ISOLATION AND CLONING OF GLYCOSAMINOGLYCAN SULFATASES

Not Available Site characterization on military bases includes the detection of hazardous materials and artifacts buried in the ground as well as an assessment of subsurface layering and groundwater properties. Currently available technology develops, at best, poor-quality images and also has a limited-detection sensitivity for non-metallic objects. Creare proposes to develop an acoustic soil imaging system to address all these needs. The Creare design is built around a novel acoustic array configuration designed to produce images of high resolution, compared to present methods, of objects buried in the upper 10 meters of the soil. Image generation and evaluation times will be significantly smaller than times required by current methods. The system features a sparse array of dynamically focused imaging transducers. This system leverages Creates experience in developing state-of-the-art medical ultrasound instruments and is designed to overcome the unique challenges created by the acoustic properties of soil. BENEFITS: The technology developed under this program will meet the Army's need for high-resolution imaging of geological structures. Besides providing a tool for rapid detection and identification of hazardous materials, the technology developed under this program may also be used on military and civilian construction projects to locate other buried objects such as pipes and conduits.