Development of ultrasonic wave inversion methods

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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.