What is the relationship between IRC and ITC?

The relationship between Incident Reflection Coefficient (IRC) and Incident Transmission Coefficient (ITC) is fundamentally tied to the principles of wave behavior at boundaries. In the context of ultrasound physics, these coefficients describe how the intensity of an ultrasound wave is split at the interface between two different media.

When an ultrasound wave encounters a boundary, part of the wave is reflected back into the first medium (reflected intensity), and part is transmitted into the second medium (transmitted intensity). The conservation of energy principle in this context states that the sum of the intensities reflected and transmitted must equal the total intensity of the incident wave.

Thus, if we denote the IRC as a percentage of the incident intensity that is reflected and the ITC as a percentage of the incident intensity that is transmitted, the formula can be represented as:

IRC + ITC = 100%.

This translates to the concept that the total energy must be conserved; therefore, the amount of energy reflected and the amount transmitted will add up to the total incoming energy. This 100% conservation confirms that when one coefficient increases, the other must decrease correspondingly, maintaining the balance.

Understanding this relationship is crucial in ultrasound as it affects imaging quality and the interpretation of results, making it fundamental knowledge in