Acoustic transmission system

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-11684335-B2
Application number	US-202017092929-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Nov 9, 2020
Priority date	Nov 8, 2019
Publication date	Jun 27, 2023
Grant date	Jun 27, 2023

Abstract

Disclosed herein are acoustic transmission systems comprising an acoustic wave generator configured to generate an acoustic wave and propagate the acoustic wave through a tissue of a specimen, and a non-Hermitian complementary metamaterial (NHCMM) configured to add a first amount of energy amplification coherently to the acoustic wave to account for energy loss in the acoustic wave as a result of the wave propagating through the tissue of the specimen. The acoustic wave generator can be an ultrasound generator, and the tissue can be a cranium.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. An acoustic transmission system comprising:
an acoustic wave generator configured to generate an acoustic wave and propagate the acoustic wave through a lossy tissue of a specimen; and
a non-Hermitian complementary metamaterial (NHCMM) configured to add a first amount of energy amplification coherently to the acoustic wave to account for energy loss in the acoustic wave as a result of the wave propagating through the tissue of the specimens;
wherein active gain elements in the NHCMM compensate the acoustic wave attenuation through the lossy tissue.

2. The acoustic transmission system of claim 1 , wherein the NHCMM has a first bulk modulus and a first density having an opposite sign to a second bulk modulus and a second density of the tissue, respectively.

3. The acoustic transmission system of claim 1 , wherein the acoustic wave generator is an ultrasound generator.

4. The acoustic transmission system of claim 2 further comprising:
a processor; and
a memory storing instructions that, when executed by the processor, cause the system to:
transmit a first acoustic wave from the acoustic wave generator through the tissue to determine the second bulk modulus and the second density;
calculate an impedance mismatch and an intrinsic loss of the tissue;
alter the NHCMM to coherently amplify the first amount of energy to compensate for the impedance mismatch and the intrinsic loss; and
transmit a second acoustic wave from the acoustic wave generator through the tissue.

5. The acoustic transmission system of claim 4 further comprising a transducer;
wherein the instructions further cause the system to:
measure a pressure field of the tissue with the transducer;
calculate a contrast to noise ratio of the pressure field; and
determine if an anomaly is present in the pressure field by comparing the measured
pressure field to a higher amplitude backscattered pressure field.

6. An acoustic transmission system comprising:
an acoustic wave generator configured to generate an acoustic wave and propagate the acoustic wave through a lossy tissue of a specimen; and
a non-Hermitian complementary metamaterial (NHCMM) configured to add a first amount of energy amplification coherently to the acoustic wave to account for energy loss in the acoustic wave as a result of the wave propagating through the tissue of the specimen;
wherein negative real parts of the NHCMM are realized by resonating structures, while imaginary parts are contributed by the active gain elements.

7. The acoustic transmission system of claim 1 , wherein the NHCMM is positioned proximal to the tissue.

8. A method of acoustic wave transmission using the system of claim 2 comprising:
transmitting a first acoustic wave from the acoustic wave generator to propagate the first acoustic wave through the tissue to determine the first bulk modulus and the first density of the tissue;
calculating an impedance mismatch and an intrinsic loss of the tissue;
forming a second acoustic wave by altering the non-Hermitian complementary metamaterial (NHCMM) to:
have the second bulk modulus and the second density; and
add the first amount of energy to the first acoustic wave to compensate for the impedance mismatch and the intrinsic loss; and

transmitting the second acoustic wave from the acoustic wave generator into the tissue, wherein the NHCMM is positioned proximal to the tissue.

9. The method of claim 8 further comprising:
measuring a pressure field produced by the second acoustic wave propagating through the tissue by a transducer;
calculating a contrast to noise ratio of the pressure field; and
determining if an anomaly is present in the pressure field by comparing the measured pressure field to a higher amplitude backscattered pressure field.

10. The method of claim 8 , wherein the tissue is a cranium.

11. The method of claim 8 , wherein the acoustic wave generator is an ultrasound generator.

12. The acoustic transmission system of claim 1 further comprising:
a processor; and
a memory storing instructions that, when executed by the processor, cause the system to:
transmit a first acoustic wave from the acoustic wave generator to propagate the first acoustic wave through the tissue of the specimen to determine a first bulk modulus and a first density of the tissue;
calculate an energy loss in the first acoustic wave as a result of the first acoustic wave propagating through the tissue;
alter the non-Hermitian complementary metamaterial (NHCMM) to coherently amplify the first amount of energy to the acoustic wave generator to compensate the energy loss in the first acoustic wave to form a second acoustic wave; and
transmit the second acoustic wave from the acoustic wave generator into the tissue, wherein the NHCMM is positioned proximal to and the tissue.

13. The acoustic transmission system of claim 12 further comprising a transducer;
wherein the instructions further cause the system to:
measure a pressure field produced by the second acoustic wave propagating through the tissue by the transducer;
calculate the contrast to noise ratio of the pressure field; and
determine if an anomaly is present in the pressure field by comparing the measured pressure field to a higher amplitude backscattered pressure field.

14. The acoustic transmission system of claim 12 , wherein the tissue is a cranium.

15. The acoustic transmission system of claim 12 , wherein the acoustic wave generator is an ultrasound generator.

16. The acoustic transmission system of claim 12 , wherein the NHCMM comprises a resonating structure.

17. The acoustic transmission system of claim 6 , wherein the NHCMM is in electrical communication with an electronic circuit.

18. The acoustic transmission system of claim 17 , wherein the electronic circuit comprises piezoelectric materials connected to an amplification and a phase control circuit.

Assignees

• Georgia Tech Res Inst

Inventors

• Shi Chengzhi

Classifications

• A61B8/4281

  characterised by sound-transmitting media or devices for coupling the transducer to the tissue · CPC title

• B06B1/0253

  taken directly from the generator circuit · CPC title

• B06B2201/55

  Piezoelectric transducer · CPC title

• B06B2201/76

  Medical, dental · CPC title

• A61B8/0808 Primary

  for diagnosis of the brain · CPC title