Beekers Ines, van Rooij Tom, van der Steen Antonius F W, de Jong Nico, Verweij Martin D, Kooiman Klazina
IEEE Trans Ultrason Ferroelectr Freq Control. 2019 Jan;66(1):244-246. doi: 10.1109/TUFFC.2018.2881724. Epub 2018 Nov 16.
Ultrasound contrast agents consist of gas-filled coated microbubbles that oscillate upon ultrasound insonification. Their characteristic oscillatory response provides contrast enhancement for imaging and has the potential to locally enhance drug delivery. Since microbubble response depends on the local acoustic pressure, an ultrasound compatible chamber is needed to study their behavior and the underlying drug delivery pathways. In this study, we determined the amplitude of the acoustic pressure in the CLINIcell, an optically transparent chamber suitable for cell culture. The pressure field was characterized based on microbubble response recorded using the Brandaris 128 ultrahigh-speed camera and an iterative processing method. The results were compared to a control experiment performed in an OptiCell, which is conventionally used in microbubble studies. Microbubbles in the CLINIcell responded in a controlled manner, comparable to those in the OptiCell. For frequencies from 1 to 4 MHz, the mean pressure amplitude was -5.4 dB with respect to the externally applied field. The predictable ultrasound pressure demonstrates the potential of the CLINIcell as an optical, ultrasound, and cell culture compatible device to study microbubble oscillation behavior and ultrasound-mediated drug delivery.
超声造影剂由包裹有气体的微泡组成，这些微泡在超声照射下会发生振荡。它们独特的振荡响应为成像提供了造影增强效果，并且有可能局部增强药物递送。由于微泡响应取决于局部声压，因此需要一个与超声兼容的腔室来研究它们的行为以及潜在的药物递送途径。在本研究中，我们测定了CLINIcell（一种适用于细胞培养的光学透明腔室）中的声压幅度。基于使用Brandaris 128超高速相机记录的微泡响应和一种迭代处理方法对压力场进行了表征。将结果与在微泡研究中常用的OptiCell中进行的对照实验进行了比较。CLINIcell中的微泡以可控方式响应，与OptiCell中的微泡相当。对于1至4 MHz的频率，相对于外部施加的场，平均压力幅度为-5.4 dB。可预测的超声压力证明了CLINIcell作为一种光学、超声和细胞培养兼容的设备，在研究微泡振荡行为和超声介导的药物递送方面的潜力。
