Biomedical subjects

F Montero de Espinosa

Publications and source records attributed to F Montero de Espinosa.

5 recordsLinked to original sources

PubMed2006

Eight-channel ultrasonic device for non-invasive quality evaluation in packed milk.

An eight-channel ultrasonic detecting device for microbiological quality evaluation of packed liquid foods is presented in this paper. This device makes possible a non-invasive detection of the microbial growth in liquid foods with no need to open the carton-based packages where they are contained. Thermal and humidity stabilization are required inside the measuring chamber. The changes in the liquid media produced by the microorganism growth induce variations in the ultrasonic propagation parameters giving a non-invasive evidence of the developing contamination. For that purpose, the amplitude and time of flight of an ultrasonic 800kHz tone burst travelling through an UHT milk pack are analysed. Inoculated and sterile packs were tested to evaluate the performance of this new non-invasive ultrasonic microbiological quality sensor.

Animals↗

PubMed2006

Diffraction aperture non-ideal behaviour of air coupled transducers array elements designed for NDT.

Air coupled piezoelectric ultrasonic array transducers are a novel tool that could lead to interesting advances in the area of non-contact laminar material testing using Lamb wave's propagation techniques. A key issue on the development of such transducers is their efficient coupling to air media (impedance mismatch between the piezoelectric material and air is 90 dB or more). Adaptation layers are used in order to attain good matching and avoid possible serious signal degradation. However, the introduction of these matching layers modify the transducer surface behaviour and, consequently, radiation characteristics are altered, making the usual idealization criteria (of uniform surface movement) adopted for field simulation purposes inaccurate. In our system, we have a concave linear-array transducer of 64 elements (electrically coupled by pairs) working at 0.8 MHz made of PZ27 rectangular piezoceramics (15 mm x 0.3 mm) with two matching layers made of polyurethane and porous cellulose bonded on them. Experimental measurements of the acoustic aperture of single excited array elements have shown an increment on the geometrical dimensions of its active surface. A sub-millimeter vibrometer laser scan has revealed an extension of the aperture beyond the supposed physical single array element dimensions. Non-uniform symmetric apodized velocity surface vibration amplitude profile with a concave delay contour indicates the presumed existence of travelling wave phenomena over the surface of the outer array matching layer. Also, asymptotic propagation velocities around 2500 m/s and attenuation coefficient between 15 and 20 dB/mm has been determined for the travelling waves showing clear tendencies. Further comparisons between the experimental measurements of single array element field radiation diagram and simulated equivalent aperture counterpart reveal good agreement versus the ideal (uniform displaced) rectangular aperture. For this purpose an Impulse Response Method (IRM) has been used.

Journal Article↗

PubMed2005

Ultrasonic velocity in water-ethanol-sucrose mixtures during alcoholic fermentation.

During alcoholic fermentation, sucrose and water are transformed into ethanol and carbon dioxide by the action of yeast enzymes. The measurement of the velocity of an ultrasonic pulse travelling through a fermentation tank can be used to characterize the state of the process. In this work, an experimental study of the density and ultrasonic velocity in the ternary mixture (water-ethanol-saccharose) is presented. Experimental results were compared to ideal density and to commonly used expressions of the sound velocity in liquid mixtures (Urick, Natta-Baccaredda and Nomoto). A semiempirical approach was proposed to improve the efficiency of theoretical models when dealing with mixtures of associated liquids.

Alcohols↗

PubMed2003

Nonlinear characterization with burst excitation of 1-3 piezocomposite transducers.

Ultrasonic transducers made with 1-3 connectivity piezocomposites are frequently used in Medical applications and nondestructive testing. When the transducer is used for special applications as, for instance air-coupled transmission, it is necessary to compensate for the high difference of acoustic impedance between transducer and medium using high amplitude pulses to generate high acoustic signal. Thus, the nonlinear behavior of the transducer must be taken into account in similar application conditions. The newly developed method, which performs the nonlinear characterization with burst signal excitation near the thickness resonance frequency, is based on the measure of the current as well as the vibration velocity of the piezocomposite transducer. The current of the stationary response is measured before the end of the burst signal excitation. Burst excitation enables us to measure the nonlinear characterization without producing overheating in the transducers. The amplitude level dependence of mechanical losses tandelta(m) and the stiffness increases |Deltac/c(0)| have been studied, as well as the velocity dependence of a point of the transducer, measured with a laser vibrometer. In this method, the power level applied to the transducers can be higher than other nonlinear measurement methods, providing measurements of high accuracy.

Equipment Design↗

PubMed2002

64 elements two-dimensional piezoelectric array for 3D imaging.

Ultrasound has a large potential on non-invasive inspection with main applications in medical imaging and non-destructive testing (NDT). The increasing interest in 3D imaging applications leads to investigate new solutions for two-dimensional (2D) ultrasonic arrays with an affordable number of electronic channels without resolution degradation. 2D segmented annular arrays (SAAs) are a good compromise between resolution--image quality--and number of electronically active channels. A 1-3 piezoelectric composites are used as basis material to manufacture the array transducers due to their low planar coupling and high electromechanical coupling coefficients. A 1.5 MHz SAA of 64 elements and 20 mm of diameter was designed, manufactured and tested. The design key point is the use of a flexible circuit with electrodes and tracks that define the array geometry. The piezocomposite was used as a monolithic support. Soft backing and one matching layer were used. The array elements have been tested electrically and acoustically showing good agreement with a KLM-based simulation model. Acoustical field measurements in water at different steering angles were made and compared with simulations performed with a model that uses an exact solution of the impulse response approach. Side lobes are important because the array geometry used was designed to work in metals for NDT purposes. Smaller array elements should be made for medical applications.

Imaging, Three-Dimensional↗