Method of and apparatus for measuring properties of an object with acoustically induced electromagnetic waves

2:

• The method of measuring a property of an object with acoustically induced electromagnetic waves as set forth in claim 1, characterized in that the electric property determined of said measurable object includes a change or changes in one or more of property values for electric field, dielectric constant, spatial gradient of electric field and spatial gradient of dielectric constant and for concentration, mass, size, shape and number of charges of charged particles which said measurable object possesses and for interaction with a medium surrounding said charged particles.

3:

• The method of measuring a property of an object with acoustically induced electromagnetic waves as set forth in claim 1, characterized in that the magnetic property determined of said measurable object includes a property value for magnetization due to electron spin or nuclear spin in said measurable object or for acousto-magnetic resonance attributable to electron spin or nuclear spin in said measurable object.

4:

• The method of measuring a property of an object with acoustically induced electromagnetic waves as set forth in claim 1, characterized in that the electromagnetic mechanical property of the measurable object includes a piezoelectric property or magnetostriction property of said measurable object.

5:

• The method of measuring a property of an object with acoustically induced electromagnetic waves as set forth in claim 1, characterized in that the acoustic waves with which said measurable object is irradiated are in the form of acoustic wave pulses and said electromagnetic waves are measured of time dependence of their intensity detected subsequent to irradiation with said acoustic wave pulses to determine a relaxation characteristic of a property value for charged particles which said measurable object possesses.

6:

• The method of measuring a property of an object with acoustically induced electromagnetic waves as set forth in claim 1, characterized in that said acoustic waves are in the form of those of a fixed frequency in a narrow band or acoustic wave pulses of a fixed frequency in a narrow band and said electromagnetic waves are measured by heterodyne or phase detection of the electromagnetic waves radiated from said measurable object with a frequency of said acoustic waves as a reference signal and heterodyne or phase detection of a signal resulting from said detection with a pulse frequency of said pulses.

7:

• The method of measuring a property of an object with acoustically induced electromagnetic waves as set forth in claim 1, characterized in that said acoustic waves are in the form of acoustic wave pulses of a fixed frequency in a narrow band and said electromagnetic waves are measured by heterodyne or phase detection of the electromagnetic waves radiated from said measurable object with a frequency of said acoustic waves as a reference signal and heterodyne or phase detection of a signal resulting from said detection with a pulse frequency of said pulses.

8:

• The method of measuring a property of an object with acoustically induced electromagnetic waves as set forth in claim 6 or claim 7, characterized in that from phase information of said phase detection, it is determined whether said electromagnetic wave signals originate from positively charged particles or negatively charged particles possessed by said object to be measured.

9:

• The method of measuring a property of an object with acoustically induced electromagnetic waves as set forth in any one of claims 5 to 7, characterized in that a signal of said electromagnetic waves is measured that is isolated with respect to time from electromagnetic noises occurring at a source of emission of said acoustic wave pulses by choosing a time period for a said acoustic wave pulse to propagate over a distance between the emission source of said acoustic wave pulses and said measurable object so as to be longer than a pulse duration of said acoustic wave pulse or by making said pulse duration shorter than said time period for the acoustic wave pulse to propagate.

10:

• The method of measuring a property of an object with acoustically induced electromagnetic waves as set forth in any one of claims 1 and 5 to 7, characterized in that said measurable object is irradiated with acoustic waves by focusing acoustic waves from a plurality of a source on a desired small part of said measurable object and electromagnetic waves induced at said small part are measured with an antenna or coil means disposed to surround said measurable object whereby acoustic waves are focused on a desired part and on the desired part from a desired direction and electromagnetic waves radiated from a desired position and from the desired positions towards a desired direction is measured while their radiation bearing distribution is determined.

11:

• The method of measuring a property of an object with acoustically induced electromagnetic waves as set forth in claim 10, characterized in that focusing acoustic waves is scanned over a two-dimensional surface or three-dimensional volume of said measurable object and an intensity of induced electromagnetic waves at each scanning position is measured using an antenna or coil means surrounding said measurable object to determine a two-dimensional or three-dimensional distribution of changes in a property value of charged particles of said object.

12:

• The method of measuring a property of an object with acoustically induced electromagnetic waves as set forth in claim 1 or claim 5, characterized in that said acoustic waves are applied in the form of broadband ultrashort pulses and that the frequency of said electromagnetic waves is measured and from the measured frequency of electromagnetic waves, information is derived on depthwise position of charged particles generating the electromagnetic waves.

13:

• The method of measuring a property of an object with acoustically induced electromagnetic waves as set forth in any one of claims 1, 2 and 5 to 7 wherein said measurable object is a nervous tissue representative of a brain or a muscle tissue of a living body, characterized in that a charge distribution formed when neuron or muscle tissue is activated is measured as changes in property value of charged particles to identify a site of said activated neuron or said muscle tissue.

14:

• The method of measuring a property of an object with acoustically induced electromagnetic waves as set forth in any one of claims 1, 2 and 5 to 7, characterized in that said measurable object is of any one of materials selected from the group which consists of colloidal solution, liquid crystal, solid electrolyte, ionic crystal, semiconductor, dielectric, metal, magnetic material and magnetic fluid or a composite material thereof or a structure or a functional device composed of such a material, in which a change in property value of charged particles is measured.

16:

• The apparatus for measuring a property of an object with acoustically induced electromagnetic waves as set forth in claim 15, characterized in that said acoustic generator comprises a plurality of acoustic generators or a plurality of acoustic generators fixed on a concaved surface whose normal is focused on a point whereby
• acoustic wave pulses generated from said acoustic generators are controlled of their mutual phase by said control, measure and process unit so as to be focused on a desired position of said measurable object and the focusing position of acoustic waves is scanned over a two-dimensional surface or three-dimensional volume of said measurable object or said acoustic generators are scanned mechanically around said measurable object to scan the focusing position of acoustic waves over a two-dimensional surface or three-dimensional volume of said measurable object.

17:

• The apparatus for measuring a property of an object with acoustically induced electromagnetic waves as set forth in claim 15, characterized in that said control, measure and process unit includes a SQUID for detecting a magnetic field.

18:

• The apparatus for measuring a property of an object with acoustically induced electromagnetic waves as set forth in claim 15, characterized in that said control, measure and process unit includes a means by which electromagnetic waves received by said antenna or coil means are heterodyne- or phase-detected with a frequency of said acoustic waves, and means by which an electromagnetic wave signal so detected is locked in with a pulse frequency of said acoustic wave pulses and thereby detected.

19:

• The apparatus for measuring a property of an object with acoustically induced electromagnetic waves as set forth in claim 15, characterized in that said control, measure and process unit comprises a means for causing broadband ultrashort pulses to be generated from said acoustic generator and a means for measuring a frequency of electromagnetic waves received by said antenna or coil means.

20:

• The apparatus for measuring a property of an object with acoustically induced electromagnetic waves as set forth in claim 19, characterized in that said means for measuring a frequency of electromagnetic waves comprises any one or a combination of a bandpass filter, a rock-in amplifier and a spectrum analyzer.