Development of ultrasonic wave inversion methods

发达国家的基础设施正在迅速老化，而且更换费用往往高得令人望而却步。在医学成像中，人们致力于在临床环境中使用医学超声，以简化骨质疏松症等疾病的诊断并减少电离辐射的暴露。在这种情况下，在超声无损评价和医疗超声的研究将导致在未来几十年的重大创新。 拟议的研究计划旨在开发超越简单缺陷检测的方法，并能够表征缺陷和被检介质的材料特性。本研究计划中提出的项目将考虑在无损评价和医疗超声方面的应用。例如，在骨质量评估中，目前的金标准是双能X射线吸收法（DXA）。DXA使患者暴露于电离辐射，仅对骨矿物质密度敏感，通常在医院进行。另一方面，超声波对它们在其中传播的介质的所有材料性质敏感，是非电离的，并且可以应用于临床环境。将开发使用超声体波和超声导波的反演方法用于骨质量评估。有趣的是，这两种反演方法也将被应用于无损检测应用：非均匀材料表征和粘接质量评估。最后，相控阵超声检测过程中获得的散射波场将使用人工智能反演模拟数据训练。该研究计划将充分利用Belanger教授实验室中已经提供的最先进的模拟工具和实验室仪器。 培训计划和研究小组的环境将有助于培养3名博士生和3名MASc学生成为超声技术的下一代创新者。加拿大已经是这一领域的主要全球参与者，在全国各地建立了多家设备制造商和服务提供商。在这项研究计划中培训的高素质人员将拥有这个行业非常理想的技能。

Infrastructure in developed countries is aging rapidly, and more often than not, the cost of replacement is prohibitive. In medical imaging, significant efforts are dedicated to the use medical ultrasound in clinical settings in order to simplify the diagnosis of diseases such as osteoporosis and to reduce exposure to ionizing radiation. In this context, research in ultrasonic nondestructive evaluation and medical ultrasound will lead to major innovations over the next couple of decades. The proposed research program aims at developing methods for going beyond simple defect detection and enabling the characterization of flaws and the material properties of the inspected medium. The projects proposed in this research program will consider applications in nondestructive evaluation and medical ultrasound. For example, in bone quality assessment, the current gold standard is dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry (DXA). DXA exposes patients to ionizing radiation, is only sensitive to bone mineral density and is typically performed in hospitals. On the other hand, ultrasonic waves are sensitive to all of the material properties of the medium inside which they are propagating, are non-ionizing and can be applied in a clinical setting. Inversion methods using ultrasonic bulk waves and ultrasonic guided waves will be developed for bone quality assessment. Interestingly, both inversion methods will also be applied to nondestructive testing applications: inhomogeneous material characterization and adhesive bond quality assessment. Finally, the scattered wave field acquired during phased array ultrasonic testing will be inverted using artificial intelligence trained on simulated data. The research program will heavily leverage state-of-the-art simulation tools and laboratory instruments that are already available in Prof. Belanger's laboratory. The training plan and the research group environment will help train 3 PhD students and 3 MASc students to become the next generation of innovators in ultrasonic technologies. Canada is already a major global player in this field, with multiple equipment manufacturers and service providers established throughout the country. The highly qualified personnel trained in this research program will have highly desirable skills for this industry.