Gray Michael, Vasilyeva Alexandra V, Brans Veerle, Stride Eleanor
Institute of Biomedical Engineering, University of Oxford;
Institute of Biomedical Engineering, University of Oxford.
J Vis Exp. 2021 Apr 9(170). doi: 10.3791/61989.
Interest in the therapeutic applications of ultrasound is significant and growing, with potential clinical targets ranging from cancer to Alzheimer's disease. Cavitation - the formation and subsequent motion of bubbles within an ultrasound field - represents a key phenomenon underpinning many of these treatments. There remains, however, considerable uncertainty regarding the detailed mechanisms of action by which cavitation promotes therapeutic effects and there is a need to develop reliable monitoring techniques that can be implemented clinically. In particular, there is significant variation between studies in the exposure parameters reported as successfully delivering therapeutic effects and the corresponding acoustic emissions. The aim of this paper is to provide design guidelines and an experimental protocol using widely available components for performing studies of cavitation-mediated bioeffects, and include real-time acoustic monitoring. It is hoped that the protocol will enable more widespread incorporation of acoustic monitoring into therapeutic ultrasound experiments and facilitate easier comparison across studies of exposure conditions and their correlation to relevant bio-effects.
对超声治疗应用的兴趣显著且不断增长，其潜在的临床靶点涵盖从癌症到阿尔茨海默病等多种疾病。空化作用——超声场内气泡的形成及随后的运动——是许多此类治疗的关键现象。然而，关于空化作用促进治疗效果的详细作用机制仍存在相当大的不确定性，因此需要开发可在临床上实施的可靠监测技术。特别是，在报道成功产生治疗效果的暴露参数与相应的声发射之间，各研究存在显著差异。本文旨在提供设计指南和实验方案，使用广泛可用的组件进行空化介导的生物效应研究，并包括实时声学监测。希望该方案能使声学监测更广泛地应用于治疗性超声实验，并便于更轻松地比较不同研究中的暴露条件及其与相关生物效应的相关性。
