The invention comprises a device and method to estimate the elasticity of soft elastic solids from surface wave measurements. The method is non-destructive, reliable and repeatable. The final device is low-cost and portable. It is based in audio-frequency shear wave propagation in elastic soft solids. Within this frequency range, shear wavelength is centimeter sized. Thus, the experimental data is usually collected in the near-field of the source. Therefore, an inversion algorithm taking into account near-field effects was developed for use with the device. Example applications are shown in beef samples, tissue mimicking materials and in vivo skeletal muscle of healthy volunteers.

A photoacoustic apparatus, comprising: at least one optical amplifier, configured to produce light; at least one photonic integrated circuit, configured as a tunable light filter; light guiding means, wherein the at least one optical amplifier, at least one photonic integrated circuit and light guiding means are configured as an optical cavity to produce laser light having an optical path within the optical cavity; and at least one acoustic sensor configured to detect sound produced by analyte introduced into the optical path of the laser light.

An electro-magnetic acoustic transducer (EMAT) having an electromagnet array is provided. The electromagnet array includes electromagnets. Each electromagnet includes a magnetic core and a wound coil wrapped around the magnetic core. The electromagnet array generates bias magnetic fields having different patterns when the wound coils are energized differently. For instance, the electromagnet array generates a bias magnetic field having a given pattern, for the EMAT to transmit a first type of ultrasonic wave such as shear-horizontal wave, when the wound coils are energized in a given manner; and generates a bias magnetic field having a different pattern, for the EMAT to transmit a second type of ultrasonic wave such as a Lamb wave, when the wound coils are energized in a different manner.

The present disclosure relates to an ultrasonic device for real-time and nondestructive assessment of extracellular matrix stiffness, and the method of making and using the novel ultrasonic device.

A system for detecting characteristics of a fluid includes a sonic sensor. The sonic sensor includes a transducer, a transduction surface, and an acoustically reflective pad member. The transducer may be contained within a probe body, and the transduction surface may be an element of the probe body. A stem may connect the pad member to the transduction surface. The transducer will generate pulses that are transmitted to the pad member via a fluid when the transduction surface and pad member are immersed in the fluid. The system will detect the pulses when reflected and use that data to determine a speed of sound within the fluid. The system may use the speed of sound to determine density, specific gravity and/or stiffness of the fluid. The system may use that determination to assess a level of processing activity of the fluid, such as fermentation activity.

A system for detecting characteristics of a fluid includes a sonic sensor. The sonic sensor includes a transducer, a transduction surface, and an acoustically reflective pad member. The transducer may be contained within a probe body, and the transduction surface may be an element of the probe body. A stem may connect the pad member to the transduction surface. The transducer will generate pulses that are transmitted to the pad member via a fluid when the transduction surface and pad member are immersed in the fluid. The system will detect the pulses when reflected and use that data to determine a speed of sound within the fluid. The system may use the speed of sound to determine density, specific gravity and/or stiffness of the fluid. The system may use that determination to assess a level of processing activity of the fluid, such as fermentation activity.

A manual system for non-destructive testing of a part to be tested includes a sub-system for acquiring non-destructive test data comprising a probe, a sub-system for tracking the position of the probe, and a sub-system for acquiring surface characterisation data of a test zone defined on the surface of the part. The system also includes a central sub-system for controlling the test data acquisition, surface characterisation data acquisition and position tracking subsystems as a function of the test zone covered by the probe manipulated by an operator, the central subsystem being able to synchronise the operation of the test data acquisition, surface characterisation data acquisition and position tracking subsystems and to pair the data produced by the test data acquisition, surface characterisation data acquisition and position tracking subsystems during their operation.

Systems and methods are provided for monitoring the structural integrity of a vehicle. In particular, systems and methods are provided for using transducers positioned at various location in and on a vehicle to measure parameters related vehicle structural health. In various implementations, the integrity of the vehicle frame and the integrity of the vehicle body are monitored using a multi-axis accelerometer and/or microphone. The use of transducers for monitoring can replace time-consuming and expensive manual inspections.

Disclosed is a laser irradiation state diagnosing method which allows accurately diagnosing a laser irradiation state. When irradiating a laser beam so that an irradiation spot scans the surface of the irradiation object, acoustic information in vicinity of the irradiation spot is acquired. And based on characteristics of the acoustic information, such as an intensity of a component of a specific frequency band or a frequency band distribution, a state of peeling of the adhered substances existing on the surface of the irradiation object is determined.

A staggered magnet array (SMA) based electromagnetic acoustic transducer (EMAT) system and method for controlling the direction of the ultrasonic waves in the electromagnetic acoustic transducer (EMAT) using staggered magnet array (SMA) configurations, is disclosed herein. The EMAT device proposed herein comprises at least one conductive racetrack coil and at least two magnet arrays wherein the magnet array comprises of permanent magnets, where each magnet is oriented according to a specific configuration to produce ultrasonic waves in order to form an ultrasonic beam by shifting the position of the magnet arrays up or down creating a SMA configuration.