We investigate guided (Lamb) waves in a human cadaver skull through experiments and computational simulations. Ultrasonic wedge transducers and scanning laser Doppler vibrometry are used respectively to excite and measure Lamb waves propagating in the cranial bone of a degassed skull. Measurements are performed over a section of the parietal bone and temporal bone spanning the squamous suture. The experimental data are analyzed for the identification of wave modes and the characterization of dispersion properties. In the parietal bone, for instance, the A₀ wave mode is excited between 200 and 600 kHz, and higher-order Lamb waves are excited from 1 to 1.8 MHz. From the experimental dispersion curves and average thickness extracted from the skull computed tomography scan, we estimate average isotropic material properties that capture the essential dispersion characteristics using a semi-analytical finite-element model. We also explore the leaky and non-leaky wave behavior of the degassed skull with water loading in the cranial cavity. Successful excitation of leaky Lamb waves is confirmed (for higher-order wave modes with phase velocity faster than the speed of sound in water) from 500 kHz to 1.5 MHz, which may find applications in imaging and therapeutics at the brain periphery or skull–brain interface (e.g., for metastases). The non-leaky A₀ Lamb wave mode propagates between 200 and 600 kHz, with or without fluid loading, for potential use in skull-related diagnostics and imaging (e.g., for sutures).

我们通过实验和计算模拟研究了人类尸体头骨中的引导 (Lamb) 波。分别使用超声波楔形换能器和扫描激光多普勒测振仪来激发和测量在脱气颅骨的颅骨中传播的兰姆波。在跨越鳞状缝合线的顶骨和颞骨的一部分上进行测量。分析实验数据以识别波模式和表征色散特性。例如，在顶骨中，A ₀波模式在 200 至 600 kHz 之间激发，高阶兰姆波在 1 至 1.8 MHz 之间激发。根据从头骨计算机断层扫描中提取的实验色散曲线和平均厚度，我们估计平均各向同性材料特性，使用半解析有限元模型捕获基本色散特性。我们还探索了在颅腔中加载水的脱气头骨的渗漏和非渗漏波行为。成功激发了 500 kHz 至 1.5 MHz 的泄漏兰姆波（对于相速度快于水中声速的高阶波模式），这可能会在大脑外围或颅脑的成像和治疗中找到应用界面（例如，用于转移）。不漏气的A₀兰姆波模式在 200 和 600 kHz 之间传播，有或没有流体加载，用于颅骨相关诊断和成像（例如，用于缝合）的潜在用途。