About this Research Topic
Acoustical beams, as one kind of mechanical waves, will interact with the propagating mediums and/or targets inside with abundant physical phenomena such as reflection, refraction, and absorption, which will induce exchanges of momentum and energy between the acoustic waves and the mediums/targets. Hence, acoustic waves are a very effective method to study different objects, ranging from micro-scaled particles in biomedicine to macro-sized marine structures in the ocean. Fortunately, from the point of view of physical acoustics, some theories and numerical models are uniform, e.g., acoustic propagation and scattering in the human body and the global ocean. The differences lie in the working frequency (or wavelength) of the sound field, the features of the propagation mediums, and the diverse targets of micro-scale (e.g., human cells) or macro-scales (e.g., ocean and marine structures) for various applications.
On the one hand for ultrasound in medicine and biology, the precise models of acoustics scattering of human cells are still in need although it has been studied largely in the past century. This is one of the basis for the ultrasound micromanipulation on human cells and biological microparticles which sees rapid development as termed as the acoustical tweezers technique in the past two decades. However, the acoustic radiation force theories of human cells in a tissue environment are very challenging and barely reported. Only a few works succeeded to use experimental means to investigate the ultrasound manipulation of microparticles and bubbles in mammalian bodies since 2020. In addition, the theory and model of acoustic streaming in the real human environment and at very high frequencies are still missing.
On the other hand for ocean acoustics, the observation of the ocean environment and the acoustic performance of marine structures are time-consuming and costly. Hence, helpful physical theories, numerical simulations, and lab experiments are good options before the expensive and complicated field experiments. In addition, artificial acoustic materials are in rapid development and in great demand to improve the acoustic performance (i.e., underwater scattering and radiation) of marine structures in an economic way.
Our primary goal in this Research Topic is to exchange ideas of new physical phenomena, models, and mechanisms related to acoustic propagation, target scattering, and nonlinear acoustics (especially on acoustic radiation pressure and streaming) with theoretical, numerical, and/or experimental methods for the understanding and applications in the fields of ultrasound in medicine and biology and ocean exploration. More contributions are necessary to better understand the scattering model of human cells, sound propagation in the real human tissue and ocean environments, general theories of acoustic radiation force/torque and acoustic streaming in a broad spectrum of frequency up to GHz, and desirable designs of phononic crystals and artificial acoustic materials, to name a few.
We seek contributions to this Research Topic covering fundamental theories, advanced numerical modeling, transducer design and fabrication, and applications in the fields of acoustic micromanipulations and ocean engineering. We welcome articles as Original Research, Review, Mini Review, and Perspectives covering a range of topics, but not limited to:
• New theories, phenomena, and mechanisms for acoustic scattering, acoustic radiation force and torque, acoustic streaming, and phononic crystals and artificial acoustic materials
• Acoustic devices including transducer design and optimization, Lab-on-a-chip, integrated systems with other techniques (e.g., optical), whole-system simulation
• Acoustic applications to radiation and vibration noise control, biosensor system (e.g., sound-tactile interaction), biological rheology measurement, medicine and biology industry, micro- and nanorobotics, and low gravity environment
On the one hand for ultrasound in medicine and biology, the precise models of acoustics scattering of human cells are still in need although it has been studied largely in the past century. This is one of the basis for the ultrasound micromanipulation on human cells and biological microparticles which sees rapid development as termed as the acoustical tweezers technique in the past two decades. However, the acoustic radiation force theories of human cells in a tissue environment are very challenging and barely reported. Only a few works succeeded to use experimental means to investigate the ultrasound manipulation of microparticles and bubbles in mammalian bodies since 2020. In addition, the theory and model of acoustic streaming in the real human environment and at very high frequencies are still missing.
On the other hand for ocean acoustics, the observation of the ocean environment and the acoustic performance of marine structures are time-consuming and costly. Hence, helpful physical theories, numerical simulations, and lab experiments are good options before the expensive and complicated field experiments. In addition, artificial acoustic materials are in rapid development and in great demand to improve the acoustic performance (i.e., underwater scattering and radiation) of marine structures in an economic way.
Our primary goal in this Research Topic is to exchange ideas of new physical phenomena, models, and mechanisms related to acoustic propagation, target scattering, and nonlinear acoustics (especially on acoustic radiation pressure and streaming) with theoretical, numerical, and/or experimental methods for the understanding and applications in the fields of ultrasound in medicine and biology and ocean exploration. More contributions are necessary to better understand the scattering model of human cells, sound propagation in the real human tissue and ocean environments, general theories of acoustic radiation force/torque and acoustic streaming in a broad spectrum of frequency up to GHz, and desirable designs of phononic crystals and artificial acoustic materials, to name a few.
We seek contributions to this Research Topic covering fundamental theories, advanced numerical modeling, transducer design and fabrication, and applications in the fields of acoustic micromanipulations and ocean engineering. We welcome articles as Original Research, Review, Mini Review, and Perspectives covering a range of topics, but not limited to:
• New theories, phenomena, and mechanisms for acoustic scattering, acoustic radiation force and torque, acoustic streaming, and phononic crystals and artificial acoustic materials
• Acoustic devices including transducer design and optimization, Lab-on-a-chip, integrated systems with other techniques (e.g., optical), whole-system simulation
• Acoustic applications to radiation and vibration noise control, biosensor system (e.g., sound-tactile interaction), biological rheology measurement, medicine and biology industry, micro- and nanorobotics, and low gravity environment
Keywords: Acoustic scattering, Acoustic tweezers, Acoustic radiation force/torque, Acoustic streaming, Underwater acoustics, Phononic crystals and artificial materials
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