High-Resolution Imaging of Intracellular Calcium Fluctuations Caused by Oscillating Microbubbles.

Ultrasound insonification of microbubbles can locally enhance drug delivery, but the microbubble-cell interaction remains poorly understood. Because intracellular calcium (Ca) is a key cellular regulator, unraveling the Ca fluctuations caused by an oscillating microbubble provides crucial insight into the underlying bio-effects. Therefore, we developed an optical imaging system at nanometer and nanosecond resolution that can resolve Ca fluctuations and microbubble oscillations.