Abstract: Inclusions in a liquid flow, such as air bubbles in a blood flow, are detected by transmitting a signal through the fluid and receiving and interpreting the received signal based on the expected degree of attenuation for the liquid and the inclusions. The amplitude of the transmitted signal is automatically adjusted to maintain a constant average amplitude of the detected signal, thus compensating for changes in the detection environment. The average amplitude of the transmitted signal is controlled by integrating the received signal using an integrator with a time constant longer than the time constant of the expected inclusion signals, and comparing the integrated signal to a constant reference level.The presence of microbubbles is detected and a signal comprising a string of high frequency pulses is generated while the microbubbles are present.