Amit Shelke

Method for Aortic Wall Strain Measurement With Three-Dimensional Ultrasound Speckle Tracking and Fitted Finite Element Analysis

BACKGROUND Aortic wall strains are indicators of biomechanical changes of the aorta due to aging or progressing pathologies such as aortic aneurysm. We investigated the potential of time-resolved three-dimensional ultrasonography coupled with speckle-tracking algorithms and finite element analysis as a novel method for noninvasive in vivo assessment of aortic wall strain. METHODS Three-dimensional volume datasets of 6 subjects without cardiovascular risk factors and 2 abdominal aortic aneurysms were acquired with a commercial real time three-dimensional echocardiography system. Longitudinal and circumferential strains were computed offline with high spatial resolution using a customized commercial speckle-tracking software and finite element analysis. Indices for spatial heterogeneity and systolic dyssynchrony were determined for healthy abdominal aortas and abdominal aneurysms. RESULTS All examined aortic wall segments exhibited considerable heterogenous in-plane strain distributions. Higher spatial resolution of strain imaging resulted in the detection of significantly higher local peak strains (p ≤ 0.01). In comparison with healthy abdominal aortas, aneurysms showed reduced mean strains and increased spatial heterogeneity and more pronounced temporal dyssynchrony as well as delayed systole. CONCLUSIONS Three-dimensional ultrasound speckle tracking enables the analysis of spatially highly resolved strain fields of the aortic wall and offers the potential to detect local aortic wall motion deformations and abnormalities. These data allow the definition of new indices by which the different biomechanical properties of healthy aortas and aortic aneurysms can be characterized.

Mode-selective excitation and detection of ultrasonic guided waves for delamination detection in laminated aluminum plates

Selective modes of guided Lamb waves are generated in a laminated aluminum plate for damage detection using a broadband piezoelectric transducer structured with a rigid electrode. Appropriate excitation frequencies and modes for inspection are selected from theoretical and experimental dispersion curves. Dispersion curves are obtained experimentally by short time Fourier transform of the transient signals. Sensitivity of antisymmetric and symmetric modes for delamination detection are investigated. The antisymmetric mode is found to be more reliable for delamination detection. Unlike other studies, in which the attenuation of the propagating waves is related to the extent of the internal damage, in this investigation, the changes in the time-of-flight (TOF) of guided Lamb waves are related to the damage progression. The mode conversion phenomenon of Lamb waves during progressive delamination is investigated. Close matching between the theoretical and experimentally derived dispersion curves and TOF assures the reliability of the results presented here.

Strain Measurement of Abdominal Aortic Aneurysm with Real-time 3D Ultrasound Speckle Tracking

OBJECTIVES Abdominal aortic aneurysm rupture is caused by mechanical vascular tissue failure. Although mechanical properties within the aneurysm vary, currently available ultrasound methods assess only one cross-sectional segment of the aorta. This study aims to establish real-time 3-dimensional (3D) speckle tracking ultrasound to explore local displacement and strain parameters of the whole abdominal aortic aneurysm. MATERIALS AND METHODS Validation was performed on a silicone aneurysm model, perfused in a pulsatile artificial circulatory system. Wall motion of the silicone model was measured simultaneously with a commercial real-time 3D speckle tracking ultrasound system and either with laser-scan micrometry or with video photogrammetry. After validation, 3D ultrasound data were collected from abdominal aortic aneurysms of five patients and displacement and strain parameters were analysed. RESULTS Displacement parameters measured in vitro by 3D ultrasound and laser scan micrometer or video analysis were significantly correlated at pulse pressures between 40 and 80 mmHg. Strong local differences in displacement and strain were identified within the aortic aneurysms of patients. CONCLUSION Local wall strain of the whole abdominal aortic aneurysm can be analysed in vivo with real-time 3D ultrasound speckle tracking imaging, offering the prospect of individual non-invasive rupture risk analysis of abdominal aortic aneurysms.

Distributed point source method for modeling scattered ultrasonic fields in the presence of an elliptical cavity

Scattering of ultrasonic waves by an elliptical cavity is modeled. The ratio of the semimajor to semiminor axes is varied from 1 to model a cylindrical cavity with a circular cross section to a large value to approximately model a Griffith crack. The distributed point source method (DPSM), which is a Green’s function-based semi-analytical technique, is adapted in the present modeling. DPSM generated results for slit opening and elliptical cavity are compared. In the elliptical cavity model, the entire cavity surface is considered traction free, whereas in the slit model, two parallel crack surfaces are assumed traction free and no special consideration is given to the crack tips. Because a Griffith crack under tensile loads opens like an ellipse, the elliptical cavity with a large semimajor to semiminor axes ratio can be considered as an open Griffith crack. Elliptical cavity model clearly shows large stress values near the crack tips. Earlier DPSM models did not consider these high stress concentrations. The assumption was that it would have negligible effect on the scattering pattern at the far field. The numerical results are presented for a cavity of length 4 mm when bounded ultrasonic beams of 1 and 2.25 MHz frequency strike the solid half-space.

Impact identification in sandwich structures using solitary wave-supporting granular crystal sensors

A new diagnostic method to identify the location and magnitude of external impact on a sandwich structure using granular crystal sensors was studied. The granular crystal sensors are composed of one-dimensional chains of spherical particles that are inserted in a thick core of the sandwich structure. Given an external impact, the embedded sensors generate compact-supported, highly nonlinear solitary waves resulting from the dispersive and nonlinear characteristics of granular crystals. In this study, the propagating mechanism of highly nonlinear solitary waves in relation to various impact conditions was investigated. Particularly, it was reported that the flight time and magnitude of solitary waves are highly sensitive to the location and amplitude of impact. By analyzing measured solitary waves, the striker’s impact location and drop height was successfully predicted nondestructively. It was found that the diagnostic results are in agreement with the numerical simulations obtained from a combined spectr...

Extracting Quantitative Information on Pipe Wall Damage in Absence of Clear Signals From Defect

It has been well established that guided waves are sensitive to structural damages encountered on their path of propagation and for this reason this technique is very efficient for distinguishing defective structural components from defect-free ones. Although the guided wave technique can identify a specimen having a distribution of defects, detecting and quantifying a small defect on its path from a long distance, as required for structural health monitoring (SHM) applications, is not an easy task for the guided wave inspection technique even today, especially when the transducers cannot come in direct contact with the pipe wall. The current technological challenges for pipe inspection by generating guided waves using noncontact transducers are to detect a small defect on the pipe wall and estimate its location and size from a long distance when the reflected signal from the defect cannot be clearly identified as is the case for low frequency guided waves that can propagate long distances. Electro-magnetic acoustic transducers (EMATs) are used here to generate guided waves in the pipe by the noncontact technique. This paper shows how small a defect in a pipe wall can be detected and its location and dimension can be estimated using relatively low frequency guided waves generated and received by EMATs even when the defect signal is not clearly visible in the time history plot because various wave modes reflected from the defect and pipe ends overlap.

VISUALIZATION OF LOCALIZED ELASTIC PROPERTIES IN HUMAN TOOTH AND JAWBONE AS REVEALED BY SCANNING ACOUSTIC MICROSCOPY

The elastic properties of human canine and supporting alveolar bone are measured by the distribution of localized speed of sound using scanning acoustic microscopy. Methods for the dynamic, non-destructive diagnostics of dental hard tissues can have a key role in the early detection of demineralization processes and carious lesions, and they are supposed to open the possibility of early dental restorations. The localized distribution of the ultrasound velocity in canine tooth and alveolar bone was obtained using scanning acoustic microscopy with a 5- and 30-MHz transducer. An acoustic material signature curve signifies the interference of the waves and quantitatively maps the localized speed of sound in alveolar bone and the canine tooth. Seven samples, consisting of alveolar jawbone and tooth sliced along the coronally apical axis, were investigated. The average speed of sound was determined along three independent cross sections at enamel, dentin and cortical bone. The average speed of sound in enamel, bone and dentin was SD 3460 ± 193 m/s, 3232 ± 113 m/s and 2928 ± 106 m/s. The distribution of sound wave propagation reveals a decrease in sound speed from the peripheral parts within the enamel and dentin layers toward the proximal zones. These results prove the possibility of linking the elastic properties to different areas within the osseous and dental hard tissues and visualize them in an extremely high local resolution. The results serve as a basis for further study and substantiate the enormous potential of ultrasound based analysis in the field of dento-alveolar diagnosis.

Impact induced solitary wave propagation through a woodpile structure

In this paper, we investigate solitary wave propagation through a one-dimensional woodpile structure excited by low and high velocity impact. Woodpile structures are a sub-class of granular metamaterial, which supports propagation of nonlinear waves. Hertz contact law governs the behavior of the solitary wave propagation through the granular media. Towards an experimental study, a woodpile structure was fabricated by orthogonally stacking cylindrical rods. A shock tube facility has been developed to launch an impactor on the woodpile structure at a velocity of 30 m s−1. Embedded granular chain sensors were fabricated to study the behavior of the solitary wave. The impact induced stress wave is studied to investigate solitary wave parameters, i.e. contact force, contact time, and solitary wave velocity. With the aid of the experimental setup, numerical simulations, and a theoretical solution based on the long wavelength approximation, formation of the solitary wave in the woodpile structure is validated to a reasonable degree of accuracy. The nondispersive and compact supported solitary waves traveling at sonic wave velocity offer unique properties that could be leveraged for application in nondestructive testing and structural health monitoring.

Mechanical characterization of sintered piezo-electric ceramic material using scanning acoustic microscope

Lead Zirconate Titanate (PZT) is a piezo-electric ceramic material that needs to be characterized for its potential use in microelectronics. Energy dispersive X-ray analysis (EDX) is conducted to determine the chemical composition of the PZT ceramics. The scanning electron microscope (SEM) is performed to study the surface morphology, grain structure and grain boundaries. The SEM image helps us to understand the surface wave propagation and scattering phenomena by the PZT and the reason for its anisotropy and inhomogeneity due to the grain structure. In this paper scanning acoustic microscopy at 100 MHz excitation frequency is conducted for determining mechanical properties of PZT. Earlier works reported only the longitudinal wave speed in PZT while in this paper longitudinal, shear and surface acoustic wave speeds of sintered PZT are measured from its acoustic material signature (AMS) curves, also known as V(z) curves. AMS or V(z) curve is the variation of the output voltage as a function of the distance between the acoustic lens focal point and the reflecting surface. The average velocities of longitudinal, shear and surface acoustic waves in a PZT specimen are determined from its V(z) curve generated at 100 MHz excitation frequency and found to be over 5000 m/s, over 3000 m/s and between 2500 and 3000 m/s, respectively. From these velocities all elastic constants of the specimen are obtained.

Wave guiding and wave modulation using phononic crystal defects

In this article, we address the effect of regular and irregular distribution of phononic lattices on acoustic wave and investigate wave bending and refraction phenomena for some specific patterns of phononic crystals consisting of a square array of polyvinylchloride cylindrical rods in air matrix using finite element model. Bucay et al. have demonstrated that for a given configuration, the striking acoustic beam angle varying between 20° and 40° at 14.1 kHz central frequency shows positive, negative, and zero angle refraction inside phononic crystal and exhibits beam splitting after exiting the phononic crystal. These results are used as the benchmark in this article to validate the proposed model. Transmission spectrum in the phononic crystal has been studied for complete acoustic band gap as well as for positive and negative dispersion bands at frequencies ranging from 1 to 18 kHz. Using this established theory, in this article, the acoustic beam propagation through irregular phononic crystal structures and waveguides are investigated. It can be seen that small irregularity produces significant change in the acoustic field. It is shown that with a localized defect, resonating cavity waveguide is formed in the proposed acoustic metamaterials.