy pulses provided the mechanical index (MI) of the low-amplitude pulse exceeded 1.5. Slower scan speeds also increased biofilm destruction, but the effect was much less pronounced except for very slow scan speeds of 0.18 BW/<span><math><mi>s</mi></math></span>. Thus, the use of secondary pulses reduced treatment times from 20.9 <span><math><mrow><mi>min</mi><mo>/</mo><msup><mrow><mi>cm</mi></mrow><mrow><mn>2</mn></mrow></msup></mrow></math></span> to 2.78 <span><math><mrow><mi>min</mi><mo>/</mo><msup><mrow><mi>cm</mi></mrow><mrow><mn>2</mn></mrow></msup></mrow></math></span>. Varying the PRF had no impact when the secondary pulse was not included, but biofilm destruction increased at higher PRFs when a secondary pulse was present. The number of cycles in the secondary pulse also had little impact over the range of values tested.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":23522,"journal":{"name":"Ultrasonics","volume":"156 ","pages":"Article 107730"},"PeriodicalIF":3.8,"publicationDate":"2025-07-05","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144571367","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"物理与天体物理","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Ultrasonic-enhanced flocculation and sedimentation of lead-zinc tailings: mechanisms and efficiency improvements","authors":"Yong Shi ,&nbsp;Bokun Zheng ,&nbsp;Wei Lai ,&nbsp;Jia Sheng ,&nbsp;Liang Peng ,&nbsp;Hongning Qi ,&nbsp;Jian Zhou","doi":"10.1016/j.ultras.2025.107751","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.ultras.2025.107751","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>As global mining activities continue to increase, the accumulation of tailings presents significant environmental and social challenges. Traditional tailings treatment methods often struggle with efficiency and cost-effectiveness. Recently, ultrasonic technology has emerged as a novel and efficient approach, showing the potential to enhance the flocculation and sedimentation processes of mineral tailings. This study aims to investigate the mechanisms by which ultrasonic treatment enhances the flocculation of lead–zinc tailings. The research examines changes in particle properties, floc structure, and filter cake filtration performance of lead–zinc tailings under different flocculant systems before and after ultrasonic treatment. The results demonstrate that ultrasonic treatment significantly increases the contact angle of tailing particles, indicating enhanced surface hydrophobicity. Specifically, the contact angle increased from 52.0° in untreated tailings to a maximum of 66.5° after ultrasonic treatment with the addition of flocculants. Furthermore, zeta potential measurements reveal that the absolute value of the zeta potential decreased from −31.31 mV to −28.69 mV, −21.23 mV, and −14.59 mV after ultrasonic treatment with flocculants 02, 06, and 10 s, respectively, facilitating particle aggregation. Adsorption tests show increased flocculant adsorption on particle surfaces after ultrasonic treatment, promoting better flocculation. The ultrasonic treatment reduces the viscosity and surface tension of the filtrate, forming a more stable flocculation system and improving filtration efficiency. Moreover, the study found that ultrasonic treatment significantly increases the size and strength of flocs. These findings provide a comprehensive understanding of the interactions between tailing particles under ultrasonic action and offer valuable insights into the efficient treatment of tailings in mining operations.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":23522,"journal":{"name":"Ultrasonics","volume":"156 ","pages":"Article 107751"},"PeriodicalIF":3.8,"publicationDate":"2025-07-05","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144579384","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"物理与天体物理","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Specific Filtered Delay Multiply and Sum beamforming for coherent multi-transducer ultrasound imaging","authors":"Paul Dryburgh ,&nbsp;Daniele Mazierli ,&nbsp;Joseph V. Hajnal ,&nbsp;Piero Tortoli ,&nbsp;Alessandro Ramalli ,&nbsp;Laura Peralta","doi":"10.1016/j.ultras.2025.107731","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.ultras.2025.107731","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Coherent multi-transducer ultrasound (CoMTUS) imaging enables the use of multiple arrays as one large effective aperture yielding images with enlarged field-of-view, improved resolution, and higher signal-to-noise ratio. However, creating a large but discontinuous effective aperture increases the grating and sidelobe levels, and generates cross-talk artifacts between arrays. These additional challenges can degrade the contrast of the images obtained through the classic Delay and Sum (DAS) beamforming algorithm.</div><div>This study investigates the possibility to improve contrast and reduce artifacts in CoMTUS by using an alternative nonlinear beamforming algorithm, the Filtered Delay Multiply and Sum (F-DMAS). We implemented a specific F-DMAS beamforming algorithm for CoMTUS considering the resulting effective aperture and tested its performance in a coherent dual-array system for 2-D imaging. The comparison between CoMTUS images obtained through F-DMAS and DAS was investigated by both simulations and experiments, including in vivo results. For a typical dual-probe configuration, CoMTUS specific F-DMAS was shown to be effective at lowering the sidelobes and the noise floor, resulting in better quality B-mode images with improved sidelobe suppression (first sidelobe amplitude decreased from -13.0 dB to -24.7 dB; side-lobe-to-main-lobe energy ratio decreased from 9.3 dB to 1.9 dB).</div></div>","PeriodicalId":23522,"journal":{"name":"Ultrasonics","volume":"155 ","pages":"Article 107731"},"PeriodicalIF":3.8,"publicationDate":"2025-07-04","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144570330","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"物理与天体物理","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Characterizing ultrasonic standing wave fields by schlieren imaging","authors":"Frederike S.L. Wörtche,&nbsp;Fabian Maucher,&nbsp;Martijn Mooiweer,&nbsp;Gerard J. Verbiest,&nbsp;Peter G. Steeneken","doi":"10.1016/j.ultras.2025.107743","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.ultras.2025.107743","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Schlieren imaging is a widely applied optical technique for visualizing small refractive index changes in transparent media. An emerging application of schlieren is real-time monitoring and optimization of ultrasound pressure fields for acoustic levitation applications. However, the typically nonlinear relationship between the schlieren intensity and the pressure field complicates deducing the latter from the former. Here, we propose a method to remove this nonlinear relationship, thereby permitting a more quantitative analysis of the pressure variations in the levitation field. By exploiting the harmonic nature of the pressure field using phase-shifted stroboscopic schlieren images we extract the linear part of the schlieren intensity. This linear part is proportional to the instantaneous pressure gradient. The method is successfully employed experimentally and validated by comparing it to simulated acoustic levitation fields. Thereby, our work paves the way towards an improved quantitative analysis of periodic schlieren images that is easily implemented and is particularly suitable for the analysis of ultrasound pressure fields for acoustic levitation applications.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":23522,"journal":{"name":"Ultrasonics","volume":"156 ","pages":"Article 107743"},"PeriodicalIF":3.8,"publicationDate":"2025-07-04","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144587740","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"物理与天体物理","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Feasibility of using focused acoustic vortex for enhancing transdermal delivery","authors":"Chih-Hsien Li ,&nbsp;Chuan-Wei Kuo ,&nbsp;Ching-Hsiang Fan","doi":"10.1016/j.ultras.2025.107747","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.ultras.2025.107747","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Transdermal delivery is a convenient and noninvasive route for drug administration across several medical applications. However, its efficacy is significantly hindered by the barrier function of the skin stratum corneum. Previous studies have investigated various ultrasound-based configurations for noninvasively enhancing transdermal drug penetration; however, the requirements for prolonged sonication, high energy levels, and microbubble cavitation have raised safety concerns. This study proposed a 1-MHz focused acoustic vortex (FAV) approach that overcomes these limitations. The FAV approach applies phase dislocations to generate sound waves that travel in a spiral motion around the beam axis, producing localized vortical flow with high shear stress. The results indicate that FAV could instantaneously induce vortical flow with a diameter of 2.4 mm that stabilizes within 10 s. Peak streaming velocity, measured at 1.6 ± 0.4 mm/s, was achieved at acoustic pressure of 1 MPa and a duty cycle of 60 %. Under these parameters, sonication for 3 min significantly enhanced the penetration depths of Evans blue (EB, 960 Da, hydrophilic) dye and fluorescein isothiocyanate-labeled dextran (4000, and 150 000 Da, hydrophilic) in porcine skins, increasing them 3.3-fold and 2.1-fold, respectively, compared with conventional focused ultrasound. Moreover, FAV also doubled the penetration depth of EB in rat skins in comparison to regular focused ultrasound (1 MPa, duty cycle of 60 %, 3 min sonication duration) without inducing temperature elevation and inertial cavitation <em>in vivo.</em> This technique enables the permeabilization of the stratum corneum, improving drug penetration of transdermal delivery without the adverse effects associated with cavitation in microbubble methods.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":23522,"journal":{"name":"Ultrasonics","volume":"156 ","pages":"Article 107747"},"PeriodicalIF":3.8,"publicationDate":"2025-07-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144570570","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"物理与天体物理","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Rectangular sparse array with equal transmit-receive element counts for 3D ultrasound imaging","authors":"Heechul Yoon ,&nbsp;Sua Bae ,&nbsp;Jae Song","doi":"10.1016/j.ultras.2025.107748","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.ultras.2025.107748","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>2-D arrays which enable dynamic focusing and steering capability in the 3-D space offer clinical benefits over 1-D arrays in volumetric imaging, but also present challenges associated with massive element counts. Various sparse array designs have been proposed to drive 2-D arrays at reduced cost, while minimizing degradation in beam patterns by effectively suppressing grating and side lobes. Deterministic sparse arrays, which produce layouts based on equations or pre-determined patterns with radial, spiral, or rectangular shapes, are designed to have different density for both transmit and receive arrays to suppress grating lobes. As a result, for most designs, a pair of designed layouts requires an unequal number of active elements. This means that customized systems are needed to operate such arrays since ultrasound imaging systems often come with an equal number of transmit and receive channels. Here, a new deterministic design method is presented that produces a pair of layouts with equal element counts. Our method is based on rectangular sparse arrays where two 1-D sparse patterns are applied orthogonally to x- and y-axis. Specifically, one 1-D pattern is first applied to the x-axis of the transmit array while the other 1-D pattern is applied to the y-axis. For the receive array, the later 1-D pattern is applied to the x-axis, and the former to the y-axis. Two arrays based on 64 × 64 and 64 × 32 footprints were designed, and their performance was assessed via a series of simulations and compared to previous methods and fully sampled arrays.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":23522,"journal":{"name":"Ultrasonics","volume":"155 ","pages":"Article 107748"},"PeriodicalIF":3.8,"publicationDate":"2025-07-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144549521","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"物理与天体物理","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Design and fabrication of a focused ultrasound transducer with an Airy beam-enabled binary acoustic metasurface","authors":"Chao Jiang ,&nbsp;Huanqing Cao ,&nbsp;Yehai Li ,&nbsp;Shuxiao Zhang ,&nbsp;Linbing Huang ,&nbsp;De Meng ,&nbsp;Wei Feng ,&nbsp;Shifeng Guo","doi":"10.1016/j.ultras.2025.107746","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.ultras.2025.107746","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>The unique self-healing and self-bending properties of acoustic Airy beams enable promising applications in imaging and therapeutic interventions, particularly in scenarios involving obstacles. In this study, we designed and fabricated a 3 MHz focused ultrasound transducer integrated with a binary acoustic metasurface for Airy beam generation using 3D-printing technology. Finite element simulations of the acoustic field distribution demonstrated that the metasurface exhibits broadband frequency adaptability for stable focusing. To address impedance mismatch between the sound source and metasurface, a quartz glass intermediate matching layer was incorporated. Two material systems—red wax epoxy resin and ethylene–vinyl acetate copolymer (EVA)—were selectively 3D-printed to construct the binary metasurface. Experimental validation through acoustic field scanning and focused ablation tests confirmed the transducer’s exceptional focusing capability and obstacle-penetrating self-healing performance. These results highlight its potential for ultrasound-guided interventions, such as tumor ablation and imaging in complex anatomical environments with obstructing structures.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":23522,"journal":{"name":"Ultrasonics","volume":"155 ","pages":"Article 107746"},"PeriodicalIF":3.8,"publicationDate":"2025-06-30","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144535117","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"物理与天体物理","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Adiabatic Lamb modes in 3D tapered waveguides: Cut-off effects and ZGV resonances","authors":"Alexandre Yoshitaka Charau ,&nbsp;Jérôme Laurent ,&nbsp;Tony Valier-Brasier","doi":"10.1016/j.ultras.2025.107733","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.ultras.2025.107733","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>This paper aims to enhance our understanding of the physical behavior of adiabatic modes in inhomogeneous elastic plates, particularly their remarkable capacity to adapt to gradual perturbations. The study investigates the propagation characteristics of higher-order adiabatic Lamb modes in waveguides with linearly varying thickness, with a focus on the influence of critical thicknesses on their propagation. This is achieved by leveraging the broadband excitation capabilities of a pulsed laser generating higher order Lamb modes to reveal various critical thicknesses, such as the cut-off and Zero-Group Velocity (ZGV) thicknesses. Remarkably, ZGV resonances can be induced at locations well beyond the laser source. Moreover, the mode’s behavior is strongly influenced by thickness variations in all directions, imparting the plate an anisotropic-like behavior. Additionally, based on the observed effects, our experimental approach enables precise reconstruction of elastic waveguide profiles in additively manufactured aluminum plates with such thickness variations. The reconstructed profiles show a strong correlation with reference measurements across the scanned area.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":23522,"journal":{"name":"Ultrasonics","volume":"155 ","pages":"Article 107733"},"PeriodicalIF":3.8,"publicationDate":"2025-06-28","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144549522","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"物理与天体物理","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"SAFE method for dispersion characteristics of fluid-saturated porous media with arbitrary cross sections","authors":"Hongyan Zhang ,&nbsp;Peng Zuo ,&nbsp;Jian Li ,&nbsp;Zhoumo Zeng ,&nbsp;Yang Liu","doi":"10.1016/j.ultras.2025.107745","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.ultras.2025.107745","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Understanding the dispersion characteristics of guided waves is crucial for the application of ultrasonic guided wave method in fluid-saturated porous media. In this paper, the Semi-Analytical Finite Element (SAFE) method is applied to analyze the dispersion characteristics in fluid-saturated porous media. We derive the SAFE equations for fluid-saturated porous media and reformulate them into the standard Finite Element (FE) eigenvalue form that can be solved using COMSOL Multiphysics. Unlike the simple boundaries of elastic waveguides (such as free or rigid boundaries), the boundary conditions of fluid-saturated porous media present an additional challenge in the analysis of guided wave problems. We also derive the open-pore and closed-pore boundary conditions for fluid-saturated porous media and reformulate them into standard FE form. On this basis, we analyzed the causes of high-attenuation modes, wave structures, energy distribution, and the effects of surface treatment methods. The proposed method is first validated on waveguides with regular cross sections. Furthermore, we apply the SAFE method to L-shaped fluid-saturated porous bar for which there is no analytical solution, demonstrating the unique advantages of the SAFE method in solving the dispersion characteristics of irregular fluid-saturated porous media.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":23522,"journal":{"name":"Ultrasonics","volume":"155 ","pages":"Article 107745"},"PeriodicalIF":3.8,"publicationDate":"2025-06-28","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144517638","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"物理与天体物理","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}