title: Acoustic emission and nondestructive evaluation of biomaterials and tissues.
abstract: Acoustic emission (AE) is an acoustic wave generated by the release of energy from localized sources in a material subjected to an externally applied stimulus. This technique may be used nondestructively to analyze tissues, materials, and biomaterial/tissue interfaces. Applications of AE include use as an early warning tool for detecting tissue and material defects and incipient failure, monitoring damage progression, predicting failure, characterizing failure mechanisms, and serving as a tool to aid in understanding material properties and structure-function relations. All these applications may be performed in real time. This review discusses general principles of AE monitoring and the use of the technique in 3 areas of importance to biomedical engineering: (1) analysis of biomaterials, (2) analysis of tissues, and (3) analysis of tissue/biomaterial interfaces. Focus in these areas is on detection sensitivity, methods of signal analysis in both the time and frequency domains, the relationship between acoustic signals and microstructural phenomena, and the uses of the technique in establishing a relationship between signals and failure mechanisms.
authors.affiliation: Department of Biologic and Materials Sciences, School of Dentistry, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor 48109-1078, USA.
authors.forename: D H
authors.initials: DH
authors.lastname: Kohn
mesh_terms: D000162:Acoustics; D000818:Animals; D001672:Biocompatible Materials; D001696:Biomechanical Phenomena; D001842:Bone and Bones / Q000502:physiology; D003187:Compliance; D003188:Composite Resins; D017102:Fracture Healing; D017276:Friction; D006801:Humans; D008422:Materials Testing / Q000379:methods*; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D014025:Titanium
chemical_list: D001672:Biocompatible Materials; D003188:Composite Resins; D014025:Titanium