A convergent beam of ultrasonic waves at very high frequencies can be used in an acoustic microscope to achieve resolutions of the order of 1 μm at depths of up to 1 mm. One application of the acoustic microscope are welding tests (e.g. the Figure which shows an Si/Mo structure welded at 475°C).
Measuring the ultrasonic velocity in soft materials, especially in biological tissues, is never easy. One of the main issues is that the thickness of the sample under test is badly defined. From the time-of-flight measurement method, uncertainties in the thickness induce important uncertainties in experimental results. This implies that the ultrasonic velocity is often a poor criterion when it could be a good one. This paper introduces a new method to measure the ultrasonic velocity in soft materials without knowing the sample thickness The main idea of this method is to use two different coupling media to make two relative time-of-flight measurements. The comparison of these two measurements gives the ultrasonic velocity in the sample under test. Furthermore, this comparison can give the local thickness of the sample. The uncertainty calculations show that the effect on the thickness is drastically reduced by using this new ultrasound method. This method is validated on a reference sample (silicone). Before conclusion, some experimental results obtained with mouse skin samples are presented.
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