Close X
Monday, November 11, 2024
ADVT 
Health

Now, ultrasound can penetrate bones, metals

Darpan News Desk IANS, 21 Nov, 2014 12:07 PM
    In a major breakthrough, researchers have developed a technique that allows ultrasound to penetrate bones and metals.
     
    Materials like bones and metals, called aberrating layers, have physical characteristics that block or distort ultrasound's acoustic waves.
     
    "We have designed complementary metamaterials that will make it easier for medical professionals to use ultrasound for diagnostic or therapeutic applications, such as monitoring blood flow in the brain or to treat brain tumors," said lead author Tarry Chen Shen from North Carolina State University.
     
    "These metamaterials could also be used in industrial settings," pointed out Yun Jing, assistant professor of mechanical and aerospace engineering at North Carolina State University.
     
    The new technique will allow us to use ultrasound to detect cracks in airplane wings under the wing's metal "skin", noted Yun Jing.
     
    Ultrasound imaging works by emitting high frequency acoustic waves.
     
    When those waves bounce off an object, they return to the ultrasound equipment, which translates the waves into an image.
     
    The team has designed customised metamaterial structures that take into account the acoustic properties of the aberrating layer and offsetting them.
     
    The metamaterial structure uses a series of membranes and small tubes to achieve the desired acoustic characteristics.
     
    The researchers have tested the technique using computer simulations and are in the process of developing and testing a physical prototype.
     
    The technique can be used for ultrasound imaging, as well as therapeutically like using ultrasound to apply energy to brain tumors, in order to burn them.
     
    The study appeared in the journal Physical Review X.

    MORE Health ARTICLES

    Knee surgery not needed for mild osteoarthritis

    Knee surgery not needed for mild osteoarthritis
    Middle-aged and older patients with mild osteoarthritis of the knee may not benefit from the procedure of arthroscopic knee surgery, says new research....

    Knee surgery not needed for mild osteoarthritis

    Eye changes can predict dementia

    Eye changes can predict dementia
    A loss of cells in the retina is one of the earliest signs of a form of dementia in people with a genetic risk for the brain disorder - even before any changes appear....

    Eye changes can predict dementia

    Canadian doctors have begun using stem cell transplants to treat 'Stiff Person Syndrome'

    Canadian doctors have begun using stem cell transplants to treat 'Stiff Person Syndrome'

    TORONTO - Canadian doctors have begun using stem cell transplants to treat "stiff person syn...

    Canadian doctors have begun using stem cell transplants to treat 'Stiff Person Syndrome'

    Can right brain rhythm create a super-perceiving human?

    Can right brain rhythm create a super-perceiving human?
    A certain type of brainwave plays a key role in our sensitivity towards touch and driving. The right brain rhythm can make people have more perceptual and attentive powers...

    Can right brain rhythm create a super-perceiving human?

    Can Ebola strike India?

    Can Ebola strike India?
    There are about 500 Indians in Guinea, 3,000 in Liberia and 1,200 in Sierra Leone, from where the maximum cases have been reported. Nigeria has a much...

    Can Ebola strike India?

    Indian scientists find a 'wonder herb' in the high Himalayas

    Indian scientists find a 'wonder herb' in the high Himalayas
    In the high hostile peaks of the Himalayas where sustaining life is a challenge in itself, Indian scientists say they have found a "wonder herb" which can regulate...

    Indian scientists find a 'wonder herb' in the high Himalayas