Novel metamaterial vastly improves quality of ultrasound imaging

Novel metamaterial vastly improves quality of ultrasound imaging: "The researchers refer to their device for capturing evanescent waves as a three-dimensional, holey-structured metamaterial. It consists of 1,600 hollow copper tubes bundled into a 16 centimeter (6 inch) bar with a square cross-section of 6.3 cm (2.5 inches). Placed close to an object, the structure captures the evanescent waves and pipes them through to the opposite end.
In a practical device, Zhu said, the metamaterial could be mounted on the end of an ultrasound probe to vastly improve the image resolution. The device would also improve underwater sonography, or sonar, as well as non-destructive evaluation in industry applications.
'For ultrasound detection, the image resolution is generally in the millimeter range,' said co-author Xiaobo Yin. 'With this device, resolution is only limited by the size of the holes.'"