Jpn. J. Appl. Phys. 51 (2012) 07GF21 (5 pages)  |Previous Article| |Next Article|  |Table of Contents|
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Propagation Velocity of Bone-Conducted Ultrasound in the Human Head

Takuya Hotehama and Seiji Nakagawa

(Received November 18, 2011; accepted February 13, 2012; published online July 20, 2012)

In this study, we investigated the propagation velocity of bone-conducted ultrasound (BCU) in a living human head. The propagation velocity was calculated using the pattern of acoustic interference, which was extracted from the distribution of the acceleration responses induced as a function of frequency and inter lateral phase difference of bilaterally presented BCU stimuli. Stepped sine signals from 28 to 32 kHz in 100 Hz steps with an interlateral phase difference from -2π to 2π in π/8 steps were used as excitation signals. The estimated propagation velocities were approximately 300 m/s. Furthermore, a simple numerical simulation for the bilateral presentation of BCU stimuli using the estimated velocity was conducted. The simulated acoustic interference pattern was similar to the results of the actual measurements, supporting the fact that the acoustical interference of BCU stimuli induced by bilateral presentation can be estimated with this model.

URL: http://jjap.jsap.jp/link?JJAP/51/07GF21/
DOI: 10.1143/JJAP.51.07GF21

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