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Physical Ultrasonics
The University of Mississippi

The primary thrust of the Physical Ultrasonics Research Group is the physics of ultrasonically mediated phenomena which includes the fabrication and characterization of phononic metamaterials, study of micellar fluid phase transitions, signal propagation in heterogeneous, dispersive and viscoelastic media, development of tissue-mimicking phantoms and the physics of acoustic cavitation.

  • In 2007 the group began work with Impulse Devices, Inc. (Impulse) under the Advanced Cavitation Power Technology (ACPT) program, a cutting-edge research contract awarded to Impulse by the federal government. In addition to Impulse, the Prime Contractor, there are three subcontracting universities: Boston University, The University of Mississippi (National Center for Physical Acoustics), and The University of Washington.
  • Prior to the initiation of ACPT, Impulse spheres were only capable of cavitating water and other transparent media at or near ambient pressure, and virtually no diagnostics existed that were adequate to assess performance under the relevant conditions. Significant achievements and progress have been made working on three fronts: 1) diagnostics; 2) resonator development; and 3) cavitation media and triggers. The Ultrasonics Group work has centered on the first of these fronts, diagnostics.
  • The ultrasound group is also is focused on developing the science and engineering capabilities for constructing an ultrasonic device for the non-invasive diagnosis of traumatic brain injury. The underlying principle of the device lies with the ultrasonic scattering properties of white matter brain tissue. The strength and frequency variation of scattering can be used as a sensitive probe of the state of tissues. The non–linear properties of tissues are also important indicators of compression due to increased stresses due to pathological conditions.

The Physical Ultrasonics Research and Engineering Group (formerly the Biomedical Acoustics Group) was formed at NCPA in 2002. The group has two thrusts: the biomedical applications of ultrasound, and the physics of ultrasonically mediated phenomena. In our biomedical work we study the application and associated bioeffects of high-intensity focused ultrasound (HIFU) which can non-invasively drive necrosis in targeted tissues. We are also interested in the bioeffects associated with emerging diagnostic applications of ultrasound, such as radiation-force imaging and elastography. Our physical ultrasonics work includes the fabrication and characterization of phononic metamaterials, signal propagation in heterogeneous and dispersive media, and the physics of acoustic cavitation. Our work has been funded by the Department of Defense, the Department of Energy, and the National Institutes of Health. Our laboratory personnel include two PhD level scientists and a number of graduate and undergraduate students.

 

SENIOR PERSONNEL

Cecille Labuda received her PhD in Physics in 2008 from the University of Mississippi, where she also earned an MS in Physics in 2003, a BS in Physics and a BA in Mathematics in 1999.  Her research interests include the interaction of ultrasound with complex media and biomedical applications of ultrasonics.  Her physical ultrasonics research includes wave propagation in structured media while her biomedical ultrasonics work includes ultrasound-induced bioeffects and development of tissue-mimicking phantoms.

Click here to view a list of publications.

Joel Mobley received his Ph.D. in Physics in 1998 from Washington University in St. Louis, after earning B.S. degrees in Physics and Mathematics from the University of Kentucky in 1989. For over two decades he has been an active researcher in physical ultrasonics, biomedical acoustics and applied photonics. He is an Associate Professor of Physics and Astronomy at the University of Mississippi, having joined the faculty at U of M in 2005. During the same period he has maintained a laboratory at the National Center for Physical Acoustics at U of M, where he has served as a Group Leader and Research Scientist. Before coming to U of M he served as a staff scientist at the Army Research Laboratory in Adelphi, MD, and completed a post-doctoral fellowship at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory. Dr. Mobley has over 50 publications in scientific journals, and his work has been featured in Scientific American, Technology Review and Physics World magazines. In addition to his hands-on experience in experimental physics, he has worked extensively developing software for data analysis, instrumentation and embedded hardware applications. In 2003 he shared in a R&D-100 award for his role as the chief software architect for the Raman Integrated Tunable Sensor (RAMiTS). Dr. Mobley is a Senior Member of the IEEE, and a full member of the Acoustical Society of America (ASA). He is an associate editor for The Journal of the Acoustical Society of America Express Letters (JASA-EL) with a specialization in ultrasonics, quantum acoustics, and physical effects of sound.

A full publication list can be viewed at https://www.phy.olemiss.edu/UP/papers_mobley.html