Preliminary Clinical Experience with a Novel Optical–Ultrasound Imaging Device on Various Skin Lesions

A compact handheld skin ultrasound imaging device has been developed that uses co-registered optical and ultrasound imaging to provide diagnostic information about the full skin depth. The aim of the current work is to present the preliminary clinical results of this device. Using additional photographic, dermoscopic and ultrasonic images as reference, the images from the device were assessed in terms of the detectability of the main skin layer boundaries and characteristic image features. Combined optical-ultrasonic recordings of various types of skin lesions (melanoma, basal cell carcinoma, seborrheic keratosis, dermatofibroma, naevus, dermatitis and psoriasis) were taken with the device (N = 53) and compared with images captured with a reference portable skin ultrasound imager. The investigator and two additional independent experts performed the evaluation. The detectability of skin structures was over 90% for the epidermis, the dermis and the lesions. The morphological and echogenicity information observed for the different skin lesions were found consistent with those of the reference ultrasound device and relevant ultrasound images in the literature. The presented device was able to obtain simultaneous in-vivo optical and ultrasound images of various skin lesions. This has the potential for further investigations, including the preoperative planning of skin cancer treatment.

Application of model order reduction with Cauer ladder networks to industrial inductors

Purpose The Cauer ladder network (CLN) model order reduction (MOR) method is applied to an industrial inductor. This paper aims to to anaylse the influence of different meshes on the CLN method and their parameters. Design/methodology/approach The industrial inductor is simulated with the CLN method for different meshes. Meshes considering skin effect are compared with equidistant meshes. The inductor is also simulated with the eddy current finite element method (ECFEM) for frequencies 1 kHz to 1 MHz. The solution of the CLN method is compared with the ECFEM solutions for the current density in the conductor and the total impedance. Findings The increase of resistance resulting from the skin effect can be modelled with the CLN method, using a uniform mesh with elements much larger than the skin depth. Meshes taking account of the skin depth are only needed if the electromagnetic fields have to be reconstructed. Additionally, the convergence of the impedance is used to define a stopping criterion without the need for a benchmark solution. Originality/value The work shows that the CLN method can generate a network, which is capable of mimicking the increase of resistance usually accompanied by the skin effect without using a mesh that takes the skin depth into account. In addition, the proposed stopping criterion makes it possible to use the CLN method as an a priori MOR technique.

Shear-driven Hall-magnetohydrodynamic dynamos

Nonlinear Hall-magnetohydrodynamic dynamos associated with coherent structures in subcritical shear flows are investigated by using unstable invariant solutions. The dynamo solution found has a relatively simple structure, but it captures the features of the typical nonlinear structures seen in simulations, such as current sheets. As is well known, the Hall effect destroys the symmetry of the magnetohydrodynamic equations and thus modifies the structure of the current sheet and mean field of the solution. Depending on the strength of the Hall effect, the generation of the magnetic field changes in a complex manner. However, a too strong Hall effect always acts to suppress the magnetic field generation. The hydrodynamic/magnetic Reynolds number dependence of the critical ion skin depth at which the dynamos start to feel the Hall effect is of interest from an astrophysical point of view. An important consequence of the matched asymptotic expansion analysis of the solution is that the higher the Reynolds number, the smaller the Hall current affects the flow. We also briefly discuss how the above results for a relatively simple shear flow can be extended to more general flows such as infinite homogeneous shear flows and boundary layer flows. The analysis of the latter flows suggests that interestingly a strong induction of the generated magnetic field might occur when there is a background shear layer.

Magnetic modulation of Fano resonances in optically thin terahertz superlattice metasurfaces

Optically thin metasurfaces operating at sub-skin depth thicknesses are intriguing because of its associated low plasmonic losses (compared to optically thick, beyond skin-depth metasurfaces). However, their applicability has been restricted largely because of reduced free space coupling with incident radiations resulting in limited electromagnetic responses. To overcome such limitations, we propose enhancement of effective responses (resonances) in sub-skin depth metasurfaces through incorporation of magneto-transport (Giant Magneto Resistance, GMR) concept. Here, we experimentally demonstrate dynamic magnetic modulation of structurally asymmetric metasurfaces (consisting of superlattice arrangement of thin (~ 10 nm each) magnetic (Ni)/ nonmagnetic (Al) layers) operating at terahertz (THz) domain. With increasing magnetic field (applied from 0 to 30 mT approximately, implies increasing superlattice conductivity), we observe stronger confinement of electromagnetic energy at the resonances (both in dipole and Fano modes). Therefore, this study introduces unique magnetically reconfigurable ability in Fano resonant THz metamaterials, which directly improves its performances operating in the sub-skin depth regime. Our study can be explained by spin-dependent terahertz magneto-transport phenomena in metals and can stimulate the paradigm for on-chip spin-based photonic technology enabling dynamic magnetic control over compact, sub-wavelength, sub-skin depth metadevices.

Effect of dielectric and magnetic nanofillers on electromagnetic interference shielding effectiveness of carbon/epoxy composites

Tremendous development in electronic devices and their indiscriminate use has created a severe problem of electromagnetic pollution. Different types of electromagnetic interference (EMI) shielding materials and structures are used to protect electronic devices from the harmful effect of electromagnetic pollution. A present study was conducted to compare the effect of dielectric and magnetic nanofillers on electromagnetic shielding effectiveness (EMI SE) of carbon fiber reinforced composite structures (CFRC). Composites structures were developed using different dielectric and magnetic nanofillers. Effect of nanofillers on microwave absorption properties and reduction in electromagnetic pollution was investigated. Relationship between electrical conductivity and EMI shielding effectiveness in L, S, C, and X-frequency range was also studied. Among the dielectric nanofillers, silicon carbide showed excellent EMI SE in X-frequency range, while among magnetic nanofillers, zinc oxide showed excellent EMI shielding characteristics in a broad frequency range of 100 MHz to 13.6 GHz. Among magnetic nanofillers, CFRC with zinc oxide nanofillers showed the lowest skin depth value of 3.32 × 10−4 mm and among dielectric nanofiller, CFRC with silicon carbide nanofillers gave the lowest skin depth value of 6.49 × 10−4 mm, implying their excellent potential in EMI shielding applications.

Computer-aided design of graphene and 2D materials synthesis via magnetic inductive heating of eleven transition metals

We performed numerical simulations to determine the effect of the most influential operating parameters on the performance of radio frequency (RF) induction heating system in which RF magnetic fields inductively heat metal foils to grow graphene. Thermal efficiency of the system depends on the geometry as well as on the material electrical conductivity and skin depth. The process is simulated under specific graphene and 2D materials growth conditions using finite elements software in order to predict transient temperature and magnetic field distribution during standard graphene and 2D materials growth conditions. The proposed model considers different coil Helmholtz-like geometries and eleven metal foils including Ag, Au, Cu, Ni, Co, Pd, Pt, Rh, Ir, Mo and W. In each case, an optimal window of process variables ensuring a temperature range of 1035–1084 °C or 700–750 °C suitable for graphene and MoS2 growth respectively was found. Temperature gradient calculated from the simulated profiles between the edge and the center of the substrate showed a thermal uniformity of less than ~2% for coinage metals like Au, Ag and Cu and up to 7% for Pd. Model validation was performed for graphene growth on copper. Due to its limited heat conductivity, good heating uniformity was obtained. As a consequence, full coverage of monolayer graphene on copper with few defects and grain domain size of ~2 µm is obtained. Substrate temperature reached ~ 1035 ° C from ambient after only ~90 s, in excellent agreement with model predictions. This allows for improved process efficiency in terms of fast, localized, homogeneous and precise heating with energy saving. Due to these advantages, inductive heating has great potential for large scale and rapid manufacturing of graphene and 2D materials.

Fast Optoacoustic Mesoscopy of Microvascular Endothelial Dysfunction in Cardiovascular Risk and Disease

Microvascular endothelial dysfunction (ED) precedes the ED in larger arteries and is an early marker of cardiovascular disease (CVD). While precise assessment of microvascular ED could thus be used for the early detection and risk stratification of CVD, detailed interrogation of skin microvascular ED is limited by the technology available. Herein, we applied a novel approach for the non-invasive assessment of skin microvascular ED by developing fast plane raster-scan optoacoustic mesoscopy (FP-RSOM) to visualize and quantify skin microvasculature perfusion changes during post-occlusive hyperemia (PORH) tests. We combined static three-dimensional RSOM imaging with fast dynamic FP-RSOM measurements (1 frame / second) in human skin in vivo, which allowed for the first time to fully visualize the cutaneous microvascular response and further quantify changes of individual vessel diameter, total blood volume and vessel density during the PORH process. We further computed biomarkers from FP-RSOM images to quantify skin endothelial function within different skin layers as a function of skin depth, while conventional approaches mainly measure overall changes within sampled tissue volumes. FP-RSOM applied on smokers and patients with CVD showed clear ED in both groups compared to healthy volunteers. Moreover, FP-RSOM imaging showed higher sensitivity in quantifying the effects of smoking and CVD on skin microvascular endothelial function compared to clinically used laser Doppler flowmetry and tissue spectrometry (O2C). Our study introduces FP-RSOM as a novel tool to visualize and quantify skin microvascular ED as an early marker for the diagnostics and monitoring of cardiovascular risk and disease.