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Ultrasonic characterization of human cancellous bone using the Biot theory: Inverse problem

This paper concerns the ultrasonic characterization of human cancellous bone samples by solving the inverse problem using experimental transmitted signals. The ultrasonic propagation in cancellous bone is modeled using the Biot theory modified by the Johnson et al. model for viscous exchange between fluid and structure. The sensitivity of the Young modulus and the Poisson ratio of the skeletal frame is studied showing their effect on the fast and slow wave forms. The inverse problem is solved numerically by the least squares method. Five parameters are inverted: the porosity, tortuosity, viscous characteristic length, Young modulus, and Poisson ratio of the skeletal frame. The minimization of the discrepancy between experiment and theory is made in the time domain. The inverse problem is shown to be well posed, and its solution to be unique. Experimental results for slow and fast waves transmitted through human cancellous bone samples are given and compared with theoretical predictions.

Application of fractional calculus to ultrasonic wave propagation in human cancellous bone

Ultrasonic wave propagation in human cancellous bone is considered. Fractional calculus is used to describe the viscous interactions between fluid and solid structure. Reflection and transmission scattering operators are derived for a slab of cancellous bone in the elastic frame using Blots theory. Experimental results are compared with theoretical predictions for slow and fast waves transmitted through human cancellous bone samples.

Measuring flow resistivity of porous materials at low frequencies range via acoustic transmitted waves

An acoustic transmissivity method is proposed for measuring flow resistivity of porous materials having rigid frame. Flow resistivity of porous material is defined as the ratio between the pressure difference across a sample and the velocity of flow of air through that sample per unit cube. The proposed method is based on a temporal model of the direct and inverse scattering problem for the diffusion of transient low-frequency waves in a homogeneous isotropic slab of porous material having a rigid frame. The transmission scattering operator for a slab of porous material is derived from the response of the medium to an incident acoustic pulse. The flow resistivity is determined from the solution of the inverse problem. The minimization between experiment and theory is made in the time domain. Tests are performed using industrial plastic foams. Experimental and numerical results, and prospects are discussed.

Biot theory and stress-strain equations in porous sound-absorbing materials

The Biot model has been used extensively for the last 30 years. The equations of continuity of the models traditionally used to predict the acoustical properties of sound‐absorbing materials are compared here to simplified expressions obtained from the Biot model. From this comparison, it is possible to point out inconsistencies in traditional models.

Transient ultrasound propagation in porous media using Biot theory and fractional calculus: application to human cancellous bone.

A temporal model based on the Biot theory is developed to describe the transient ultrasonic propagation in porous media with elastic structure, in which the viscous exchange between fluid and structure are described by fractional derivatives. The fast and slow waves obey a fractional wave equation in the time domain. The solution of Biots equations in time depends on the Green functions of each of the waves (fast and slow), and their fractional derivatives. The reflection and transmission operators for a slab of porous materials are derived in the time domain, using calculations in the Laplace domain. Their analytical expressions, depend on Greens function of fast and slow waves. Experimental results for slow and fast waves transmitted through human cancellous bone samples are given and compared with theoretical predictions.

Reconstruction of material properties profiles in one-dimensional macroscopically inhomogeneous rigid frame porous media in the frequency domain.

The present paper deals with the inverse scattering problem involving macroscopically inhomogeneous rigid frame porous media. It consists of the recovery, from acoustic measurements, of the profiles of spatially varying material parameters by means of an optimization approach. The resolution is based on the modeling of acoustic wave propagation in macroscopically inhomogeneous rigid frame porous materials, which was recently derived from the generalized Biots theory. In practice, the inverse problem is solved by minimizing an objective function defined in the least-square sense by the comparison of the calculated reflection (and transmission) coefficient(s) with the measured or synthetic one(s), affected or not by additive Gaussian noise. From an initial guess, the profiles of the x-dependent material parameters are reconstructed iteratively with the help of a standard conjugate gradient method. The convergence rate of the latter and the accuracy of the reconstructions are improved by the availability of an analytical gradient.

A time-domain model of transient acoustic wave propagation in double-layered porous media

This paper concerns a time-domain model of transient wave propagation in double-layered porous materials. An analytical derivation of reflection and transmission scattering operators is given in the time domain. These scattering kernels are the medium’s responses to an incident acoustic pulse. The expressions obtained take into account the multiple reflections occurring at the interfaces of the double-layered material. The double-layered porous media consist of two slabs of homogeneous isotropic porous materials with a rigid frame. Each porous slab is described by a temporal equivalent fluid model, in which the acoustic wave propagates only in the fluid saturating the material. In this model, the inertial effects are described by the tortuosity; the viscous and thermal losses of the medium are described by two susceptibility kernels which depend on the viscous and thermal characteristic lengths. Experimental and numerical results are given for waves transmitted and reflected by double-layered porous media formed by air-saturated plastic foam samples.

Measuring static viscous permeability of porous absorbing materials

Conventional acoustical methods for measuring the permeability or flow resistivity of a porous material require a priori estimation of the porosity. In this work, an acoustical method is presented in which a simplified expression (independent of both the frequency and porosity) for the transmitted waves at the Darcys regime (low frequency range) is derived, and used for the inverse determination of both the viscous static permeability (or flow resistivity) and the thickness of air-saturated porous materials. The inverse problem is solved based on the least-square numerical method using experimental transmitted waves in time domain. Tests are performed using industrial plastic foams. Experimental and numerical validation results of this method are presented, which show the advantage of measuring the viscous permeability and thickness of a porous slab, without the required prior knowledge of the porosity, but by simply using the transmitted waves.

Scattering of acoustic waves by macroscopically inhomogeneous poroelastic tubes

Wave propagation in macroscopically inhomogeneous porous materials has received much attention in recent years. For planar configurations, the wave equation, derived from the alternative formulation of Biots theory of 1962, was reduced and solved recently: first in the case of rigid frame inhomogeneous porous materials and then in the case of inhomogeneous poroelastic materials in the framework of Biots theory. This paper focuses on the solution of the full wave equation in cylindrical coordinates for poroelastic tubes in which the acoustic and elastic properties of the poroelastic tube vary in the radial direction. The reflection coefficient is obtained numerically using the state vector (or the so-called Stroh) formalism and Peano series. This coefficient can then be used to straightforwardly calculate the scattered field. To validate the method of resolution, results obtained by the present method are compared to those calculated by the classical transfer matrix method in the case of a two-layer poroelastic tube. As an example, a long bone excited in the sagittal plane is considered. Finally, a discussion is given of ultrasonic time domain scattered field for various inhomogeneity profiles, which could lead to the prospect of long bone characterization.

Transient Acoustic Wave Propagation in Porous Media

A porous material is a two-phase medium consisting of a solid part (skeleton) and a fluid part (pore space). During the propagation of a sound wave in such a medium, interactions between these two phases of different nature take place, giving various physical properties that are unusual in classical media. The large contact area between solid and fluid, which is the main characteristic of porous media induces new phenomena of diffusion and transport in the fluid, in relation to micro-geometry of the pore space. Many applications are concerned with understanding the behavior of acoustic waves in such media. In geophysics, we are interested in the propagation of acoustic waves in porous rocks, for information on soil composition and their fluid content. Oil companies have greatly contributed to the study of acoustic properties of natural porous media. In medicine, the characterization of porous media such as trabecular bone, is useful for diagnosing osteoporosis, bone disease that is manifested by the deterioration of bone microarchitecture. Acoustic characterization of materials is often achieved by measuring the attenuation coefficient and phase velocity in the frequency domain [1] or by solving the direct and inverse problems directly in the time domain [2–4]. The attractive feature of a time domain based approach is that the analysis is naturally limited by the finite duration of ultrasonic pressures and is consequently the most appropriate approach for the transient signal. The objective of this chapter is to show the most recent theoretical and experimental methods developed by the authors for the acoustic characterization of porous materials. The direct and inverse scattering problems are solved in time domain using experimental reflected and transmitted signals. The physical parameters of the porousmedium are recovered by solving the inverse problem at the asymptotic domain corresponding to the high frequency range (ultrasound), and at the viscous domain (low frequency range). Figures 1 and 2 give an example of porous materials commonly used in the characterization. The figure 1 shows a sample of air-saturated plastic foam used for sound absorption, and figure 2 shows a sample of cancellous bone used in the diagnosis of the disease of osteoporosis.