Air-coupled UCT SystemAutomation Using MATLAB®

Abstract

A 2D air-coupled Ultrasound Computed Tomography (UCT) system has been developed. Interfacing algorithms, data acquisition and signal processing algorithms are developed for the real-time control and automation of the system. MATLAB® is used as a tool to automate the system. The system consists of aircoupled ultrasound transducers, pulse generator, data acquisition module and actuators. The air-coupled ultrasound transducers didn't require the use of couplant or media, therefore the couplant-related issue are absent. The modules are synchronized to work in coordination to perform the complete scanning. The parallel beam geometry is implemented to perform the scanning. The actuators are interfaced using a microcontroller to control the scanning object in real-time. The interfacing algorithms are implemented to interface each component with the controlling system. The data acquisition module acquires the transmission data, which is then processed to extract the information. The transmission data consists of several peaks containing information about the intermediate medium. The ultrasound signal processing algorithms for amplitude analysis of the multiple peaks in the envelope are developed. The method is implemented to process the acquired signal during the scanning. The projection data is extracted for each transmission data to reconstruct the specimen of the scanned object. The final system produces the profile of the object automatically.