In a biopsy needle having a hollow tubular outer needle, an inner needle that is disposed in a hollow portion of the outer needle so as to be movable in the tube axis direction relative to the outer needle, and a recessed sample collection portion that is cut inward from a circumferential surface of the inner needle, an inner hole that extends in the longitudinal direction of the inner needle on each of the inner needle distal end side and the inner needle rear end side of the sample collection portion and are opened to the sample collection portion is provided in the inner needle, and a light guide member is disposed in the inner holes. At least a part of the light guide member is fixed by filler filled in the inner holes.

Aspects of the disclosure include systems, methods, and program products for evaluating the condition of a component using an acoustic sensor embedded within a lighting device. A system according to the present disclosure can include a first lighting device configured to illuminate an area of an industrial plant; a first acoustic sensor embedded within the first lighting device and configured to detect an acoustic signature of a component in the industrial plant; a computing device communicatively connected to the first acoustic sensor and configured to evaluate a condition of the component in the industrial plant based on the acoustic signature.

Aspects of the disclosure include systems, methods, and program products for evaluating the condition of a component using an acoustic sensor embedded within a lighting device. A system according to the present disclosure can include a first lighting device configured to illuminate an area of an industrial plant; a first acoustic sensor embedded within the first lighting device and configured to detect an acoustic signature of a component in the industrial plant; a computing device communicatively connected to the first acoustic sensor and configured to evaluate a condition of the component in the industrial plant based on the acoustic signature.

An ultrasonic dry coupled wheel probe with radial transducers emit ultrasound in substantially all radial directions relative to a longitudinal axis. The probe does not require normalization and is efficient in directing ultrasound to a surface being inspected. The probe has a wheel composed of rubber or other materials for acoustically dry coupling the transducer to the surface. A first transducer is composed of a piezoelectric material so that the transducer receives an electrical signal, vibrates, and generates and transmits sound, such as ultrasound. Similarly, a second transducer receives sound such as ultrasound, vibrates, and generates a corresponding electrical signal. The transducer arrangement both transmits ultrasound to the surface and receives the reflection of the ultrasound from the surface. An acoustic barrier separates the transmitting component from the receiving component. The transducer has annular electroplates adjacent to the piezoelectric material. The two transducers can comprise a single, integrated transducer module.

A method of operating an acoustic resonance fluid flow sensor. The method comprises emitting an acoustic stimulus signal comprising a plurality of frequencies into an acoustic resonance cavity of the acoustic resonance fluid flow sensor, sensing an acoustic response signal within the acoustic resonance cavity and deriving the phases or equivalent group delays of one or more frequency components of a frequency spectrum of the acoustic response signal.

This disclosure relates generally to detection of concentration of micro and nano particles in a fluid environment. An acoustic transmitter array is selective coated with polymer and receiver array is deployed at a random location in a conduit. The acoustic transmitter array on the conduit is insonified at a predetermined frequency to obtain a plurality of reflected signals. A plurality of key features pertinent to the conduit are extracted from the plurality of reflected signals to obtain a plurality of acoustic signals. A correlation model is configured by inputting, at least one feature associated with the pre-processed acoustic signals. A known concentrations of nano and micro particles are trained with an artificial neural network algorithm and calibrated with ground truth data. The location of the transmitter array and receiver array and the correlation model are finalized for detecting concentration of the particular micro and nano particles in the fluid environment.

The object of the invention is to perform, rapidly and at a low cost, a pretreatment of an analysis sample containing a turbid substance. Provided is an analysis sample pretreatment apparatus in which a clarified liquid is obtained by removing a turbid substance from an analysis sample. The analysis sample pretreatment apparatus includes a cell configured to store the analysis sample, and a cell holder in which at least a part of a housing is opened to mount the cell. The cell holder includes an ultrasonic wave transducer and an ultrasonic wave reflection plate that are disposed on facing plane pairs while sandwiching the cell mounted inside the cell holder. The cell includes a first opening unit from which the analysis sample flows in, a second opening unit from which the clarified liquid flows out, and a third opening unit from which the turbid substance is discharged. In a state where the cell is mounted in the cell holder, the first opening unit is provided at a position lower than an upper end of the ultrasonic wave transducer in a vertical direction, or at a position higher than a lower end of the ultrasonic wave transducer in the vertical direction.

A spot-welding electrode assembly includes an electrode, an electrode cap at an outer end of the electrode, and a plurality of transducer elements positioned inward of the electrode cap. The transducer elements may be micro-elements. A method for monitoring a weld formed by a spot-welder includes passing current from an electrode assembly through a stack-up, transmitting an ultrasonic wave from each of a plurality of sources in the electrode assembly to a plurality of points in the stack-up, and monitoring the ultrasonic waves to monitor the weld formation.

An ultrasonic transducer includes a membrane, a bottom electrode, and a plurality of cavities disposed between the membrane and the bottom electrode, each of the plurality of cavities corresponding to an individual transducer cell. Portions of the bottom electrode corresponding to each individual transducer cell are electrically isolated from one another. Each portion of the bottom electrode corresponds to each individual transducer that cell further includes a first bottom electrode portion and a second bottom electrode portion, the first and second bottom electrode portions electrically isolated from one another.

According to one embodiment, a display control system acquires a tilt of a detector with respect to a weld portion. The detector includes a plurality of detection elements arranged along a first arrangement direction and a second arrangement direction. The first arrangement direction and the second arrangement direction cross each other. The tilt is calculated based on a detection result of a reflected wave obtained by transmitting an ultrasonic wave from the plurality of detection elements. The system displays a user interface, displays a symbol and a tolerance range in a region included in the user interface, and updates the display of the symbol in the region according to the acquiring of the tilt. The region spreads two-dimensionally. The symbol indicates the tilt. The tolerance range is of a target value of the tilt.