New ultrasound pulse-echo method for measuring the thickness of thin membranes

Sidney Leeman; Andrew J. Healey; Eduardo Tavares Costa

doi:10.1117/12.384543

25 April 2000 New ultrasound pulse-echo method for measuring the thickness of thin membranes

Sidney Leeman, Andrew J. Healey, Eduardo Tavares Costa

Proceedings Volume 3977, Medical Imaging 2000: Physics of Medical Imaging; (2000) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.384543
Event: Medical Imaging 2000, 2000, San Diego, CA, United States

Abstract

This communication presents a new method for measuring the thickness of thin membranes with pulse-echo ultrasound. The method is based on a consideration of the structure of the interference of the two echoes from the sides of the membrane. Essentially, it is the interference between these two echoes that gives rise to poor thickness estimation. The new method, which is explained in detail, proceeds from a consideration of the zeros of the echo signal in the complex frequency domain. Measurements with the new technique are compared with two other methods: the time-separation of echo envelopes, and a cross-correlation method. The analysis is presented with both simulated and real (laboratory) data. The effect of noise is taken into account in the laboratory data. This new method is shown to be capable of measuring sub-wavelength membrane thicknesses with excellent precision. The ultrasound rf signal is required, but a substantial improvement over existing techniques is gained.

Citation Download Citation

Sidney Leeman, Andrew J. Healey, and Eduardo Tavares Costa "New ultrasound pulse-echo method for measuring the thickness of thin membranes", Proc. SPIE 3977, Medical Imaging 2000: Physics of Medical Imaging, (25 April 2000); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.384543

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