Ultrasound
One area of research in which attenuation figures strongly is in ultrasound physics. Attenuation in ultrasound is the reduction in amplitude of the ultrasound beam as a function of distance through the imaging medium. Accounting for attenuation effects in ultrasound is important because a reduced signal amplitude can affect the quality of the image produced. By knowing the attenuation that an ultrasound beam experiences traveling through a medium, one can adjust the input signal amplitude to compensate for any loss of energy at the desired imaging depth.
- Ultrasound attenuation measurement in heterogeneous systems, like emulsions or colloids, yields information on particle size distribution. There is an ISO standard on this technique.
- Ultrasound attenuation can be used for extensional rheology measurement. There are acoustic rheometers that employ Stokes' law for measuring extensional viscosity and volume viscosity.
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