Hemoglobin microbubbles for in vivo blood oxygen level dependent imaging: Boldly moving beyond MRI

Microbubbles are gas-filled, micron-sized particles stabilized by lipid, protein, or polymer shells. They scatter ultrasound energy efficiently due to their compressible gas cores, making them excellent blood pool contrast agents in ultrasound imaging. In this project, we have developed a novel oxyg...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:The Journal of the Acoustical Society of America 2021-10, Vol.150 (4), p.A27-A27
Main Authors: Chaudhary, Sugandha, Akter, Nasrin, Rajeev, Akshay, Hwang, Misun, Sirsi, Shashank
Format: Article
Language:English
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Summary:Microbubbles are gas-filled, micron-sized particles stabilized by lipid, protein, or polymer shells. They scatter ultrasound energy efficiently due to their compressible gas cores, making them excellent blood pool contrast agents in ultrasound imaging. In this project, we have developed a novel oxygen-sensitive hemoglobin-shell microbubble designed to acoustically detect blood oxygen levels in vivo. We hypothesized that structural changes in the hemoglobin in response to varying oxygen levels will alter the mechanical properties of the bubble shell, resulting in detectable changes in the bubble acoustic signature. In this project, we have (1) optimized the hemoglobin bubble formulation for in vivo circulation, (2) demonstrated that the hemoglobin shell is still responsive to oxygen after formulation, and (3) characterized the acoustic response of the microbubbles at varying oxygen levels. Our preliminary results show a strong correlation between the oxygen concentration in the solution and the acoustic response of bubbles, suggesting that they would serve as excellent oxygen sensors. If successful, in vivo sensing of oxygen levels would have numerous benefits, including evaluating the hypoxic regions in tumors and in the brain, among other blood-oxygen-level-dependent (BOLD) imaging applications.
ISSN:0001-4966
1520-8524
DOI:10.1121/10.0007507