Ultrasound

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(Redirected from Ultrasonics)

Gravis Ultrasound is a sound card for the IBM PC compatible system platform.

Ultrasound is sound with a frequency greater than the upper limit of human hearing, approximately 20 kilohertz/20,000 hertz. Some animals, such as dogs, dolphins, bats, and mice have an upper limit that is greater than that of the human ear and thus can hear ultrasound. Children can hear some high-pitched sounds that older adults cannot hear, as in humans the upper limit pitch of hearing gets lower with age.

1 Medical sonography
2 Other medical uses
3 Industrial sonography
4 Ultrasonic cleaning
5 Scaring rodents away
6 Ultrasonic disintegration
7 Ultrasound as a weapon
8 Other uses
9 See also
10 External links

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Medical sonography

Main article: Medical ultrasonography

Medical ultrasonography (sonography) is an ultrasound-based diagnostic imaging technique used to visualize muscles and internal organs, their size, structure and any pathological lesions, making them useful for scanning the organs. Obstetric sonography is commonly used during pregnancy.

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Other medical uses

Ultrasound also has therapeutic applications:-

Treating benign and malignant tumors and other disorders, via a process known as Focused Ultrasound Surgery (FUS) or HIFU, High Intensity Focused Ultrasound. These procedures generally use lower frequencies than medical diagnostic ultrasound, but significantly higher time-averaged intensities (~500 kHz to 2 MHz).
More powerful ultrasound sources may be used to clean teeth in dental hygiene or generate local heating in biological tissue, e.g. in physical therapy and cancer treatment.
Focused ultrasound sources may be used to break up kidney stones or for cataract treatment by phacoemulsification.

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Industrial sonography

Ultrasound is also used by iron workers and condition monitoring technicians for nondestructive testing of metals and welds.

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Ultrasonic cleaning

Ultrasonic cleaners, sometimes mistakenly called supersonic cleaners, are used at frequencies from 20-40 kHz for jewellery, lenses and other optical parts, watches, dental instruments, surgical instruments and industrial parts. The main mechanism for cleaning action in an ultrasonic cleaner is the energy released from the collapse of millions of microscopic cavitation events occurring in the liquid of the cleaner. Home cleaners are available and costs range from approximately US $100.

Jewelers use ultrasound to clean rings and watches.

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Scaring rodents away

Ultrasound generator/speaker systems are sold with claims that they frighten away rodents and insects, but there is no scientific evidence that the devices work; controlled tests have shown that rodents quickly learn that the speakers are harmless.

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Ultrasonic disintegration

Some sorts of ultrasound can disintegrate biological cells including bacteria. This has uses in biological science and in killing bacteria in sewage. See for example:-

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Ultrasound as a weapon

Main article: Ultrasound weapons

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Other uses

Ultrasound when applied in specific configurations can produce exotic phenomena such as sonoluminescence. These phenomena are being investigated partly because of the possibility of bubble fusion (a nuclear fusion reaction hypothesized to occur during sonoluminescence).

A common use of Ultrasound is in range finding. The basic principle is that an ultrasonic pulse is generated in a particular direction. If there is an object in the path of this pulse, part or all of the pulse will be reflected back to the sender as an echo and can be detected.

By measuring the difference in time between the pulse being transmitted and the echo being received, it is possible to determine how far away the object is.

Bats use a variety of ultrasonic ranging (echolocation) to detect their prey. Sonar is another form.

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