Controlled nanoparticle release through microbubble microstreaming: Physical insight and applications

Microbubbles driven by ultrasound are used in a number of applications including surface cleaning, ultrasound imaging, and as a vehicle for local drug delivery. To prolong the microbubble lifetime, its gas core is coated with a stabilizing shell, typically consisting of phospholipids. The coating ca...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:The Journal of the Acoustical Society of America 2016-10, Vol.140 (4), p.3369-3369
Main Authors: Lajoinie, Guillaume, Luan, Ying, Gelderblom, Erik C., Dollet, Benjamin, Dewitte, Heleen, Lentacker, Ine, Versluis, Michel
Format: Article
Language:English
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:Microbubbles driven by ultrasound are used in a number of applications including surface cleaning, ultrasound imaging, and as a vehicle for local drug delivery. To prolong the microbubble lifetime, its gas core is coated with a stabilizing shell, typically consisting of phospholipids. The coating can also be used to attach a payload of functional nanoparticles. Interestingly, upon ultrasound irradiation at several hundreds of kPa, the payload was observed to be released in a highly controlled way. This release carries great potential for using microbubbles as drug delivery agents in the context of personalized medical therapy. However, until now, limited experimental observations of the phenomenon are available. Here, we study using ultra high-speed and fluorescence imaging techniques in top and in side-view the underlying mechanisms of the release. We also developed a model on the basis of a Rayleigh-Plesset-type equation that reveals that non-spherical bubble behavior is key to the release mechanism. We also quantified the streamlines and acoustic streaming velocity responsible for the microfluidic transport of the material and propose for the first time a complete physical description of the controlled release of ultrasound actuated microbubbles.
ISSN:0001-4966
1520-8524
DOI:10.1121/1.4970758