Grant: Research Tools and Instruments

Real-time imaging modalities, supported by computational analysis, have revolutionized characterization of defects in materials during the past decade. In particular, ultrasound imaging, a portable, non-ionizing and affordable modality has enabled real-time visualization of material properties for the purposes of accurate characterization of tissue and detection of defects in manufacturing processes. Contemporary ultrasound imaging technology has been shown to be very effective to characterize material properties at a coarse scale. At the same time, existing ultrasound technology is unable to identify subtle changes in material substructure, which is essential to imaging complex structures with high resolution to identify defects.*Through this RTI application, we bring together a group of investigators from engineering, manufacturing and clinical sciences to enable real-time analysis of material properties using ultrasound data. The requested instrument contains a unique multi-parametric ultrasound machine from BK Ultrasound that includes the integration of the latest generation of beam forming and imaging algorithms with an open access flexible back-end architecture providing imaging parameters and streamed ultrasound data. The requested infrastructure will narrow the gap between research and commercialization, accelerating the impact of our research. Specifically, we will render real-time structural information from ultrasound at an unprecedented resolution using adaptive beamforming. We will also develop solutions to detect subtle manufacturing defects well below the ultrasound imaging wavelength enabled by an invention of the applicants in ultrasound imaging. Research will also include integration of machine learning with real-time imaging to develop next generation computational ultrasound technology. The availability of the requested system will open many new lines of investigation and ignite transformative changes across the entire spectrum of ultrasound research program. The applicant team has a large funding portfolio in this area and the proposed hardware will leverage existing research funding, accelerate progress and increase our productivity in translation of engineering results to practical use. The requested ultrasound system is unique, given a proprietary arrangement with BK Ultrasound, and will enable the research team to explore the frontiers in their respective areas. The system will act as a point of collaboration between many disciplines. The proposed equipment will play a critical role in interdisciplinary training of more than 20 HQP. HQP will gain an in depth understanding of ultrasound technologies and skills in image and signal processing and machine learning, which are highly sought after in industry and academia.*