Edsall Connor, Huynh Laura, Hall Tim, Vlaisavljevich Eli
Department of Biomedical Engineering and Mechanics, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, 325 Stanger St., Blacksburg, VA, 24061.
Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, 445 Old Turner St., Blacksburg, VA 24061.
ArXiv. 2023 Jul 6:arXiv:2307.03245v1.
Histotripsy is a non-thermal focused ultrasound ablation method that destroys tissue through the generation and activity of acoustic cavitation bubble clouds. Intrinsic threshold histotripsy uses single-cycle pulses to generate bubble clouds when the dominant negative pressure phase exceeds an intrinsic threshold of ~25-30 MPa. The ablation efficiency is dependent upon the size and density of bubbles within the bubble cloud. This work investigates the effects of dual-frequency pulsing schemes on the bubble cloud behavior and ablation efficiency in intrinsic threshold histotripsy. A modular 500 kHz:3 MHz histotripsy transducer treated agarose phantoms using dual-frequency histotripsy pulses with a 1:1 pressure ratio from 500 kHz and 3 MHz frequency elements and varying arrival times for the 3 MHz pulse relative to the arrival of the 500 kHz pulse (-100 ns, 0 ns, and +100 ns). High-speed optical imaging captured cavitation effects to characterize bubble cloud and individual bubble dynamics. The effects of dual-frequency pulsing on lesion formation and ablation efficiency were also investigated in red blood cell (RBC) phantoms. Results showed that the single bubble and bubble cloud size for dual-frequency cases were intermediate to published results for the component single frequencies of 500 kHz and 3 MHz. Additionally, bubble cloud size and dynamics were shown to be altered by the arrival time of the 3 MHz pulse with respect to the 500 kHz pulse, with more uniform cloud expansion and collapse observed for early (-100 ns) arrival. Finally, RBC phantom experiments showed that dual-frequency exposures were capable of generating precise lesions with smaller areas and higher ablation efficiencies than previously published results for 500 kHz or 3 MHz. Overall, results demonstrate dual-frequency histotripsy's ability to modulate bubble cloud size and dynamics can be leveraged to produce precise lesions at higher ablation efficiencies than previously observed for single-frequency pulsing.
组织粉碎术是一种非热聚焦超声消融方法,通过声空化泡群的产生和活动来破坏组织。固有阈值组织粉碎术使用单周期脉冲,当主导负压阶段超过约25 - 30兆帕的固有阈值时产生泡群。消融效率取决于泡群内气泡的大小和密度。这项工作研究了双频脉冲方案对固有阈值组织粉碎术中泡群行为和消融效率的影响。一个模块化的500千赫:3兆赫组织粉碎换能器,使用来自500千赫和3兆赫频率元件的1:1压力比的双频组织粉碎脉冲以及3兆赫脉冲相对于500千赫脉冲到达的不同到达时间(-100纳秒、0纳秒和+100纳秒)处理琼脂糖模型。高速光学成像捕捉空化效应以表征泡群和单个气泡的动力学。还在红细胞(RBC)模型中研究了双频脉冲对损伤形成和消融效率的影响。结果表明,双频情况下的单个气泡和泡群大小介于已发表的500千赫和3兆赫单个频率的结果之间。此外,泡群大小和动力学显示会因3兆赫脉冲相对于500千赫脉冲的到达时间而改变,对于早期(-100纳秒)到达,观察到泡群有更均匀的膨胀和坍塌。最后,红细胞模型实验表明,与之前发表的500千赫或3兆赫的结果相比,双频照射能够产生面积更小、消融效率更高的精确损伤。总体而言,结果表明双频组织粉碎术调节泡群大小和动力学的能力可被利用,以产生比之前单频脉冲观察到的更高消融效率的精确损伤。