Abstract
The use of a medical ultrasonic scanning device was studied as a measuring tool for determining the physical characteristics of soft porous media in an turbid aqueous environment. Three different sponge types were used as the soft objects. A method for determining porosities was developed by comparing the 2-D images produced by the image analyzer with the known porosities of the sponges. Results demonstrated that the ultrasonic device was effective in locating soft objects in an aqueous environment with essentially zero visibility. Furthermore, the device could be used to determine physical characteristics such as physical dimensions and porosities in objects where the pores were larger than one millimeter in diameter. The major limitations of the ultrasonic scanning device were that it could not "see" harder materials such as metal, sand or hard rubbers and it does not have the ability to scan deeper than 22.5 cm in depth. Other work has shown that ultrasonics could effectively be used in metals and other materials with proper design considerations and they could also be designed to work in deeper environments.
Daubon, Jose C (1995). Ultrasonic measurement of porous medium in an aqueous environment. Master's thesis, Texas A&M University. Available electronically from
https : / /hdl .handle .net /1969 .1 /ETD -TAMU -1995 -THESIS -D38.