A tapered fiber optoacoustic emitter includes a nanosecond laser configured to emit laser pulses and an optic fiber. The optic fiber includes a tip configured to guide the laser pulses. The tip has a coating including a diffusion layer and a thermal expansion layer, wherein the diffusion layer includes epoxy and zinc oxide nanoparticles configured to diffuse the light while restricting localized heating. The thermal expansion layer includes carbon nanotubes (CNTs) and Polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) configured to convert the laser pulses to generate ultrasound. The frequency of the ultrasound is tuned with a thickness of the diffusion layer and a CNT concentration of the expansion layer.

According to various embodiments, systems and methods for transmitting acoustic waves in a region aided by reflection from environmental objects. An arrangement of acoustically reflective surfaces in an environment of a target can be detected to generate an environmental acoustic propagation channel model. An acoustic radiation pattern for reflecting one or more acoustic waves off of one or more acoustically reflective surfaces in the arrangement of acoustically reflective surfaces towards the target can be identified. A coherent acoustic beamforming device can be controlled to perform coherent beamforming of an acoustic hologram based on the acoustic radiation pattern to generate the one or more acoustic waves for reflection towards the target off of the one or more acoustically reflective surfaces.

The present invention a sparse optimization method based on cross-shaped three-dimensional imaging sonar array, comprising the following steps: first, constructing a beam pattern simultaneously applicable to a near field and a far field based on a cross-shaped array; then, constructing an energy function required by sparse optimization according to the beam pattern; then, introducing an array element position disturbance into a simulated annealing algorithm to increase the degree of freedom of the sparse process and increase the sparse rate of the sparse array, and using the simulated annealing algorithm to sparse optimization of the energy function; finally, after optimization, a sparse optimization cross-shaped array is obtained. The present invention ensures that the three-dimensional imaging sonar system has the desired performance at any distance, and greatly reduces the hardware complexity of the system. It provides an effective method to achieve high performance and ultra-low complexity 3D imaging sonar system.

A guidewire providing imaging and light for photoactivation of therapeutic agents. Using optical fibers with Bragg gratings, electromagnetic waves are coupled to photoacoustic materials thereby providing acoustic energy for imaging tissues. The reflected acoustic waves can be sensed with photoreflective materials coupled to different optical fibers. Additional optical fibers allow photoactivated therapeutics to be activated in proximity to the imaged tissues. The photoactivated therapeutics may be administered intravenously or with a drug-delivery catheter.

An object information acquiring apparatus comprising: a processor generating image data representing characteristic information on an object, based on signals acquired by receiving an acoustic wave generated from an object by a plural light irradiations; and a display controller allowing a display to display an image, wherein the display controller performs first display in which an image is displayed in parallel with irradiation and second display in which an image is displayed based on more signal than in the first display, and the processor acquires the characteristic information for a smaller number of units of reconstruction when generating image data.

According to various embodiments, systems and methods for transmitting acoustic waves in a region aided by reflection from environmental objects. An arrangement of acoustically reflective surfaces in an environment of a target can be detected to generate an environmental acoustic propagation channel model. An acoustic radiation pattern for reflecting one or more acoustic waves off of one or more acoustically reflective surfaces in the arrangement of acoustically reflective surfaces towards the target can be identified. A coherent acoustic beamforming device can be controlled to perform coherent beamforming of an acoustic hologram based on the acoustic radiation pattern to generate the one or more acoustic waves for reflection towards the target off of the one or more acoustically reflective surfaces.

Embodiments of the invention are directed to a non-contact optical method using a probe beam deflection technique (PBDT) to detecting acoustic waves transiting an acoustic coupling medium.

The present invention a sparse optimization method based on cross-shaped three-dimensional imaging sonar array, comprising the following steps: first, constructing a beam pattern simultaneously applicable to a near field and a far field based on a cross-shaped array; then, constructing an energy function required by sparse optimization according to the beam pattern; then, introducing an array element position disturbance into a simulated annealing algorithm to increase the degree of freedom of the sparse process and increase the sparse rate of the sparse array, and using the simulated annealing algorithm to sparse optimization of the energy function; finally, after optimization, a sparse optimization cross-shaped array is obtained. The present invention ensures that the three-dimensional imaging sonar system has the desired performance at any distance, and greatly reduces the hardware complexity of the system. It provides an effective method to achieve high performance and ultra-low complexity 3D imaging sonar system.

An acoustic emission wave detection system and an acoustic emission wave detector are provided. The acoustic emission wave detection system includes an acoustic emission wave detector, a photoelectric converter, and a determination processor. The acoustic emission wave detector includes a housing, an optical fiber that guides light from a wideband light source into the housing, and an FBG housed in the housing and having a diffractive grating that reflects light guided into the housing. The FBG is fixed on a side of the other end in the housing such that the light guided into the housing is received by one end thereof. An acoustic emission wave from a high-voltage apparatus is received by the other end thereof. Due to the insulation resistance of the FBG, the acoustic wave detector can be installed close to or in contact with the high-voltage apparatus without introducing discharges or noise from the high-voltage apparatus.

Ultrasound image devices, systems, and methods are provided. An ultrasound imaging system, comprising an array of acoustic elements configured to transmit ultrasound energy into an anatomy in accordance with a first preset acquisition setting, and to receive ultrasound echoes associated with the anatomy; and a processor circuit in communication with the array of acoustic elements and configured to receive, from the array, ultrasound channel data corresponding to the received ultrasound echoes; generate a first set of beamformed data by applying a predictive network to the ultrasound channel data, wherein the first set of beamformed data is associated with a second preset acquisition setting different than the first preset acquisition setting; generate an image of the anatomy from the first set of beamformed data; and output, to a display in communication with the processor circuit, the image of the anatomy.