Laser-induced ultrasonic wave apparatus and method
First Claim
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1. A laser-induced ultrasonic wave apparatus, the apparatus comprising:
- a laser source configured to irradiate a target object and a thermoelastic material with a laser beam;
the thermoelastic material configured to be spatially apart from the target object, configured to generate a first acoustic wave based upon irradiation of the thermoelastic material by the laser beam, and configured to transmit the first acoustic wave to the target object;
a transducer configured to transduce acoustic waves into electric signals, the transducer including at least one piezoelectric micromachined ultrasonic transducer (pMUT), capacitive micromachined ultrasonic transducer (cMUT), or magnetic micromachined ultrasonic transducer (mMUT); and
a substrate between the thermoelastic material and the transducer in a single probe such that the single probe includes the thermoelastic material, the substrate, and the transducer,wherein the transducer is further configured toreceive an echo acoustic wave of the first acoustic wave, as reflected from the target object through the substrate, and transduce the echo acoustic wave into first electric signals, andreceive a second acoustic wave generated in the target object by irradiation of the target object by the laser beam from the target object through the substrate and transduce the second acoustic wave into second electric signals.
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Abstract
Laser-induced ultrasonic wave apparatuses and methods of generating images using the same. The laser-induced ultrasonic wave apparatus includes a laser source which irradiates a laser beam to a target object and a thermoelastic material; a thermoelastic material which converts the laser beam to a first ultrasonic wave and irradiates the first ultrasonic wave to the target object; and a receiving unit which receives an echo acoustic wave of the first ultrasonic wave and receives a second ultrasonic wave generated by the target object due to the laser beam.
24 Citations
28 Claims
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1. A laser-induced ultrasonic wave apparatus, the apparatus comprising:
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a laser source configured to irradiate a target object and a thermoelastic material with a laser beam; the thermoelastic material configured to be spatially apart from the target object, configured to generate a first acoustic wave based upon irradiation of the thermoelastic material by the laser beam, and configured to transmit the first acoustic wave to the target object; a transducer configured to transduce acoustic waves into electric signals, the transducer including at least one piezoelectric micromachined ultrasonic transducer (pMUT), capacitive micromachined ultrasonic transducer (cMUT), or magnetic micromachined ultrasonic transducer (mMUT); and a substrate between the thermoelastic material and the transducer in a single probe such that the single probe includes the thermoelastic material, the substrate, and the transducer, wherein the transducer is further configured to receive an echo acoustic wave of the first acoustic wave, as reflected from the target object through the substrate, and transduce the echo acoustic wave into first electric signals, and receive a second acoustic wave generated in the target object by irradiation of the target object by the laser beam from the target object through the substrate and transduce the second acoustic wave into second electric signals. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20)
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21. A laser-induced ultrasonic wave method, the method comprising:
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irradiating a target object and a thermoelastic material with a laser beam; receiving and transducing, at a transducer configured to transduce acoustic waves into electric signals, an echo acoustic wave, from the target object, as a reflection of a first acoustic wave transmitted to the target object from the thermoelastic material upon the thermoelastic material being irradiated by the laser beam, the transducer including at least one piezoelectric micromachined ultrasonic transducer (pMUT), capacitive micromachined ultrasonic transducer (cMUT), or magnetic micromachined ultrasonic transducer (mMUT); and receiving and transducing, at the transducer, a second acoustic wave generated in the target object upon the target object being irradiated by the laser beam from the target object, wherein a substrate is between the thermoelastic material and the transducer in a single probe such that the single probe includes the thermoelastic material, the substrate, and the transducer and the echo acoustic wave and second acoustic wave are received by the transducer through the substrate, the single probe being separate from the target object such that the thermoelastic material is between the substrate and the target object, such that the laser beam, the first acoustic wave, and the second acoustic wave traverse through the substrate between the transducer and the thermoelastic material. - View Dependent Claims (22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28)
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Specification