Acousto-optic Sensor Research Articles

Acousto-optic-based time domain electric field sensor for magnetic resonance imaging applications.

An acousto-optic (AO)-based electric field sensor is presented for time domain measurement under magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). A fully MR-compatible sensor is designed and fabricated using a phase-shifted fiber Bragg grating mechanically coupled to a piezoelectric transducer. Mechanical resonance of the piezoelectric transducer is matched to the operating frequencies of commonly used MRI systems to increase the sensitivity of the sensor. Sensitivity of the sensor is measured as 1.27 mV/V/m, with a minimum detectable electric field of 4.4 mV/m/√/Hz. Directivity of the sensor is measured with a 18 dB orthogonal component rejection. The dynamic range of the sensor is calculated as 117 dB/Hz, which allows the measurement of electric fields up to 3.2 kV/m. In MRI studies, the AO sensor was able detect local hot spots around a reference implant accurately with high signal-to-noise ratio. AO sensor exhibited similar or better performance when compared with commercially available MRI compatible electric field sensors. Furthermore, the small size of the sensor with the flexible fiber optic link could allow in situ measurements of electric fields during critical interventional procedures such as pacemaker lead or deep brain stimulator placement as an MRI dosimeter during diagnostic scans.

Novel EMD with Optimal Mode Selector, MFCC, and 2DCNN for Leak Detection and Localization in Water Pipeline

Significant water loss caused by pipeline leaks emphasizes the importance of effective pipeline leak detection and localization techniques to minimize water wastage. All of the state-of-the-art approaches use deep learning (DL) for leak detection and cross-correlation for leak localization. The existing methods’ complexity is very high, as they detect and localize the leak using two different architectures. This paper aims to present an independent architecture with a single sensor for detecting and localizing leaks with enhanced performance. The proposed approach combines a novel EMD with an optimal mode selector, an MFCC, and a two-dimensional convolutional neural network (2DCNN). The suggested technique uses acousto-optic sensor data from a real-time water pipeline setup in UTAR, Malaysia. The collected data are noisy, redundant, and a one-dimensional time series. So, the data must be denoised and prepared before being fed to the 2DCNN for detection and localization. The proposed novel EMD with an optimal mode selector denoises the one-dimensional time series data and identifies the desired IMF. The desired IMF is passed to the MFCC and then to 2DCNN to detect and localize the leak. The assessment criteria employed in this study are prediction accuracy, precision, recall, F-score, and R-squared. The existing MFCC helps validate the proposed method’s leak detection-only credibility. This paper also implements EMD variants to show the novel EMD’s importance with the optimal mode selector algorithm. The reliability of the proposed novel EMD with an optimal mode selector, an MFCC, and a 2DCNN is cross-verified with cross-correlation. The findings demonstrate that the novel EMD with an optimal mode selector, an MFCC, and a 2DCNN surpasses the alternative leak detection-only methods and leak detection and localization methods. The proposed leak detection method gives 99.99% accuracy across all the metrics. The proposed leak detection and localization method’s prediction accuracy is 99.54%, precision is 98.92%, recall is 98.86%, F-score is 98.89%, and R-square is 99.09%.

Application of Low Temperature Processed 0-3 Composite Piezoelectric Thick Films in Flexible, Non-planar, High Frequency Ultrasonic Devices.

Low-temperature, flexible, 0-3 composite piezoelectric materials can decrease the size, cost, and complexity of high-frequency acoustic devices on temperature sensitive substrates such as those in catheter based ultrasonic devices and acoustooptic sensors. In this paper, the application of low-temperature 0-3 connected composite thick films in flexible, non-planar, high frequency ultrasonic devices is reported. A flexible high-frequency ultrasound transducer and an acousto-optic radio-frequency (RF) field sensor are demonstrated utilizing PZT-based composite thick films. Flexible composite films have been fabricated with thicknesses between 20-100μm utilizing screen-printing, stencil-printing, and dip-coating techniques. Composite films' piezoelectric d33 coefficient is measured, with results between 35-43 pC/N. Ultrasonic transducers utilizing these films demonstrate broadband acoustic response. A composite transducer is fabricated on flexible polyimide and wrapped around a 3mm catheter. Pulse-echo experiments demonstrate viability of these films as both as an actuator and a sensor in flexible devices. The composite material is further dip-coated onto an optical fiber Bragg grating to form a flexible acousto-optic RF field sensor. The sensor demonstrates RF field sensing in the 20-130 MHz range. The results from these experiments indicate significant potential for future flexible, high frequency ultrasonic devices utilizing low temperature 0-3 composite piezoelectric materials on temperature sensitive substrates.

Calculation model and uncertainty analysis of projectile explosion position based on acousto-optic compound detection

The random uncertainty of a projectile explosion position at the terminal trajectory makes testing difficult. To solve these problems, this paper proposes a measurement method of projectile explosion position acousto-optic compound detection using acoustic sensors and compound-eye photoelectric detection sensor. A test layout mode is designed in which the compound-eye photoelectric detection sensor is at the center of the square test array, four acoustic sensors are at the four corners of the square test array.The compound-eye photoelectric detection sensor is used as the synchronous triggering device for the projectile explosion acoustic signal. A calculation model of the projectile explosion position is established based on the acousto-optic sensors compound detection test method. The influence of time delay uncertainty, array layout uncertainty and acoustic velocity uncertainty on the projectile explosion position are analyzed. Based on the test array platform, live ammunition tests were carried out, and the test results of the projectile explosion position are consistent with the theoretical calculation and the influence law of uncertainty, which shows the feasibility of the proposed measurement method.

Application of Photoelectric Sensor in Control of Industrial Robot

Indoor positioning and automatic charging technology of the robot is an important indicator to test intelligent control of robot. The surrounding condition is collected by acousto-optic sensor and photoelectric sensor, and the closed-loop control of DC motor is realized based on Fuzzy PID. The system integrates multiple photoelectric sensors and uses high-performance processor, S3C6410 ARM11, as the core instead of PC, reducing the power consumption and cost, so as to complete the acquisition of ranging information. And the environment image is obtained for image processing. The infrared docking method is adopted in the docking process, that is, three infrared transmitting tubes in the charging dock emit different positions, and the position relative to the charging dock is judged according to the number of received signals. In the experiment, the positioning error of industrial robot is about 1%, which can meet the requirements of indoor positioning. The docking success rate of automatic charging is more than 98%, and the time spent is less than 65 seconds, which satisfies with the requirements of automatic charging.

Real‐time device tracking under MRI using an acousto‐optic active marker

This work aims to demonstrate the use of an "active" acousto-optic marker with enhanced visibility and reduced radiofrequency (RF) -induced heating for interventional MRI. The acousto-optic marker was fabricated using bulk piezoelectric crystal and π-phase shifted fiber Bragg grating (FBGs) and coupled to a distal receiver coil on an 8F catheter. The received MR signal is transmitted over an optical fiber to mitigate RF-induced heating. A photodetector converts the optical signal into electrical signal, which is used as the input signal to the MRI receiver plug. Acousto-optic markers were characterized in phantom studies. RF-induced heating risk was evaluated according to ASTM 2182 standard. In vivo real-time tracking capability was tested in an animal model under a 0.55T scanner. Signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) levels suitable for real-time tracking were obtained by using high sensitivity FBG and piezoelectric transducer with resonance matched to Larmor frequency. Single and multiple marker coils integrated to 8F catheters were readout for position and orientation tracking by a single acousto-optic sensor. RF-induced heating was significantly reduced compared to a coax cable connected reference marker. Real-time distal tip tracking of an active device was demonstrated in an animal model with a standard real-time cardiac MR sequence. Acousto-optic markers provide sufficient SNR with a simple structure for real-time device tracking. RF-induced heating is significantly reduced compared to conventional active markers. Also, multiple RF receiver coils connected on an acousto-optic modulator can be used on a single catheter for determining catheter orientation and shape.

Adaptive Independent Component Analysis–Based Cross-Correlation Techniques along with Empirical Mode Decomposition for Water Pipeline Leakage Localization Utilizing Acousto-Optic Sensors

AbstractThe leak localization in a water pipeline system plays a vital role in pipeline system modeling. The leak location is identified by estimating the time difference between two sensor signals...

Sensitivity and phase response of FBG based acousto-optic sensors for real-time MRI applications.

Fiber Bragg grating (FBG) based sensors have recently been introduced to the field of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). Real-time MRI applications demand highly amplitude and phase sensitive MRI compatible sensors. Thus, a model and detailed analysis of FBG based ultrasound detection are required for designing better performing sensors. A hybrid FBG model incorporating numerical and FEA methods was developed and used for sensitivity and linearity analysis. The transfer matrix method was used for the modeling of optical modulation whereas FEA was used for pressure field calculations within the grating. The model was verified through reflection spectrum and acoustic pressure sensitivity testing of two π-phase shifted FBGs in a side slope read-out configuration. The sensitivity curves with respect to the operation point on the side slope was characterized in terms of amplitude and phase, and nonlinearity of the phase response has been quantified. Lastly, the impact of phase linearity of the FBG based acousto-optic sensor was tested under MRI when the sensor was used as a position marker and an analog phase shifter based solution was demonstrated.

Повышение точности гибридных сканирующих 3D волоконнооптических измерительных головок с акустооптическим датчиком обратной связи для контактных и бесконтактных координатных измерений размеров изделий

Повышение точности гибридных сканирующих 3D волоконнооптических измерительных головок с акустооптическим датчиком обратной связи для контактных и бесконтактных координатных измерений размеров изделий

Abstract 270: Non-Invasive Cerebral Perfusion and Autoregulation Monitoring Post-Cardiac Arrest

Objective: The primary aim of this study was to test the feasibility of non-invasive cerebral perfusion monitoring post-arrest. We secondarily tested the association between measured autoregulation, the presence of cerebral edema, and neurological recovery. Methods: This was a prospective, pilot study inclusive of patients successfully resuscitated from cardiac arrest in the Emergency Department (ED). After return of spontaneous circulation, an investigator placed non-invasive, bifrontal monitoring to measure cerebral perfusion. The device uses an acousto-optic sensor to measure continuous cerebral perfusion and measurements are arbitrary units between 0-100, where 0 represents no flow (Ornim, Tel Aviv). Subjects had invasive, continuous arterial monitoring to assess mean arterial pressure (MAP). Multimodal measurements continued for 60 minutes. We calculated a Pearson coefficient between the perfusion measurements and MAP as an assessment of cerebral autoregulation, where a correlation coefficient > 0.3 indicates poor autoregulation, and a coefficient of 1 indicates completely passive cerebral perfusion to changes in MAP. Head computed tomography defined the presence of cerebral edema in the ED. Results: We enrolled 14 patients post-arrest with sustained return of circulation. The mean age was 55 ± 14 years, 7 were female, and 10 were African American. Six patients had pulseless electrical activity, 5 asystole, and 2 ventricular fibrillation. Bystander CPR rates were low (4 of 14, 31%). Two patients (14%) survived to hospital discharge. Cerebral perfusion was comparable between patients that survived and those that died (difference 3.1, 95% CI -14 to 8). Cerebral perfusion measurement was higher in patients with cerebral edema (difference 6.1, 95% CI 0.2 - 11.9). Autoregulation was worse in the presence of edema (0.30) compared to no edema (0.14), though this difference did not reach statistical significance (95% CI -0.7 to 0.4). Conclusions: In a pilot study, non-invasive post-arrest perfusion measurements plus coupling with MAP for autoregulation was feasible. Perfusion measurements were increased in the presence of cerebral edema but whether such measurements have prognostic value requires further study.

Bubble-on-fiber (BoF): a built-in tunable broadband acousto-optic sensor for liquid-immersible in situ measurements.

A new type of tunable broadband fiber-optic acousto-optic sensor was experimentally demonstrated by utilizing a bubble-on-fiber (BoF) interferometer. A single micro-bubble was generated by injecting a heating laser at λ = 980 nm on the metalized facet of an optical fiber. The BoF formed a spherical micro-cavity in water whose acoustic deformation was precisely detected by using a narrowband DFB laser at 1550 nm. The heating light and the interrogating light were fed into a single fiber probe by wavelength division multiplexing (WDM) realizing a small footprint all-fiber configuration. The diameter of the BoF was stabilized with a variation less than 0.5 nm by fast servo-control of the heating laser power. The stabilized BoF served as a Fabry-Pérot cavity that can be deformed by acoustic perturbation, and a minimum detectable pressure level of as low as ~1 mPa/Hz1/2 was achieved in a frequency range of over 60 kHz in water at room temperature. Our proposed BoF technology can provide a tunable, flexible and all-fiber solution to detect minute acoustically driven perturbations combining high-precision interferometry. Due to the very small form-factor, the technique can find applications of liquid-immersible in situ measurements in bio-molecular/cell detection and biochemical phenomena study.

An acousto-optic sensor based on resonance grating waveguide structure

This paper presents an acousto-optic (AO) sensor based on resonance grating waveguide structure. The sensor is fabricated using elastic polymer materials to achieve a good sensitivity to ultrasound pressure waves. Ultrasound pressure waves modify the structural parameters of the sensor and result in the optical resonance shift of the sensor. This converts into a light intensity modulation. A commercial ultrasound transducer at 20MHz is used to characterize a fabricated sensor and detection sensitivity at different optical source wavelength within a resonance spectrum is investigated. Practical use of the sensor at a fixed optical source wavelength is presented. Ultimately, the geometry of the planar sensor structure is suitable for two-dimensional, optical pressure imaging applications such as pressure wave detection and mapping, and ultrasound imaging.

Investigation of intrinsic noises in liquid-crystal-based acoustooptical sensors

Factors that determine the spectral density of intrinsic optical noise of an acoustooptical sensor, which is determined by orientation fluctuations of an ensemble of molecules of a nematic liquid crystal in a sensitive element in the frequency range of 0.01–1 Hz, are established for the first time. It is shown that, using both thin layers of this crystal with a rigid linkage between molecules at the boundaries of the sensitive element and wide light beams for information readout, the noise level can be decreased and the sensor sensitivity can be improved under conditions of quasi-linear acoustooptical transformation.

Transducer Field Imaging Using Acoustography

A common current practice for transducer field mapping is to scan, point-by-point, a hydrophone element in a 2D raster at various distances from the transducer radiating surface. This approach is tedious, requiring hours of scanning time to generate full cross-sectional and/or axial field distributions. Moreover, the lateral resolution of the field distribution image is dependent on the indexing steps between data points. Acoustography is an imaging process in which an acousto-optical (AO) area sensor is employed to record the intensity of an ultrasound wavefield on a two-dimensional plane. This paper reports on the application of acoustography as a simple but practical method for assessing transducer field characteristics. A case study performed on a commercial transducer is reported, where the radiated fields are imaged using acoustography and compared to the corresponding quantities that are predicted numerically.

An Acousto-Optical Sensor with High Angular Resolution

The paper introduces a new laser interferometry-based sensor for diagnosis of random media by means of high accuracy angle measurements and describes the results of its development and testing. Theoretical calculations of the dependence of the range of the laser interferometer on laser beam parameters, device geometry, and atmospheric turbulence characteristics are reported. It is demonstrated that at moderate turbulence intensities corresponding to those observed most frequently in turbulent atmosphere at moderate latitudes and with low interference contrast values, the performance range of the laser interferometer-based device exceeds 5 km.

Micromachining of acoustic transducers and arrays

Microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) technology has been used to fabricate miniature acoustic transducers for a variety of applications in different media and frequency ranges. The consistency in performance of individual transducer afforded by batch-fabrication also makes it feasible to employ MEMS transducer arrays in beam forming or beam steering technique. This paper will first introduce our own research work on micromachining of piezoelectric acoustic transducers, including sol–gel thin film piezoelectric microphone for audio application; composite thick film piezoelectric micromachined ultrasonic transducer array for biomedical imaging; and transducer arrays fabricated by Si-PZT bonding technology for hydrophone and audio beam applications. The preliminary results on receiving and transmitting performance of the fabricated transducers and arrays will also be reported. In addition, a scanning acousto-optic microscope, which uses a single micromachined acousto-optic sensor and interferometry, will also be introduced. With this technique, it is possible to map a spatial sound field distribution at micrometer resolution.

Feasibility study of complex wavefield retrieval in off-axis acoustic holography employing an acousto-optic sensor

We propose and experimentally demonstrate a new method for complex-valued wavefield retrieval in off-axis acoustic holography. The method involves use of an intensity-sensitive acousto-optic (AO) sensor, optimized for use at 3.3 MHz, to record the acoustic hologram and a computational method for reconstruction of the object wavefield. The proposed method may circumvent limitations of conventional implementations of acoustic holography and may facilitate the development of acoustic-holography-based biomedical imaging methods.

Development of a system for monitoring tool condition using acousto-optic emission signal in face turning—an experimental approach

In automated manufacturing systems, one of the most important issues is accurate detection of the tool conditions under given cutting conditions so that worn tools can be identified and replaced in time. In metal cutting as a result of the cutting motion, the surface of workpiece will be influenced by cutting parameters, cutting force, and vibrations, etc. But the effects of vibrations have been paid less attention. In the present paper, an investigation is presented of a tool condition monitoring system, which consists of a fast Fourier transform preprocessor for generating features from an online acousto-optic emission (AOE) signals to develop a database for appropriate decisions. A fast Fourier transform (FFT) can decompose AOE signals into different frequency bands in the time domain. Present work uses a laser Doppler vibrometer for online data acquisition and a high-speed FFT analyser used to process the AOE signals. The generation of the AOE signals directly in the cutting zone makes them very sensitive to changes in the cutting process due to vibrations. AOE techniques is a relatively recent entry into the field of tool condition monitoring. This method has also been widely used in the field of metal cutting to detect process changes like displacement due to vibration and tool wear, etc. In this research work the results obtained from the analysis of acousto-optic emission sensor employs to predict flank wear in turning of AISI 1040 steel of 150 BHN hardness using Carbide insert and HSS tools. The correlation between the tool wear and AOE parameters is analyzed using the experimental study conducted in 16 H.P. all geared lathe. The encouraging results of the work pave the way for the development of a real-time, low-cost, and reliable tool condition monitoring system. A high degree of correlation is established between the results of the AOE signal and experimental results in identification of tool wear state.

Nonlinear acoustics in ultrasound metrology and other selected applications

A succinct background explaining why, initially, both the scientific community and industry were skeptical about the existence of the nonlinear (NL) wave propagation in tissue will be given and the design of an adequately wideband piezoelectric polymer hydrophone probe that was eventually used to verify that the 1–5 MHz probing wave then used in diagnostic ultrasound imaging was undergoing nonlinear distortion and generated harmonics in tissue will be discussed. The far-reaching implications of the advent of the piezoelectric PVDF polymer material will be reviewed and the advances in ultrasound metrology prompted by the regulatory agencies such as US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC) will be presented. These advances include the development of absolute calibration techniques for hydrophones along with the methods of accounting for spatial averaging corrections up to 100 MHz and the development of “point-receiver” hydrophone probes utilizing acousto-optic sensors. Next, selected therapeutic applications of nonlinear ultrasonics (NLU), including lithotripters will be briefly discussed. Also, the use of shock waves as pain relief tool and in abating penicillin resistant bacteria that develop rock hard “biofilm” that can be shattered by the finite amplitude wave will also be mentioned. The growing applications of NLU in cosmetic industry where it is used for redistribution and reduction of fatty tissue within the body will be briefly reviewed, and, finally, selected examples of NLU applications in retail and entertainment industry will also be pointed out.

Full‐field acoustomammography using an acousto‐optic sensor

In this Letter the authors introduce a wide-field transmission ultrasound approach to breast imaging based on the use of a large area acousto-optic (AO) sensor. Accompanied by a suitable acoustic source, such a detector could be mounted on a traditional mammography system and provide a mammographylike ultrasound projection image of the compressed breast in registration with the x-ray mammogram. The authors call the approach acoustography. The hope is that this additional information could improve the sensitivity and specificity of screening mammography. The AO sensor converts ultrasound directly into a visual image by virtue of the acousto-optic effect of the liquid crystal layer contained in the AO sensor. The image is captured with a digital video camera for processing, analysis, and storage. In this Letter, the authors perform a geometrical resolution analysis and also present images of a multimodality breast phantom imaged with both mammography and acoustography to demonstrate the feasibility of the approach. The geometric resolution analysis suggests that the technique could readily detect tumors of diameter of 3 mm using 8.5 MHz ultrasound, with smaller tumors detectable with higher frequency ultrasound, though depth penetration might then become a limiting factor. The preliminary phantom images show high contrast and compare favorably to digital mammograms of the same phantom. The authors have introduced and established, through phantom imaging, the feasibility of a full-field transmission ultrasound detector for breast imaging based on the use of a large area AO sensor. Of course variations in attenuation of connective, glandular, and fatty tissues will lead to images with more cluttered anatomical background than those of the phantom imaged here. Acoustic coupling to the mammographically compressed breast, particularly at the margins, will also have to be addressed.