System and method for in-situ measurement of viscoelastic material properties using continuous-wave ultrasound

A method for measuring at least one viscoelastic material property of a material under measurement, comprising:

• positioning an emitter transducer spaced from and an observer transducer in on opposite side of the material under measurement;
• applying a plurality of excitation signals to the emitter transducer, wherein each of the excitation signals comprises a continuous-wave sinusoidal waveform;
• recording a plurality of output signals at the observer transducer, wherein each of the output signals corresponds to one of the excitation signals, and wherein each of the output signals comprises a sum of the corresponding one of the excitation signals and a plurality of attenuated echoes traveling between the emitter transducer and the observer transducer;
• and
• analyzing the output signals to measure the sound speed of the material under measurement;
• and determine a material property of the material under measurement, wherein the material property comprises one of a sound speed, a viscosity, an elasticity, and a density of the material under measurement
• utilizing the measured sound speed to determine the viscoelastic property of the material under measurement.

A system for measuring at least one viscoelastic property a sound speed of a material under measurement, comprising:

• an emitter-observer transducer pair configured to be positioned within the material under measurement, wherein the transducer pair comprises comprising an emitter transducer spaced from an observer transducer, wherein the emitter transducer and the observer transducer are positioned on opposite sides of the material under measurement;
• a signal processing assembly connected to the emitter transducer and the observer transducer, wherein the signal processing assembly is operable to:
• apply a plurality of excitation signals to the emitter transducer, wherein each of the excitation signals comprises a continuous-wave sinusoidal waveform having an input frequency;
• record a plurality of output signals at the observer transducer, wherein each of the output signals corresponds to one of the excitation signals and has an output amplitude;
• and
• analyze the output signals to measure the sound speed of the material under measurement by (a) generating an amplitude wave in which the output amplitude of each of the output signals is plotted as a function of the input frequency of the corresponding one of the excitation signals, (b) determining the period of the amplitude wave, and (c) calculating the sound speed associated with the period of the amplitude wave for a fixed distance between the emitter transducer and the observer transducer;
• and
• utilize the measured sound speed to determine the viscoelastic property of the material under measurement.

A system for measuring at least one viscoelastic property of a material under measurement, comprising:

• an emitter-observer transducer pair configured to be positioned within the material under measurement, wherein the transducer pair comprises comprising an emitter transducer spaced from an observer transducer, wherein the emitter transducer and the observer transducer are separated by the material under measurement;
• a signal processing assembly connected to the emitter transducer and the observer transducer, wherein the signal processing assembly is operable to:
• apply a plurality of excitation signals to the emitter transducer, wherein each of the excitation signals comprises a continuous-wave sinusoidal waveform;
• record a plurality of output signals at the observer transducer, wherein each of the output signals corresponds to one of the excitation signals;
• analyze the output signals to measure the sound speed of the material;
• and
• utilize the measured sound speed as an input to a parametric optimization algorithm to determine the viscoelastic property of the material under measurement.

A method for measuring at least one viscoelastic property a sound speed of a material under measurement, comprising:

• positioning an emitter transducer spaced from and an observer transducer in the material under measurement so that the emitter transducer and the observer transducer are positioned on opposite sides of the material under measurement;
• applying a plurality of excitation signals to the emitter transducer, wherein each of the excitation signals comprises a continuous-wave sinusoidal waveform;
• recording a plurality of output signals at the observer transducer, wherein each of the output signals corresponds to one of the excitation signals;
• and
• analyzing the output signals to measure the sound speed of the material under measurement by (a) generating an amplitude wave in which the output amplitude of each of the output signals is plotted as a function of the input frequency of the corresponding one of the excitation signals, (b) determining the period of the amplitude wave, and (c) calculating the sound speed associated with the period of the amplitude wave for a fixed distance between the emitter transducer and the observer transducer;
• and
• utilizing the measured sound speed to determine the viscoelastic property of the material under measurement.

A method for measuring at least one viscoelastic property of a material under measurement, comprising:

• positioning an emitter transducer spaced from and an observer transducer in on opposite sides of the material under measurement;
• applying a plurality of excitation signals to the emitter transducer, wherein each of the excitation signals comprises a continuous-wave sinusoidal waveform;
• recording a plurality of output signals at the observer transducer, wherein each of the output signals corresponds to one of the excitation signals;
• analyzing the output signals to measure the sound speed of the material under measurement;
• and
• utilizing the measured sound speed as an input to a parametric optimization algorithm to determine the viscoelastic property of the material under measurement.