The objective of this paper is to show that time reversal invariance can be exploited in acoustics to create a variety of useful instruments as well as elegant experiments in pure physics.Section 1 is devoted to the description of time reversal cavities and mirrors together with a comparison between time reversal and phase conjugation. To illustrate these concepts, several experiments conducted in multiply scattering media, waveguides and chaotic cavities are presented in section 2. Applications of time reversal mirrors (TRMs) in hydrodynamics are then presented in section 3. Section 4 is devoted to the application of TRMs in pulse echo detection. A complete theory of the iterative time reversal mode is presented. It will be explained how this technique allows for focusing on different targets in a multi-target medium. Another application of pulse echo TRMs is presented in this section: how to achieve resonance in an elastic target? Section 5 explores the medical applications of TRMs in ultrasonic imaging, lithotripsy and hyperthermia and section 6 shows the promising applications of TRMs in nondestructive testing of solid samples.

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Several methods have been proposed to estimate the viscoelastic properties of soft biological tissues using forced low-frequency vibrations (10-500 Hz). Those methods are based on the measurement of phase velocity of the shear waves (approximately 5 m/s). It is shown in this article that the measurements of velocity as well as attenuation are subjected to biases. These biases are related to reflected waves created at boundaries, to the nonnegligible size of the piston source which causes diffraction effects and to the influence of a low-frequency compressional wave. Indeed, a theoretical analysis of the field radiated by a point source explains how mechanical vibrations of a piston generate a shear wave with a longitudinal component and how this component can interfere with a low-frequency compressional wave. However, by using a low-frequency transient excitation, these biases can be avoided. Then the precise numerical values of elasticity and viscosity can be deduced. Experiments in phantoms and beef muscles are shown. Moreover, a relative hardness imaging of a phantom composed of two media with different elasticities is presented.