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Ultrasound beam shift induced by short-beaked common dolphin’s (Delphinus delphis) tissues as an attenuating gradient material

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Abstract

To understand sound propagation and beam formation, the physical properties of soft tissues from the biosonar system of odontocetes should be explored. Based on the acoustic impedance distributions of biosonar systems, these processes have been examined via numerical simulations. In this study, the images of a short-beaked common dolphin (Delphinus delphis) were obtained via computed tomography. Then, the dolphin was dissected to extract tissue samples for additional examination. In addition to the speed of sound and density measurements, the acoustic attenuation coefficients of the biosonar system in the forehead were tested. The results revealed that the inner layer of the forehead was characterized using low sound speed, low density, and high attenuation. Acoustic fields and beam patterns were then evaluated by setting acoustic attenuation coefficients at different levels. Sounds propagating along the low-attenuation path had a lesser reduction in amplitude. Beam directivities in near and far fields suggested that changes in attenuation distribution would cause beam patterns to shift. These results indicated the complexity of a dolphin’s sonar emission system and helped improve our understanding of sound energy attenuation via studies on the forehead of odontocetes.

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Author notes

  1. These authors contributed equally to this work.

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Key Laboratory of Underwater Acoustic Communication and Marine Information Technology of the Ministry of Education, College of Ocean and Earth Sciences, Xiamen University, Xiamen, 361005, China

    Chuang Zhang, Zhongchang Song, Erqian Dong, Peizheng Cao & Yu Zhang

  2. State Key Laboratory of Marine Environmental Science, College of the Environment and Ecology, Xiamen University, Xiamen, 361005, China

    Zhongchang Song

  3. Department of Biology and Marine Biology, University of North Carolina Wilmington, Wilmington, NC, 28403, USA

    Steven W. Thornton

  4. Affiliated Zhongshan Hospital of Xiamen University, Xiamen, 361005, China

    Feng Ye

  5. Third Institute of Oceanography, Ministry of Natural Resources, Xiamen, 361005, China

    Xianyan Wang

  6. State Key Laboratory of Marine Environmental Science, College of Ocean and Earth Sciences, Xiamen University, Xiamen, 361005, China

    Yu Zhang

Authors
  1. Chuang Zhang
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  2. Zhongchang Song
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  3. Steven W. Thornton
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  4. Erqian Dong
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  5. Peizheng Cao
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  6. Feng Ye
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  7. Xianyan Wang
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  8. Yu Zhang
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Corresponding authors

Correspondence to Xianyan Wang or Yu Zhang.

Additional information

This work was supported by the National Key Research and Development Program of China (Grant Nos. 2018YFC1407504, and 2018YFC1407505), National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No. 12074323), Special Fund for Marine and Fishery Development of Xiamen (Grant No. 20CZB015HJ01), Water Conservancy Science and Technology Innovation Project of Guangdong (Grant No. 2020-16), China Postdoctoral Science Foundation (Grant No. 2020M682086), and China National Postdoctoral Program for Innovative Talents (Grant No. BX2021168). We gratefully acknowledge the help from Xiaohui Xu, affiliated with the College of Ocean and Earth Sciences, Xiamen University, during CT scanning and measurements.

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The supporting information is available online at http://phys.scichina.com and https://link.springer.com. The supporting materials are published as submitted, without typesetting or editing. The responsibility for scientific accuracy and content remains entirely with the authors.

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11433_2021_1744_MOESM1_ESM.pdf

Ultrasound beam shift induced by short-beaked common dolphin’s (Delphinus delphis) tissues as an attenuating gradient material

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Zhang, C., Song, Z., Thornton, S.W. et al. Ultrasound beam shift induced by short-beaked common dolphin’s (Delphinus delphis) tissues as an attenuating gradient material. Sci. China Phys. Mech. Astron. 64, 108711 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11433-021-1744-x

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11433-021-1744-x

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