Advances in ultrasound—the same imaging technology that uses sound waves to allow doctors to monitor babies in utero—are being applied by engineers at the University of California San Diego to make railroad track inspection more effective. Ensuring the safety of the vast 140,000-mile network of existing rail infrastructure in the United States is critical, especially as that figure grows with the addition of new high-speed passenger rail lines.
Safer railroads through ultrasound: Beamforming algorithms can improve track safety inspections
