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TECHNOLOGY LICENSING OPPORTUNITY: Acoustic Camera
Contact and place of performance
Kathleen McDonald
Los Alamos, NM 87545
USA
When water turns murky or dense with mud, sediment or chemistry, optical cameras stop being useful, and operators are left guessing about what lies on the other side of the fluid. The Acoustic Camera from Los Alamos National Laboratory replaces that guesswork with sharp 3D imagery generated from sound, achieving sub-millimeter depth resolution in near real time. Instead of inferring the size and orientation of a subm...
View moreTechnical Description:
Acoustic Camera uses a broadband piezoelectric transducer to insonify the object with frequencies between roughly 100 kHz and 800 kHz. Because attenuation in fluids scales with the square of frequency, this band is chosen as the practical compromise between mud penetration (favoring lower frequencies) and image resolution (favoring higher frequencies). Reflected pulses pass through a compound high-density polyethylene (HDPE) acoustic lens consisting of a fixed plano-concave primary element and a motor-positioned secondary element, allowing focus adjustment without changing the receiver position, and yielding an appropriate magnification factor.
The receive array is a 2D segmented piezoelectric detector submerged in sound-communicating fluid whose low sound speed provides a roughly three-fold reduction in wavelength versus water and enables a compact camera housing. Image reconstruction can use either tone-burst excitation with first-arrival extraction or, for higher resolution, frequency-chirp excitation followed by cross-correlation of the transmit and receive signals — yielding depth resolution below 1 mm at working distances of up to approximately 2 feet in drilling mud. The film allows the source and detector to share a single optical axis, eliminating the multiple reflections and aberrations introduced by semi-transparent acoustic mirrors used in earlier architectures.
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Market Applications:
Development Status: TRL 4
US Patent No. 10,054,676-B2
LA-UR-26-24351
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Los Alamos National Laboratory offers a wide range of cutting-edge technologies and capabilities that may provide your company with a competitive edge in the market and unlock the innovative potential that can enhance, refine, and revolutionize your products.
LANL’s licensing program focuses on moving inventions developed by our researchers to commercial innovations. Patented and patent pending inventions and copyrighted software are available to existing and start-up companies through exclusive and non-exclusive licensing agreements. For specific discussions, please contact [email protected].
Note: This is not a call for external services for the development of this technology.
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m.lanl.gov/tech-search
The U.S. Department of Energy, through its contractor Triad at Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL), is offering a technology licensing opportunity for an Acoustic Camera. This system generates high-resolution 3D imagery in murky or opaque fluids where optical cameras are ineffective, such as drilling mud, sediment-heavy water, or chemically dense environments. Utilizing high-frequency ultrasonic pulses and a two-dimensional acoustic receiver array, the camera achieves sub-millimeter depth resolution in near real time. The technology is currently at Technology Readiness Level (TRL) 4 and is covered under US Patent No. 10,054,676-B2.
The system is designed for applications in oil and gas, mining, geothermal systems, and underwater infrastructure inspection. By transmitting frequencies between 100 kHz and 800 kHz, the device balances fluid penetration with image clarity, allowing operators to identify the shape and orientation of submerged objects without requiring fluid replacement or well cleanouts. The hardware features a broadband piezoelectric transducer and a compound high-density polyethylene acoustic lens that enables focus adjustment without moving the receiver. This architecture supports faster diagnostic decision-making and reduces operational risks during recovery or maintenance tasks in historically opaque environments.
This special notice, identified by solicitation number S-129409, is not a request for external development services but an invitation for exclusive or non-exclusive licensing agreements. The opportunity is classified under NAICS 334511 for Search, Detection, Navigation, Guidance, Aeronautical, and Nautical System and Instrument Manufacturing and PSC 5845 for Underwater Sound Equipment. There is no set-aside designated for this notice. Responses are accepted through June 30, 2026, and the primary point of contact is Kathleen McDonald in Los Alamos, New Mexico.
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