BIOMEDICAL ENGINEERING-

APPUCATIONS, BASIS & COMMUNICATIONS 296

TWO-FREQUENCY CONTINUOUS WAVE ULTRASONIC

SYSTEM FOR TEMPERATURE MEASUREMENT IN AN
INFANT INCUBATOR
C. F. HUANG 1 , K. N. HUANG 1 , Y. C. L I 2 AND M. S. YOUNG 1

department of Electrical Engineering, Nsttional Cheng-Kung University, Tainan,

department of Biomedical Engineering, l-Shou University, Kaohsiung, Taiwan
by 157.51.217.134 on 05/25/19. Re-use and distribution is strictly not permitted, except for Open Access articles.
Biomed. Eng. Appl. Basis Commun. 2001.13:296-303. Downloaded from www.worldscientific.com

ABSTRACT

In this paper, we develop a new ultrasonic measurement method based on the speed of sound to
measure the temperature. The average temperature of the air between the pair of ultrasonic T/R
transducers is positively associated with the speed of sound. The method presented here is based
upon the comparative phase shifts generated by two continuous ultrasonic waves with different but
closely spaced frequencies. In the infant incubator, two low cost 40 kHz ultrasonic transducers are
set face to face and used to transmit and receive ultrasound. Two frequencies are transmitted serially,
each generating its own phase shift. Comparison of the phase shifts allows a highly accurate evalua­
tion of the ultrasonic velocity when the distance between the transmitter and receiver is fixed. Ultra­
sonic velocity measurement system can provide a quick and precise monitoring of the temperature in
an infant incubator. A single-chip microcomputer-based two-frequency continuous wave generator
and phase detector was designed to record and compute the phase shift information and the resulting
temperature, which is then sent to PC. The PC is used for calibrating the system and recording or
controlling the temperature in an infant incubator. Experimentally, the accuracy of temperature
measurement was found to be within ±0.02 "C when the distance between the transmitter and receiver
is 1 m. The main advantages of this ultrasonic temperature measurement system are high resolution,
low cost, and ease of implementation.

Biomed Eng Appl Basis Comm, 2001 (December); 13: 296-303.

Keywords: Infant incubator, Ultrasound, The speed of sound

heat and evaporation to warm the air. Skin, deep rectal

1. INTRODUCTION
Generally, for the survival and steady growth of a
premature newborn infant, his body temperature al­
lows only a narrow range of variation [1-5]. Infant in­
cubator can provide a heated environment to maintain
the body temperature, reduce body heat losses and
limit the metabolic rate of newborn infants. The heated
environment in an incubator is generated by electric
heater through conduction, convection, radiation of
Received: Oct. 30, 2001; accepted: Nov. 9, 2001
Correspondance: M.S. Young, Professor
Department of Electrical Engineering, National Cheng-
Kung University
No. 1, University Road, Tainan, Taiwan
and environmental temperature measurements were
made concurrently to control the output of the heater
[2-4]. Skin and deep rectal temperature can be meas­
ured by thermistors [2-4]. As for the environmental
temperature measurements, it must be able to indicate
precisely and immediately any fluctuations of air tem­
perature in all ambient zone above the infant body to
maintain an optimal thermal environment. The other
important requirement of the environmental tempera­
ture measurements is noncontacting to avoid interfer­
ing the nursing works and make the implementation of
temperature measurement easily.
In general, the temperature transducers such as
thermistor, thermocouple or platinum resistor, can
measure the temperature with good resolution but have
a limited measuring time response. The new ultrasonic

-41 -
 297 Vol. 13 No. 6 December 2001

temperature measurement method uses only a pair of
ultrasonic T/R transducers to solve this problem and
can monitor the temperature in an infant incubator
quickly and precisely.
The temperature is an important factor for affect­
ing the speed of sound, especially in air, because it can
change the air density. The relationship between the
speed of sound and temperature in air is from the
ideal-gas equation resulting from Boyle's law. This
equation is described as follows [6]:
c = ^RTylM (1)
Where c, R , T, y and M are the speed of
by 157.51.217.134 on 05/25/19. Re-use and distribution is strictly not permitted, except for Open Access articles.
±0.02°C. This was verified by our laboratory prototype.
2. METHOD
Two-frequency continuous wave (TFcw) method
is based on the single frequency continuous wave
method of ultrasonic velocity measurement [18-20].
Increasing the number of frequencies utilized for phase
comparison will increase the maximum fluctuations of
the ultrasonic velocity that can be measured by this
method. Fig. 1 and 2 show the configuration and sig­
nals of the TFcw method respectively. The first fre­

sound, the universal gas constant, absolute temperature quency ( / , ) continuous wave is transmitted from an
(in Kelvin), ratio of specific heats, and molar mass, re­ ultrasonic transducer. The first phase shift (0,), trans­
Biomed. Eng. Appl. Basis Commun. 2001.13:296-303. Downloaded from www.worldscientific.com

spectively. The speed of sound has been adopted to de­ mitted signal relative to received signal, is calculated
termine the environmental temperature in the past re­ by digitized phase information. When the first fre­
ports [7][8]. In these reports, low-frequency impulsed quency's transmission/receipt/computation period is
sound is popular to be used for measuring a large completed, the second frequency (f2 ) continuous
range of sound propagation. If the elapsed time of wave is transmitted, fielding the second phase shift
propagating sound wave is longer, the measurement (0 2 ). Comparison of the information of the two phase
error of the elapsed time will be smaller. However,the shifts allows calculations of the ultrasonic velocity
range of the infant incubator is small and the environ­ when the range between the transmitter and receiver is
ment needs to be silent. The techniques of the ultra­ fixed. The formula can be written as follows,
sonic velocity or range measurement become good so­
lutions for the temperature measurement in an infant
"i +
1±-L* f (2)
incubator. The techniques of ultrasonic measurement 2jt c
in air include the time-of-flight technique [7][9-ll],
binary frequency shift keying (BFSK) [12], the phase n2 + = —* f (3)
shift method [13-14], multi-frequency AM-based ul­ 2jt c
trasonic system [15], multiple frequency continuous Where L is the distance between the receiver and
wave ultrasonic system [16] and the chirped-FM ultra­ Ultrasonic Infant
sonic system [17]. The ultrasonic velocity can be de­ Transmitter Incubator
termined based on the elapsed time measured when the
ranging distance between the ultrasonic transmitter and
receiver is fixed. In order to obtain accurate velocity
estimations, a superior system choice is the phase data
detector of a received signal with reference to its
transmitted signal. However, uncertainty exists with
regards to integral multiples of 2JI when the fluctua­
tions of the ultrasonic velocity are serious, since the
value of the detected phase shift exists between zero to
2JZ . This problem can be solved by using a technique
in which the phase shifts of two frequencies are com­
pared. Such an ultrasonic velocity measurement sys­
tem utilizes two different ultrasonic frequencies to
generate two corresponding different phase shifts. In
this article, we adopt this technique to determine the
speed of sound. The speed of sound is affected by the Phase
temperature in the infant incubator. The distance be­ Shift Micro-
tween the receiver and transmitter of ultrasound is Two-frequency Digital Data prosser-
positively associated with the resolution of the tem­ Ultrasound Phase based
Signal Meier controller
perature. The length of the infant incubator determines
the distance between the receiver and transmitter. If ~~ " t :
the length of the infant incubator is lm, the speed of
sound can be determined with an accuracy of ±0.01 m/s Fig. 1 The TFcw system to measure simply the ac­
and the temperature is calculated with an accuracy of curate speed of sound and the temperature.

42-
 BIOMEDICAL ENGINEERING-
APPLICATIONS, BASIS & COMMUNICATIONS
by 157.51.217.134 on 05/25/19. Re-use and distribution is strictly not permitted, except for Open Access articles.
Biomed. Eng. Appl. Basis Commun. 2001.13:296-303. Downloaded from www.worldscientific.com
Fig.2 (a) Two-frequency (40 kHz and 38 kHz) con­
tinuous waves are transmitted serially, (b) The
two-frequency received signals caused two different
phase shifts relative to transmitted signal. Compari­
son of the phase shifts allows a high accurate
evaluation of the temperature.
transmitter, c is the ultrasonic velocity, and «, and
n2 are integers. The expression of the phase shift dif­
ference due to the frequency difference may be derived
from Eqs. (2) and (3) as follows,
A* + ^ = ^*A/ (4)
2K C creases the number of frequencies utilized for the
A/ = /, - f2, A0 = 0, - tp2, and A/i = n, - n2.
The fluctuations of the ultrasonic velocity can be
uniquely determined by the phase shift difference
( A0 ) if the maximum fluctuations do not exceed one
period of the difference frequency (A/); otherwise a
phase ambiguity will occur. The minimum resolution
and the maximum range of the temperature measure­
ment are determined by the choice of frequencies (/,,
f 2 ) . For example, if the length of the infant incubator
is 1 m (L=l m), /, =40 kHz, and / 2 =38 kHz [the
difference between f. and f2 ( A / ) is 2 kHz), so
(Art + &<p/2ji) is 2000/c .When the temperature is
35 °C, the speed of sound (c) is 351.97 m/s, and
(Art + A0/2TT ) equals 5.68. In the case, the most rea­
sonable A0 and Art are 245.6 degrees and 5 respec­
tively. The sensitivity of the ultrasonic velocity is only
about 60/360=0.17 m/(s * degrees). If only the single
frequency /, =40 kHz is used to measure the speed of
sound, rt, will become ambiguous . If the tempera­
ture is 35 C, the phase shift (f>x is 232.2 degrees and
rt, is 113. The speed of sound will become 355.10 m/s
-43
298
as rt, is 112 and decrease to 348.90 m/s as rt, is
114. When rt, =112,the calculated temperature is
40.49 °C and the calculated temperature becomes
29.65°C,while rt,=114 . Because both two tempera­
tures are reasonable in an incubator, it is difficult to
determine the value of rt,. But the highest sensitivity
of the ultrasonic velocity is about 3/360=0.0083 m/(s *
degrees) by using 0,. The TFcw system uses the two
factors ( A 0 , 0 , ) to determine the temperature in an
infant incubator. Obviously, the maximum achievable
fluctuations of the ultrasonic velocity with TFcw (at
A/ = 2kHz) are about 60 m/s, so the range of the
temperature measurement is about 100°C . The tem­
perature in an incubator can be determined by A<j>
because An is 5. The integer rt,, according to Eqs.
(2), is modified as,
rt, =
r rA0 f. 1 + Art* f. /1
Int\— (5)
A/ A/
2K
A* f
-0.5< :Int\^-*
2K A/' 2K 2K A/'
< £i-* + 0.5 (6)
2K
A/ 2K
Where Int\] is a new integer operation to transform
the fractional value to a correct integer and [] is a gen­
eral Gauss operation. The errors of A0 will have the
tolerant range to avoid measurement errors from Eqs.
(6). When the speed of sound is confined by A<p , the
phase shift <pt generated by comparing the sent and
received /, signals (40 kHz) can be used to deter­
mine the speed of sound with a precise accuracy of
±0.01 m/s. The temperature is given a precise accuracy
of ±0.02°C according to Eqs. (1). TFcw method in­
comparative phase shifts to correct the temperature
measurement errors and extend the useful fluctuations
of the temperature to be measured-
Most commercialized ultrasonic transducers are
narrow-bandwidth devices and fabricated on the prin­
ciple of frequency resonance for achieving a high sen­
sitivity at lower operating frequencies (40±2 kHz).
Fortunately, TFcw method can achieve a narrow
bandwidth ultrasonic temperature measurement in an
infant incubator. In such a system, the temperature can
be measured by the following steps:
1. Phase shift tpi is generated by comparing the
sent and received /, signals (40 kHz). The
speed of sound is calculated by Eqs. (2). The
length of the infant incubator is positively as­
sociated with the resolution and range of the
temperature measurement. If L is shorter
than 10 cm, rt, will be decided correctly but
the resolution of the temperature is poor and
the environment of the ultrasonic temperature
measurement is very narrow. When L ex-
 299
ceeds lm, n, will be an ambiguous value but
<f>x is a high accuracy information for calculat­
ing the speed of sound. If the resolution of the
phase shift is 0.25% for a 40 kHz signal, the
sensitivity of the speed of sound is about
0.01 m/s*degree. The following algorithm can
be used to decide the true value of nx.
2. Phase shift <f>2 is generated with f2 (38 kHz)
and A0 is obtained via comparison of <p2
with $[for a frequency difference ( A / ) of 2
kHz. If the temperature in an infant incubator
can be adjusted from 5 °C to 50 °C , An
may be determined by the unique phase shift
by 157.51.217.134 on 05/25/19. Re-use and distribution is strictly not permitted, except for Open Access articles.
difference A0 . Although the resolution of the
temperature calculated by &<p is poor, A0
Biomed. Eng. Appl. Basis Commun. 2001.13:296-303. Downloaded from www.worldscientific.com
also can match the first phase shift (j>x to de­
cide «, from Eqs. (5). Since nx was already
determined, the speed of sound and the tem­
perature can be calculated by Eqs. (2) and (1)
respectively.
3. SYSTEM DESIGN
Fig. 3 shows a block diagram of the TFcw tem­
perature measurement system in an infant
Two-
frequency
L signal
generation
system ! Phase
— : , —I Shift
shift
D
'2 |tal
! Data |
L
Phase * Micropiocessor-
Meter based controller
Fig. 3 The TFcw temperature measurement system.
Vol. 13 No. 6 December 2001
incubator. This system consists of two ultrasonic
transducers, a two-frequency signal generation system,
an auto-gain-controlled amplifier, a digital phase meter,
and the calibration system. A microprocessor-based
controller governs the operation of the entire system.
As continuous waves are used in this system, acoustic
signal was distorted by overlapping the original signal
with some harmonics. This acoustic cross coupling is
considered as a major error effect on the phase shift
measurement. So the special material must be used to
all sides of the infant incubator for absorbing the ultra­
sound and preventing the echo of the ultrasound.
3.1 Hardware Design
3.1.1 Two-frequency signal generation system
Fig. 4 shows the block diagram of a two-
frequency signal generation system. A crystal oscilla­
tor circuit is used to generate a stable signal with a
basic frequency of 16 MHz. Two dividers with
different divisors can divide the basic frequency into
two different frequencies. Two divisors are set to be
200 and 210, so the frequencies of the divided output
are 80 kHz and 76 kHz separately. Furthermore, these
two frequencies are divided again by 2 to generate 40
kHz and 38 kHz signals with 50% duty cycle. Finally,
both 40 kHz and 38 kHz signals are used by the
multiplexer alternately every 15 ms. The two-
frequency continuous signals are generated in digital
form and delivered to the transmitter's output stage
and finally the transmitting transducer.
3.1.2 Auto-gain-controlled (AGC) amplifier
The ultrasonic transducer has different responses
to different frequencies. To avoid error from acoustic
attenuation effects, the gain of the amplifier must be
changed automatically when the frequency of ultra­
sound changes. Therefore, the error effects related to
acoustic attenuation are minimized in this AGC mod­
ule.
3.1 .3 Digital phase meter
The received ultrasound is transferred in digital
form by the AGC module. The transmitted signal and
received signal are used as the inputs of two D-type
flip-flops simultaneously. The phase shift is trans­
formed into pulse width by the two D-type flip-flops.
A 16 MHz signal is used to count the pulse width. The
resolution of the phase meter is 0.25% for a 40 kHz
signal and 0.24% for a 38 kHz signal. Always the
' A ' counter is cleared by a reset signal generated by
RS232
microcomputer for counting the next phase shift.
3.1.4 Microprocessor-based controller
The TFcw system is governed by a microproces­
sor-based controller. The controller periodically
switches two different frequencies signals to generate
-44-
 BIOMEDICAL ENGINEERING-
APPLICATIONS, BASIS & COMMUNICATIONS 300

Divider Divider
motor moves automatically and slowly. During the re­
(Divisor 1—A (Divisor \-* Ultrasonic ceiver moves to the other side of the infant incubator,
CrysliJ
-200) . | -2)
Mullip-
„ Transmitter I both phase data and optically measured distance are
Oscillator
(Timc
transferred to the PC for calibration, recording, proc­
16Mhz — 1 ' 1
Swiich)
lSns 13a essing, and display of experimental data. Eight tradi­
Divider Divider < — k —
(Diviso, —* (Divisor - * tional temperature sensors are also arranged on the ul­
-210) , -2) j
trasonic propagation path to calibrate and test this sys­
Du y Cyck=50%
tem. The PC combines the data acquisition system to
, M icroproccssor-based
get the data of temperature measured at the eight tradi­
j controller
tional temperature sensors.

Fig. 4 Two-frequency signal generation system. 3.2 Software of the microprocessor and PC
The microprocessor governs the TFcw ultrasonic
by 157.51.217.134 on 05/25/19. Re-use and distribution is strictly not permitted, except for Open Access articles.

system. The PC is used only for calibration. Initially,

TFcw signal. The controller also reads the digital the microprocessor chooses one of the two preset
Biomed. Eng. Appl. Basis Commun. 2001.13:296-303. Downloaded from www.worldscientific.com

phase shifts, calculates the data of the speed of sound
and the temperature in an infant incubator, and sent the
data to PC via RS-232 interface.
3.1.5 The Calibration system
The system must be calibrated by operating it at a
known distance. Fig. 3 shows the experimental em­
bodiment of the TFcw system, which consists of an in­
fant incubator, a stepping-motor moving arm, an opti­
cal linear scale and an IBM PC. The ultrasonic trans­
mitter is mounted on the side of the infant incubator.
The reference scale of an optical linear measuring de­
vice (Pulscale Model SJH5515AAR, Futaba, Japan) is
mounted on the stepping motor. The ultrasonic re­
ceiver is mounted at one end of the optical reference
scale. The receiver, the optical sensor and the step-
ping-motor's arm are attached together. The stepping
transmitter frequencies and waits about 15 ms for ob­
taining a steady receiver signal. The microprocessor
gets the digital data of the phase shift from the I/O port.
In the next step, the other frequency is used to re­
place the previous frequency to get the other phase
shift. After the two different frequencies are transmit­
ted and their corresponding phase shifts are figured,
then the microprocessor calculates the temperature.
During the calibration phase, traditional eight tempera­
ture sensors measure the temperatures distributed in
the ultrasonic propagation path. Eight temperature data
are approximately the same and the temperature meas­
ured by the TFcw ultrasonic system will be calibrated
by such eight temperature data. The initial phase shifts
of the two frequencies will be calibrated against eight
known temperatures and all the phase differences will
be recorded to compensate the phase error in succeed-
K*V

Distance (unn)
ii':i"sl*>i

Fig. 5 The phase shift information is verified by calculating the speed of sound when the moved distance of
the receiver is 49.476mm.

-45-
 301 Vol. 13 No. 6 December 2001

microprocessor-based phase detector and the HP

UNIVERSAL COUNTER can be used to simultane­
ously monitor the continuous changes of the phase
shift that are caused by the moving receiver. Fig. 5
shows that the receiver is moved from L =50.0mm to
L =99.477mm and the phase shift is changed from
fa = 322.20° to fa = 209.49°. The amount of the
AO At* SO
wavelength in the ultrasound's propagation path is n=5.
(a) The speed of sound is 348.83 m/s that is calculated by
4UO Eq. (1). The temperature is set at 28.0°C.In the ex­
MO
112

K
I T

*•
1 tO
i r ~r ~r ~ periment, we measure the speed of sound 100 times.
300
\ \ \ \ \ The errors of the measurement are found to be within
a*o ■

\ \ \ \ \ ±0.1 m/s because the errors of the phase shifts were

aoo
\ \ \ \ \ \
within ± 1 ° .
by 157.51.217.134 on 05/25/19. Re-use and distribution is strictly not permitted, except for Open Access articles.

tma
\ \ \ \ \ \
too
\ \ \ \ \ \ In the test embodiment of the infant incubator, in
so
\ N \ , ^1 N \ \
Biomed. Eng. Appl. Basis Commun. 2001.13:296-303. Downloaded from www.worldscientific.com

1
(b)
(c)
Fig.6 (a) The phase shifts (0,) of the 40 kHz ultra­
sound vary with the change of the temperature, (b)
The phase shifts (</>2) of the 38 kHz ultrasound vary
with the change of the temperature, (c) The differ­
ences of the phase shifts A0 (A (j> = fa - <f>2) also accuracy used in an infant incubator has been pre­
vary with the change of the temperature.
ing measurement. The calibration distance of the ultra­ of phase difference, the traditional acoustic attenuation
sound's flight will also be recorded in the microproc­
essor memory. Moreover, for long-term recording, the
data is then sent to the PC via the RS-232 interface and rately and precisely by using the TFcw method. TFcw
saved in the HARD DISK of the PC.
4. TESTING THE SYSTEM
4.1 Experiment method
A TFcw prototype was tested in the laboratory by
comparing a series of phase shift measurements with
simultaneous temperature measurement via the tradi­
tional temperature sensors. Eight temperature data are
measured by the PC and used to verify the temperature
measured by the TFcw system.
4.2 Results
The TFcw system is derived by Eqs. (2) and (3).
The accuracy of the phase shifts must be verified by
the standard instrument (the HP UNIVERSAL
COUNTER). The calibration system makes the dis­
tance measurement by using the optical linear scale. A
38 40 4Q SO order to conform concept feasibility, the distance be­
tween the transmitter and receiver is set lm. Fig. 6
shows the changes of the two phase shifts (fa , fa ) and
the differences of the two-frequency phase shifts (A<j> )
when the temperature rises from 0°C to 50 °C . The
speed of sound and the temperature will be calculated
by the two factors (A^ ,fa) and shown in Fig. 7. If the
ultrasound is interfered only by the temperature, the
accuracy of the ultrasound's velocity is within
± 0.01 m/s and the temperature is within ± 0.02°C .
5. DISCUSSION
A new ultrasonic temperature system with high
sented. This TFcw system successfully takes into ac­
count the finite bandwidth of conventional inexpensive
transducers. Because the system is based on detection
problems which have limited time-of-flight methods
are avoid. The speed of sound can be calculated accu­
as presented here measures two phase shifts using two
ultrasonic frequencies for the reconstruction of the
speed of sound and the temperature. The time required
to determine the temperature is significantly longer
than that for single-frequency system, because the two
independent ultrasonic signals must be sent in se­
quence. Each signal sent requires its own sound travel
time and also time for the transducer to achieve ade­
quate acoustic resonance. At a range of lm, the total
waiting time required for each signal sent is 15 ms, as
assumed that the speed of sound is 330 m/s. If the fluc­
tuations of the speed of sound are too fast, the system
may not measure the second phase shifts correctly. The
large errors of the calculated temperature will be re­
sulted from the incorrect determination of the integer
( n , ) because a wrong A<p was measured. Fortu­
nately, the environment of the infant incubator is a
closed space and an infant will not cause such fluctua­
tions. Since fa and A0 can only be measured be-

46-
 BIOMEDICAL ENGINEERING-
APPLICATIONS, BASIS & COMMUNICATIONS 302

ture system is also befitted to the measurement of the

different parameters in an infant incubator.

REFERENCES
1. William AS, John WF and Agnes PB: The influ­
ence of the thermal environment upon the survival
of newly born premature infants. Pediatrics. 1958;
22: 876-886.
)l 1 . ■ ■ ■ . . ■ . .
0 S 10 15 20 25
Temperature
30 35 40 45 SO 2. Keith HM, Robert CG, John AR and Maisels MJ:
Oxygen consumption and insensible water loss in
(a) premature infants under radiant heaters. Pediatrics.
by 157.51.217.134 on 05/25/19. Re-use and distribution is strictly not permitted, except for Open Access articles.

60 r 1980; 66: 228-232.

3. Seth WM and Stephen B: Optimal thermal man­
Biomed. Eng. Appl. Basis Commun. 2001.13:296-303. Downloaded from www.worldscientific.com

50
«. *° '
I-
is ^^"
V
™ 10 ■ ^ ^ ^
^^
G 5 10 15 20 25 30
Temperature
(b)
Fig. 7 (a) The speed of sound is calculated by two
factors (A</>, <p}) when the temperature arises from
0°C to 50°C . (b) The reconstructed temperature
is calculated by the speed of sound when the tem­
perature arises from 0°C to 50°C.
tween 0-2JI, according to the equation and our data,
the resolution of the temperature was better as L was
increased to lm. The length of the infant incubator is
about lm so the TFcw ultrasonic system is very suit­
able to monitor the environmental temperature.
The ultrasonic velocity is also sensitive to the
other fluctuations (such as the wind, the humidity or
the pressure of the air)[21-30]. These changes are also
measured by the ultrasonic system when the tempera­
ture is known. Arranging eight traditional temperature
sensors in the ultrasonic propagation path, the tem­
perature can be measured accurately to verify the
speed of sound. Comparison of the temperature meas­
ured by the traditional sensors to the temperature re­
constructed by the TFcw will give the differences.
These differences can be used to monitor the other
fluctuations in an infant incubator. In general, the wind
will be the important factor of these fluctuations in air.
As an infant breathes or moves, the flow of the air will
generate the fluctuations of the speed of sound in the
environment which temperature is approximately con­
stant. These motions of the infant will be monitored by
the ultrasonic system via some arranged traditional
temperature sensors. That is, this ultrasonic tempera-
agement for low birth weight infants nursed under
high-powered radiant warmers. Pediatrics. 1987; 79:
47-54.
4. Djaaffar B, Pierre V and Gilbert F: Dynamic pro­
gramming approach for newborn's incubator hu­
midity control. IEEE Trans, on Biomedical engi­
neering. 1998; 45: 48-55.
5. Michael PM, Matthew JP, Andrew S, Chris H and
35 40 45 60 Alan DK: A clinical comparison of radiant warmer
and incubator care for preterm infants from birth to
1800 grams. Pediatrics. 2001; 108: 395-401.
6. George SKW: Speed of sound in standard air. J.
Acoust. Soc. Am. 1986; 79: 1359-1366.
7. Mauro B, Emanuele AS, Anna T, Sauro P, and An­
tonio G: An acoustic pyrometer system for tomo-
graphic thermal imaging in power plant boilers.
IEEE Trans, on instrum. and meas. 1996; 45: 139-
158.
8. Wilson KD and Dennis WT: Acoustic propagation
through anisotropic, surface-layer turbulence. J.
Acoust. Soc. Am. 1994; 96: 1080-1095.
9. Parrilla M, Anaya JJ, and Fritsch C: Digital signal
processing techniques for high accuracy ultrasonic
range measurement. IEEE Trans, on instrum. and
meas. 1991; 40: 759-763.
lO.Daniele M, Claudio N, Carlo O, Dario P and An­
drea T: Digital time-of-flight measurement for ul­
trasonic sensors. IEEE Trans, on instrum. and meas.
1992; 41: 93-97.
11. Francis EG, Mihai V, Christian EE and Pascal D:
Accurate distance measurement by an autonomous
ultrasonic system combing time-of-flight and
phase-shift methods. IEEE Trans, on instrum. and
meas. 1997; 46: 1236-1240.
12. David W: A pulsed ultrasonic distance measure­
ment system based upon phase digitizing. IEEE
Trans, on instrum. and meas. 1994; 43: 578-582.
13. Fernando F and Enrique B: An ultrasonic ranging
system for structural vibration measurements. IEEE
Trans, on instrum. and meas. 1991; 40: 764-769.
14. Young MS and Li YC: A high precision ultrasonic
system for vibration measurements. Rev. Sci. In-

-47-
 303
strum. 1992; 63: 5435-5441.
15. Yang M, Hill SL, Bury B and Gray JG: A mutifre-
quency AM-based ultrasonic system for accuracy
distance measurement. IEEE Trans, on instrum.
and meas. 1994; 43: 861-866.
16. Huang CF, Young MS and Li YC: Multiple-
frequency continuous wave ultrasonic system for
accurate distance measurement. Rev. Sci. Instrum.
1999; 70:1452-1458.
17.Gilles M, Eric B and Laurent F: Local measure­
ment validation for an intelligent chirped-FM ultra­
sonic range sensor. IEEE Trans, on instrum. and
meas. 2000; 49: 835-839.
by 157.51.217.134 on 05/25/19. Re-use and distribution is strictly not permitted, except for Open Access articles.
18.Daigle GA and Michael RS: Impedance of grass-
covered ground at low frequencies measured using
Biomed. Eng. Appl. Basis Commun. 2001.13:296-303. Downloaded from www.worldscientific.com
a phase difference technique. J. Acoust. Soc. Am.
1987; 81: 62-68.
19.Jeng SK and Liu CH: Wave propagation in media
with three-dimensional quadratic refractive index
profile. J. Acoust. Soc. Am. 1987; 81: 1732-1739.
20. Robert HM and George S: Sound propagation
through atmospheric turbulence: Multifractal phase
fluctuations. J. Acoust. Soc. Am. 1993; 97: 141-
146.
21. George SKW and Tony FWE: Variation of the
speed of sound in air with humidity and tempera­
ture. J. Acoust. Soc. Am. 1987; 81: 1732-1739.
22. Don CG and Cramond AJ: Impulse propagation in
a neutral atmosphere. J. Acoust. Soc. Am. 1987; 81:
1341-1349.
-48-
Vol. 13 No. 6 December 2001
23.Baikalova RA, Krekov GM and Shamanaeva LG:
Theoretical estimates of sound scattering by atmos­
pheric turbulence. J. Acoust. Soc. Am. 1988; 83:
1332-1335.
24.Chiu WS, Lauchle GC and Thompson DE: Sub-
sonoic axial flow fan noise and unsteady rotor force.
J. Acoust. Soc. Am. 1989; 85: 641-647.
25.Griffy TA and Hixson EL: Atmospheric acoustic
noise as a function of altitude. J. Acoust. Soc. Am.
1989; 85: 1089-1091.
26.Nijs L and Wapenaar CPA: The influence of wind
and temperature gradients on sound propagation,
calculated with the two-way wave wquation. J.
Acoust. Soc. Am. 1990; 87: 1987-1998.
27. Wilson DK and Thomson DW: Acoustic propaga­
tion through anisotropic, surface-layer turbulence. J.
Acoust. Soc. Am. 1994; 96: 1080-1095.
28.Bukhman EV, Gershman SG, Svet VD, and
Yakovenko GN: Spectral analysis of acoustic varia­
tions on the surface of the human body. Acoust.
physics 1995; 41; 41-48.
29.Lazreq Z, Tahar MB, Ville JM and Auger JM: A
mixed experimental and theoretical method for
noise propagation and radiation prediction of a
cowled axial fan. J. Acoust. Soc. Am. 1996; 100:
166-177.
30. Timothy AB, Gerald CL, Steven D, and Eric TR:
Outer-flow effects on turbulent boundary layer wall
pressure fluctuations. J. Acoust. Soc. Am. 1999;
105: 2097-2106.