Bias-Free Access to Orbital Angular Momentum in Two-Dimensional Quantum Materials.

The demonstration of a topological band inversion constitutes the most elementary proof of a quantum spin Hall insulator (QSHI). On a fundamental level, such an inverted band gap is intrinsically related to the bulk Berry curvature, a gauge-invariant fingerprint of the wave function's quantum geometric properties in Hilbert space. Intimately tied to orbital angular momentum (OAM), the Berry curvature can be, in principle, extracted from circular dichroism in angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy (CD-ARPES), were it not for interfering final state photoelectron emission channels that obscure the initial state OAM signature.

Achieving environmental stability in an atomically thin quantum spin Hall insulator via graphene intercalation.

Atomic monolayers on semiconductor surfaces represent an emerging class of functional quantum materials in the two-dimensional limit - ranging from superconductors and Mott insulators to ferroelectrics and quantum spin Hall insulators. Indenene, a triangular monolayer of indium with a gap of ~ 120 meV is a quantum spin Hall insulator whose micron-scale epitaxial growth on SiC(0001) makes it technologically relevant. However, its suitability for room-temperature spintronics is challenged by the instability of its topological character in air.

In Vitro Evaluation of Real-Time Viscoelastic and Coagulation Properties of Various Classes of Topical Hemostatic Agents Using a Novel Contactless Nondestructive Technology.

Hemorrhaging is the main cause of death among combat and civilian injuries and has significant clinical and economic consequences. Despite their vital roles in bleeding management, an optimal topical hemostatic agent (HA) has yet to be developed for a particular scenario. This is partly due to a lack of an overarching quantitative testing technology to characterize the various classes of HAs in vitro.

Validation and application of a nondestructive and contactless method for rheological evaluation of biomaterials.

Hydrogels are extensively used for tissue engineering, cell therapy or controlled release of bioactive factors. Nondestructive techniques that can follow their viscoelastic properties during polymerization, remodeling, and degradation are needed, since these properties are determinant for their in vivo efficiency. In this work, we proposed the viscoelastic testing of bilayered materials (VeTBiM) as a new method for nondestructive and contact-less mechanical characterization of soft materials.

Rheological assessment of a polymeric spherical structure using a three-dimensional shear wave scattering model in dynamic spectroscopy elastography.

With the purpose of assessing localized rheological behavior of pathological tissues using ultrasound dynamic elastography, an analytical shear wave scattering model was used in an inverse problem framework. The proposed method was adopted to estimate the complex shear modulus of viscoelastic spheres from 200 to 450 Hz. The inverse problem was formulated and solved in the frequency domain, allowing assessment of the complex viscoelastic shear modulus at discrete frequencies.

Viscoelastic characterization of elliptical mechanical heterogeneities using a semi-analytical shear-wave scattering model for elastometry measures.

This paper presents a semi-analytical model of shear wave scattering by a viscoelastic elliptical structure embedded in a viscoelastic medium, and its application in the context of dynamic elastography imaging. The commonly used assumption of mechanical homogeneity in the inversion process is removed introducing a priori geometrical information to model physical interactions of plane shear waves with the confined mechanical heterogeneity. Theoretical results are first validated using the finite element method for various mechanical configurations and incidence angles.

Shear wave induced resonance elastography of venous thrombi: a proof-of-concept.

Shear wave induced resonance elastography (SWIRE) is proposed for deep venous thrombosis (DVT) elasticity assessment. This new imaging technique takes advantage of properly polarized shear waves to induce resonance of a confined mechanical heterogeneity. Realistic phantoms (n = 9) of DVT total and partial clot occlusions with elasticities from 406 to 3561 Pa were built for in vitro experiments.

Shear wave induced resonance elastography of spherical masses with polarized torsional waves.

Shear Wave Induced Resonance (SWIR) is a technique for dynamic ultrasound elastography of confined mechanical inclusions. It was developed for breast tumor imaging and tissue characterization. This method relies on the polarization of torsional shear waves modeled with the Helmholtz equation in spherical coordinates.

Hyper-frequency viscoelastic spectroscopy of biomaterials.

With the emergence of new biomaterials and elastography imaging techniques, there is a need for innovative instruments dedicated to viscoelasticity measurements. In this work, we introduce a novel hyper-frequency viscoelastic spectroscopy (HFVS) technique dedicated to characterize soft media subjected to mid-to-very-high frequency stress ranges (or, equivalently, to probe short-to-very-short relaxation times). HFVS, which has been implemented in an analytical instrument performing non-contact measurements in less than 1 s between 10 and 1000 Hz, is a suitable tool to study viscoelasticity for bio-applications.

Characterization of blood clot viscoelasticity by dynamic ultrasound elastography and modeling of the rheological behavior.

Dynamic elastography (DE) is a new tool to study mechanical behavior of soft tissues via their motion response to propagating shear waves. This technique characterized viscoelasticity of 9 porcine whole blood samples (3 animals) during coagulation for a shearing frequency of 70Hz, and after complete clot formation between 50 and 160Hz. Clot storage (G') and loss (G″) moduli were calculated from shear wave velocity and attenuation.

Ultrasound dynamic micro-elastography applied to the viscoelastic characterization of soft tissues and arterial walls.

Quantitative noninvasive methods that provide in vivo assessment of mechanical characterization of living tissues, organs and artery walls are of interest because information on their viscoelastic properties in the presence of disease can affect diagnosis and treatment options. This article proposes the dynamic micro-elastography (DME) method to characterize viscoelasticity of small homogeneous soft tissues, as well as the adaptation of the method for vascular applications [vascular dynamic micro-elastography (VDME)]. The technique is based on the generation of relatively high-frequency (240-1100 Hz) monochromatic or transient plane shear waves within the medium and the tracking of these waves from radio-frequency (RF) echoes acquired at 25 MHz with an ultrasound biomicroscope (Vevo 770, Visualsonics).

Shear wave induced resonance elastography of soft heterogeneous media.

In the context of ultrasound dynamic elastography imaging and characterization of venous thrombosis, we propose a method to induce mechanical resonance of confined soft heterogeneities embedded in homogenous media. Resonances are produced by the interaction of horizontally polarized shear (SH) waves with the mechanical heterogeneity. Due to such resonance phenomenon, which amplifies displacements up to 10 times compared to non-resonant condition, displacement images of the underlying structures are greatly contrasted allowing direct segmentation of the heterogeneity and a more precise measurement of displacements since the signal-to-noise ratio is enhanced.

Three-dimensional transient and harmonic shear-wave scattering by a soft cylinder for dynamic vascular elastography.

With the objective of characterizing biological soft tissues with dynamic elastography, a three-dimensional (3D) analytical model is proposed to simulate the scattering of plane shear waves by a soft cylinder embedded in an infinite soft medium. The 3D problem of harmonic plane shear-wave scattering is first formulated and solved, and the monochromatic solution is employed to simulate transient wave scattering. Both harmonic and transient simulations are compared with experimental 3D acquisitions.

3D estimation of soft biological tissue deformation from radio-frequency ultrasound volume acquisitions.

The current research and development of 2D (matrix-shaped) transducer arrays to acquire 3D ultrasound data sets provides new insights into medical ultrasound applications and in particular into elastography. Until very recently, tissue strain estimation techniques commonly used in elastography were mainly 1D or 2D methods. In this paper, a 3D technique estimating biological soft tissue deformation under load from ultrasound radiofrequency volume acquisitions is introduced.

Performance evaluation of different implementations of the Lagrangian speckle model estimator for non-invasive vascular ultrasound elastography.

Non-invasive vascular ultrasound elastography (NIVE) was recently introduced to characterize mechanical properties of carotid arteries for stroke prevention. Using the Lagrangian speckle model estimator (LSME), the four components of the 2D deformation matrix (delta), which are the axial strain (delta(yy)) and shear (delta(yx)) and the lateral strain (delta(xx)) and shear (delta(xy)), can be computed. This paper overviews four different implementations of the LSME and addresses their reliability.

3D ultrasound elastography for early detection of lesions. evaluation on a pressure ulcer mimicking phantom.

A pressure ulcer is a damaged tissue area induced by an unrelieved pressure compressing the tissue during a prolonged period of immobility. The lack of information and studies on the development of this pathology makes its prevention difficult. However, it is both acknowledged that lesions initiate in the deep muscular tissues before they expand to the skin, and that lesions are harder than healthy tissues.

Noninvasive vascular elastography: toward a complementary characterization tool of atherosclerosis in carotid arteries.

Only a minority of patients with carotid arterial disease have warning symptoms, because the majority of strokes are caused by previously asymptomatic lesions. Because morbidity and mortality after acute stroke are high, patients should be diagnosed and treated before symptoms develop. The hypothesis of this study is that vascular elasticity maps (or elastograms) of carotids are of predictive value for plaque characterization.

Estimation of polyvinyl alcohol cryogel mechanical properties with four ultrasound elastography methods and comparison with gold standard testings.

Tissue-mimicking phantoms are very useful in the field of tissue characterization and essential in elastography for the purpose of validating motion estimators. This study is dedicated to the characterization of polyvinyl alcohol cryogel (PVA-C) for these types of applications. A strict fabrication procedure was defined to optimize the reproducibility of phantoms having a similar elasticity.