This two part work is an important collection of chapters covering most of the areas of application of ultrasound in medicine and biology. The chapters are written by major researchers and developers in this field and reflect the broad research interests of the authors and editor.
This two volume set is not a text on clinical applications of diagnostic ultrasound. Only one, 37 page chapter deals with general pulse echo visualization. This chapter by D.E. Robinson and G. Kossoff covers well the basic principles of pulse echo visualization as well as many of the refinements which have provided the excellent imaging capabilities achieved at the Ultrasonics Institute in Sydney, Australia. Diagnostic applications in echocardiography and abdominal imaging received only a one page discussion each, however. A serious omission in the two volumes, as in most treatments of the subject, is a chapter on real time imaging systems.
The two volumes are strongest as a treatment of the interactions of ultrasound in tissues and related materials. Such chapters include W.L. Nyborg's "Physical Principles of Ultrasound," which is a very clear presentation with a unique breadth in the treatment of the subject. Cavitation is treated extensively by W.T. Coakley and W.L. Nyborg as is "Ultrasonic Absorption and Dispersion" by F. Dunn and W.D. O'Brien, Jr. and "Scattering of Ultrasound by Human Tissue" by C.R. Hill, R.C. Chivers, R.W. Huggins and D. Nicholas. The scattering chapter is readable and comprehensive, although perhaps not as comprehensive as more recent treatments by one of the authors, D. Nicholas. The chapter, "Ultrasonic Dosimetry," by W.D. O'Brien, Jr. describes the basic aspects of a large variety of approaches