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Brian MacConaghy Physicist IV brianm@apl.washington.edu Phone 206-897-1869 |
Projects
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Sclerosing Foams Optimized with Ultrasound Preparation Sclerotherapy is a procedure to treat varicose veins. uWAMIT researchers have discovered that ultrasound applied to therapeutic liquid solutions creates foams with smaller bubbles and a more uniform size distribution than traditional mechanical agitation methods. This technique may yield safer and more effective foam sclerosis treatments. |
8 Jul 2016
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Videos
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Non-invasive Treatment of Abscesses with Ultrasound Abscesses are walled-off collections of fluid and bacteria within the body. They are common complications of surgery, trauma, and systemic infections. Typical treatment is the surgical placement of a drainage catheter to drain the abscess fluid over several days. Dr. Keith Chan and researchers at APL-UW's Center for Industrial + Medical Ultrasound are exploring how to treat abscesses non-invasively, that is, from outside the body, with high-intensity focused ultrasound (HIFU). This experimental therapy could reduce pain, radiation exposure, antibiotic use, and costs for patients with abscesses. Therapeutic ultrasound could also treat abscesses too small or inaccessible for conventional drainage. |
20 Jun 2016
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Flow Cytometry Techniques Advance Microbubble Science Researchers at the Center for Industrial and Medical Ultrasound (CIMU) are measuring the physical properties of ultrasound contrast agents tiny gas bubbles several microns in diameter used to increase sonogram imaging efficiency in the body. When injected to the general circulation they can act as probes and beacons within the body, and can carry and deploy chemotherapeutic payloads. |
5 Dec 2013
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Publications |
2000-present and while at APL-UW |
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Stress waves in model kidney stones exposed to burst wave lithotripsy Maxwell, A., B. MacConaghy, M. Bailey, and O. Sapozhnikov, "Stress waves in model kidney stones exposed to burst wave lithotripsy," Proc., IEEE International Ultrasonics Symposium, 6-9 September, Washington, D.C., doi:10.1109/ULTSYM.2017.8092870 (IEEE, 2017). |
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2 Nov 2017 ![]() |
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Burst wave lithotripsy (BWL) is an experimental method to noninvasively fragment urinary calculi using low-frequency focused bursts of ultrasound. To optimize many of the acoustic parameters for this technology, it is necessary to understand the physical interactions between ultrasound bursts and stones. In this study, the interaction of elastic waves with model stones was simulated and experimentally visualized by photoelastography, a technique using polarized light to spatially and temporally visualize stress patterns. |
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Inactivation of planktonic Escherichia coli by focused 2-MHz ultrasound Brayman, A.A., B.E. MacConaghy, Y.-N. Wang, K.T. Chan, W.L. Monsky, A.J. McClenny, and T.J. Matula, "Inactivation of planktonic Escherichia coli by focused 2-MHz ultrasound," Ultrasound Med. Biol., 43, 1476-1485, doi:10.1016/j.ultrasmedbio.2017.03.009, 2017. |
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1 Jul 2017 ![]() |
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This study was motivated by the desire to develop a non-invasive means to treat abscesses, and represents the first steps toward that goal. Non-thermal, high-intensity focused ultrasound (HIFU) was used to inactivate Escherichia coli (~1 x 109 |
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An ultrasonic caliper device for measuring acoustic nonlinearity Hunter, C., O.A Sapozhnikov, A.D. Maxwell, V.A. Khokhlova, Y.-N. Wang, B. MacConaghy, and W. Kreider, "An ultrasonic caliper device for measuring acoustic nonlinearity," Phys. Procedia, 87, 93-98, doi:10.1016/j.phpro.2016.12.015, 2016. |
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1 May 2016 ![]() |
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In medical and industrial ultrasound, it is often necessary to measure the acoustic properties of a material. A specific medical application requires measurements of sound speed, attenuation, and nonlinearity to characterize livers being evaluated for transplantation. For this application, a transmission-mode caliper device is proposed in which both transmit and receive transducers are directly coupled to a test sample, the propagation distance is measured with an indicator gage, and receive waveforms are recorded for analysis. In this configuration, accurate measurements of nonlinearity present particular challenges: diffraction effects can be considerable while nonlinear distortions over short distances typically remain small. To enable simple estimates of the nonlinearity coeffcient from a quasi-linear approximation to the lossless Burgers’ equation, the calipers utilize a large transmitter and plane waves are measured at distances of 1550 mm. Waves at 667 kHz and pressures between 0.1 and 1 MPa were generated and measured in water at different distances; the nonlinearity coeffcient of water was estimated from these measurements with a variability of approximately 10%. Ongoing efforts seek to test caliper performance in other media and improve accuracy via additional transducer calibrations. |
Inventions
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Systems, Devices, and Methods for Separating, Concentrating, and/or Differentiating Between Cells from a Cell Sample Embodiments are generally related to differentiating and/or separating portions of a sample that are of interest from the remainder of the sample. Embodiments may be directed towards separating cells of interest from a cell sample. In some embodiments, acoustic impedances of the cells of interest may be modified. For example, the acoustic properties of the cells of interest may be modified by attaching bubbles to the cells of interest. The cell sample may then be subjected to an acoustic wave. The cells of interest may be differentiated and/or separated from the remainder of the sample based on relative displacements and/or volumetric changes experienced by the cells of interest in response thereto. The cells of interest may be separated using a standing wave and sorted into separate channels of a flow cell. Optionally, the cells may be interrogated by a light source and differentiated by signals generated in response thereto. Patent Number: 9,645,080 Tom Matula, Andrew Brayman, Oleg Sapozhnikov, Brian MacConaghy, Jarred Swalwell, Camilo Perez |
Patent
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9 May 2017
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Systems, Devices, and Methods for Separating, Concentrating, and/or Differentiating Between Cells from a Cell Sample Patent Number: 9,645,080 Tom Matula, Andrew Brayman, Oleg Sapozhnikov, Brian MacConaghy, Jarred Swalwell, Camilo Perez |
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Patent
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9 May 2017
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Embodiments are generally related to differentiating and/or separating portions of a sample that are of interest from the remainder of the sample. Embodiments may be directed towards separating cells of interest from a cell sample. In some embodiments, acoustic impedances of the cells of interest may be modified. For example, the acoustic properties of the cells of interest may be modified by attaching bubbles to the cells of interest. The cell sample may then be subjected to an acoustic wave. The cells of interest may be differentiated and/or separated from the remainder of the sample based on relative displacements and/or volumetric changes experienced by the cells of interest in response thereto. The cells of interest may be separated using a standing wave and sorted into separate channels of a flow cell. Optionally, the cells may be interrogated by a light source and differentiated by signals generated in response thereto. |
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System and Methods for Tracking Finger and Hand Movement Using Ultrasound Record of Invention Number: 47931 |
Disclosure
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10 Jan 2017
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