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Abstract Acoustic holographic lenses (AHLs) show great potential as a straightforward, inexpensive, and reliable method of sound manipulation. These lenses store the phase and amplitude profile of the desired wavefront when illuminated by a single acoustic source to reconstruct ultrasound pressure fields, induce localized heating, and achieve temporal and spatial thermal effects in acousto-thermal materials like polymers. The ultrasonic energy is transmitted and focused by AHL from a transducer into a particular focal volume. It is then converted to heat by internal friction in the polymer chains, causing the temperature of the polymer to rise at the focus locations while having little to no effect elsewhere. This one-of-a-kind capability is made possible by the development of AHLs to make use of the translation of attenuated pressure fields into programmable heat patterns. However, the impact of acousto-thermal dynamics on the generation of AHLs is largely unexplored. We use a machine learning-assisted single inverse problem approach for rapid and efficient AHLs’ design to generate thermal patterns. The process involves the conversion of thermal information into a holographic representation through the utilization of two latent functions: pressure phase and amplitude. Experimental verification is performed for pressure and thermal measurements. The volumetric acousto-thermal analyses of experimental samples are performed to offer a knowledge of the obtained pattern dynamics, as well as the applicability of holographic thermal mapping for precise volumetric temperature control. Finally, the proposed framework aims to provide a solid foundation for volumetric analysis of acousto-thermal patterns within thick samples and for assessing thermal changes with outer surface measurements. 

Abstract The study of the impedance mismatch between the device and its surroundings is crucial when building an acoustic device to obtain optimal performance. In reality, a high impedance mismatch would prohibit energy from being transmitted over the interface, limiting the amount of energy that the device could treat. In general, this is solved by using acoustic impedance matching layers, such as gradients, similar to what is done in optical coatings. The simplest form of such a gradient can be considered as an intermediate layer with certain qualities resting between the two media to impedance match, and requiring a minimum thickness of at least one quarter wavelength of the lowest frequency under consideration. The desired combination(s) of the (limited) available elastic characteristics and densities has traditionally determined material selection. Nature, which is likewise limited by the use of a limited number of materials in the construction of biological structures, demonstrates a distinct approach in which the design space is swept by modifying certain geometrical and/or material parameters. The middle ear of mammals and the lateral line of fishes are both instances of this method, with the latter already incorporating an architecture of distributed impedance matched underwater layers. In this paper, we develop a resonant mechanism whose properties can be modified to give impedance matching at different frequencies by adjusting a small set of geometrical parameters. The mechanism in question, like the lateral line organ, is intended to serve as the foundation for the creation of an impedance matching meta-surface. A computational study and parameter optimization show that it can match the impedance of water and air in a deeply sub-wavelength zone. 

Acoustic holographic lenses, also known as acoustic holograms, can change the phase of a transmitted wavefront in order to shape and construct complex ultrasound pressure fields, often for focusing the acoustic energy on a target region. These lenses have been proposed for transcranial focused ultrasound (tFUS) to create diffraction-limited focal zones that target specific brain regions while compensating for skull aberration. Holograms are currently designed using time-reversal approaches in full-wave time-domain numerical simulations. Such simulations need time-consuming computations, which severely limits the adoption of iterative optimization strategies. In the time-reversal method, the number and distribution of virtual sources can significantly influence the final sound field. Because of the computational constraints, predicting these effects and determining the optimal arrangement is challenging. This study introduces an efficient method for designing acoustic holograms using a volumetric holographic technique to generate focused fields inside the skull. The proposed method combines a modified mixed-domain method for ultrasonic propagation with a gradient descent iterative optimization algorithm. The findings are further validated in underwater experiments with a realistic 3D-printed skull phantom. This approach enables substantially faster holographic computation than previously reported techniques. The iterative process uses explicitly defined loss functions to bias the ultrasound field’s optimization parameters to specific desired characteristics, such as axial resolution, transversal resolution, coverage, and focal region uniformity, while eliminating the uncertainty associated with virtual sources in time-reversal techniques. The proposed techniques enable more rapid hologram computation and more flexibility in tailoring ultrasound fields for specific therapeutic requirements. 

We use a high pattern-fidelity technique on piezoelectric electrodes to selectively excite high-order vibration modes, while isolating other modes, in multi-layered through-wall ultrasound power transfer (TWUPT) systems. Physical mechanisms, such as direct and inverse piezoelectric effects at transmitting and receiving piezoelectric elements, as well as wave propagation across an elastic barrier and coupling layers, all contribute to TWUPT. High-order radial modes in a TWUPT system feature strain nodes, where the dynamic strain distribution changes sign in the direction of disks' radii. This study explains theoretically and empirically how covering the strain nodes of vibration modes with continuous electrodes results in substantial cancelations of the electrical outputs. A detailed analysis is given for predicting the locations of the strain nodes. The electrode patterning for creating the transmitter and receiver shapes is determined by the regions where local force and charge cancelation do not occur, i.e., the two modal principal stress components have the same sign. Patterning for creating the electrode shapes is performed by high-fidelity numerical modeling supported by experiments. Using differential excitation on the transmitter side while monitoring transmitted power and efficiency on the reception side at various vibration modes is made possible by the unique nature of TWUPT systems. Due to an improvement in system quality and power factors, it is determined that employing the proposed electrode pattern designs enhances overall device efficiency and active power. The suppression of other modes makes up a filter feature that is paired with the enhancement at the mode under consideration. 

Holographic acoustic lenses (HALs), also known as acoustic holograms, are used for generating unprecedented complex focused ultrasound (FU) fields. HALs store the phase profile of the desired wavefront, which is used to reconstruct the acoustic pressure field when illuminated by a single acoustic source. Nonlinear effects occur as the sound intensity increases, leading to distorted and asymmetric waveforms. Here, the k-space pseudospectral method is used to perform homogeneous three-dimensional nonlinear acoustic simulations with power law absorption. An in-depth analysis is performed to study the evolution of holographic-modulated FU fields produced by HALs as the excitation amplitude increases. It is shown that nonlinear waveform distortion significantly affects the reconstruction of the pressure pattern when compared to the linear condition. Diffraction and nonlinear effects result in an asymmetric waveform with distinct positive and negative pressure patterns at the target plane. Peak positive pressure distribution becomes more localized around the areas with the highest nonlinear distortion. The peak signal-to-distortion ratio (PSDR) at the target plane falls while the nonuniformity index (NUI) rises. As a result of harmonic generation, the heat deposition distribution becomes highly localized with a significant increase in the NUI. Nonlinear effects have also been shown to flatten the peak negative pressure distribution while having minimal effect on the PSDR or NUI. However, nonlinear effects are shown to be critical for accurately predicting cavitation zones. Findings will pave the way for HALs implementation in high-intensity applications and prompt the incorporation of nonlinear acoustics into the notion of computer-generated holography.