Genetic engineering biofilms in situ using ultrasound-mediated DNA delivery.

The ability to directly modify native and established biofilms has enormous potential in understanding microbial ecology and application of biofilm in 'real-world' systems. However, efficient genetic transformation of established biofilms at any scale remains challenging. In this study, we applied an ultrasound-mediated DNA delivery (UDD) technique to introduce plasmid to established non-competent biofilms in situ.

The influence of droplet concentration on phase change and inertial cavitation thresholds associated with acoustic droplet vaporization.

Acoustic droplet vaporization (ADV) is an important process that enables the theragnostic application of acoustically activated droplets, where the nucleation of inertial cavitation (IC) activity must be precisely controlled. This Letter describes threshold pressure measurements for ADV and acoustic emissions consistent with IC activity of lipid-shelled non-superheated perfluoropentane nanodroplets over a range of physiologically relevant concentrations at 1.1-MHz.

SVD-Based Separation of Stable and Inertial Cavitation Signals Applied to Passive Cavitation Mapping During HIFU.

Detection of inertial and stable cavitation is important for guiding high-intensity focused ultrasound (HIFU). Acoustic transducers can passively detect broadband noise from inertial cavitation and the scattering of HIFU harmonics from stable cavitation bubbles. Conventional approaches to cavitation noise diagnostics typically involve computing the Fourier transform of the time-domain noise signal, applying a custom comb filter to isolate the frequency components of interest, followed by an inverse Fourier transform.

Photo- and Sono-Dynamic Therapy: A Review of Mechanisms and Considerations for Pharmacological Agents Used in Therapy Incorporating Light and Sound.

As irreplaceable energy sources of minimally invasive treatment, light and sound have, separately, laid solid foundations in their clinic applications. Constrained by the relatively shallow penetration depth of light, photodynamic therapy (PDT) typically involves involves superficial targets such as shallow seated skin conditions, head and neck cancers, eye disorders, early-stage cancer of esophagus, etc. For ultrasound-driven sonodynamic therapy (SDT), however, to various organs is facilitated by the superior.

HIFU-induced changes in optical scattering and absorption of tissue over nine orders of thermal dose.

The optical properties of tissue change during thermal ablation. Multi-modal methods such as acousto-optic (AO) and photo-acoustic (PA) imaging may provide a real-time, direct measure of lesion formation. Baseline changes in optical properties have been previously measured over limited ranges of thermal dose for tissues exposed to a temperature-controlled water bath, however, there is scant data for optical properties of lesions created by HIFU.

Modeling-based design and assessment of an acousto-optic guided high-intensity focused ultrasound system.

Real-time acousto-optic (AO) sensing has been shown to noninvasively detect changes in ex vivo tissue optical properties during high-intensity focused ultrasound (HIFU) exposures. The technique is particularly appropriate for monitoring noncavitating lesions that offer minimal acoustic contrast. A numerical model is presented for an AO-guided HIFU system with an illumination wavelength of 1064 nm and an acoustic frequency of 1.

Thermal dose dependent optical property changes of ex vivo chicken breast tissues between 500 and 1100 nm.

This study examines the effectiveness of the thermal dose model in accurately predicting thermally induced optical property changes of ex vivo chicken breast between 500-1100 nm. The absorption coefficient, μa, and the reduced scattering coefficient, μ's, of samples are measured as a function of thermal dose over the range 50 °C-70 °C. Additionally, the maximum observable changes in μa and μ's are measured as a function of temperature in the range 50 °C-90 °C.

Gold nanoparticle targeted photoacoustic cavitation for potential deep tissue imaging and therapy.

The laser generation of vapor bubbles around plasmonic nanoparticles can be enhanced through the application of an ultrasound field; a technique referred to as photoacoustic cavitation. The combination of light and ultrasound allows for bubble formation at lower laser fluence and peak negative ultrasound pressure than can be achieved using either modality alone. The growth and collapse of these bubbles leads to local mechanical disruption and acoustic emission, and can potentially be used to induce and monitor tissue therapy.

Ambient acceleration dependence of single-bubble sonoluminescence.

Much of the research performed to study SBSL deals with the influence of external parameters (e.g., the host water temperature, the ambient pressure, the type and amount of dissolved gas in the liquid, to name a few) on the bubble dynamics and light emission.

Modeling cavitation nucleation from laser-illuminated nanoparticles subjected to acoustic stress.

In an earlier work by Farny et al. [ARLO 6, 138-143 (2005).] it was demonstrated that the acoustic cavitation threshold in a tissue mimicking gel phantom can be lowered from 4.

Measuring tissue properties and monitoring therapeutic responses using acousto-optic imaging.

Acousto-optic imaging is a hybrid imaging technique that exploits the interaction between light and sound to image optical contrast at depth in optically turbid media with the high spatial resolution of ultrasound. Quantitative measurement of optical properties using this technique is confounded by multiple parameters that influence the detected acousto-optic signal. In this article, we describe the origin of the acousto-optic response and review techniques that have been proposed to relate this response to the optical properties of turbid media.

Real-time monitoring of high-intensity focused ultrasound lesion formation using acousto-optic sensing.

High-intensity focused ultrasound (HIFU) is a promising modality that is used to noninvasively ablate soft tissue tumors. Nevertheless, real-time treatment monitoring with diagnostic ultrasound still poses a significant challenge since tissue necrosis, in the absence of cavitation or boiling, provides little acoustic contrast with normal tissue. In comparison, the optical properties of tissue are significantly altered accompanying lesion formation.

Ultrasonic enhancement of photoacoustic emissions by nanoparticle-targeted cavitation.

A technique to enhance the photoacoustic emissions from laser-heated nanoparticles is presented. Gold nanoparticle-doped phantoms are subjected to pulsed optical and ultrasound fields, resulting in bubble formation and collapse and producing strong acoustic emissions. The applied ultrasound field allows for cavitation at lower laser fluences than using light alone.

Potentiating intra-arterial sonothrombolysis for acute ischemic stroke by the addition of the ultrasound contrast agents (Optison™ & SonoVue(®)).

Transcranial ultrasound in combination with intravenously administered ultrasound contrast agents (UCA) in the presence or absence of recombinant tissue plasminogen activator (rt-PA) has been widely evaluated as a new modality for treatment of ischemic stroke. Despite the successful demonstration of accelerated clot lysis there are inherent limitations associated with this modality such as inconsistency in temporal window thickness and/or potential serious cardiopulmonary reactions to intravenous administration of UCA that prevent broad application to ischemic stroke populations. As a complementary modality, we evaluated potential lysis enhancement by intra-arterial ultrasound with concurrent intra-clot delivery of UCA and rt-PA.

Detecting cavitation in mercury exposed to a high-energy pulsed proton beam.

The Oak Ridge National Laboratory Spallation Neutron Source employs a high-energy pulsed proton beam incident on a mercury target to generate short bursts of neutrons. Absorption of the proton beam produces rapid heating of the mercury, resulting in the formation of acoustic shock waves and the nucleation of cavitation bubbles. The subsequent collapse of these cavitation bubbles promote erosion of the steel target walls.

Quantitative characterization of turbid media using pressure contrast acousto-optic imaging.

An acousto-optic imaging technique suitable for the local and quantitative determination of subsurface optical properties in turbid media is presented. Acousto-optic signals elicited by ultrasound pulses at two different peak pressures in turbid media are detected by using photorefractive-crystal-based interferometry. The ratio of the measured signals, once calibrated for a particular set of pressure pulses, is found to give a direct measure of the reduced scattering coefficient of the interaction region between the light and sound.

The correlation between bubble-enhanced HIFU heating and cavitation power.

It has been established that while the inherent presence of bubbles increases heat generation due to scattering and absorption, inertial cavitation is responsible for elevated heating during high-intensity focused ultrasound (HIFU) application. The contribution of bubble-induced heating can be an important factor to consider, as it can be several times greater than the expected heat deposition from absorption of energy from the primary ultrasound field. The temperature and cavitation signal near the focus were measured for 5.

Sensing a buried resonant object by single-channel time reversal.

Scaled laboratory experiments are conducted to assess the efficacy of iterative, single-channel time reversal for enhancement of monostatic returns from resonant spheres in the free field and buried in a sediment phantom. Experiments are performed in a water tank using a broad-band piston transducer operating between 0.4 and 1.

Temporal and spatial detection of HIFU-induced inertial and hot-vapor cavitation with a diagnostic ultrasound system.

The onset and presence of inertial cavitation and near-boiling temperatures in high-intensity focused ultrasound (HIFU) therapy have been identified as important indicators of energy deposition for therapy guidance. Passive cavitation detection is commonly used to detect bubble emissions, where a fixed-focus single-element acoustic transducer is typically used as a passive cavitation detector (PCD). This technique is suboptimal for clinical applications, because most PCD transducers are tightly focused and afford limited spatial coverage of the HIFU focal region.

The low-frequency sound speed of fluid-like gas-bearing sediments.

The low-frequency sound speed in a fluid-like kaolinite sediment containing air bubbles was measured using an acoustic resonator technique and found to be 114 ms with negligible dispersion between 100 and 400 Hz. The sediment's void fraction and bubble size distribution was determined from volumetric images obtained from x-ray computed tomography scans. A simplified version of Wood's effective medium model, which is dependent only upon the ambient pressure, the void fraction, the sediment's bulk mass density, and the assumption that all the bubbles are smaller than resonance size at the highest frequency of interest, described the measured sound speed.

Cavitational mechanisms in ultrasound-accelerated fibrinolysis.

The role of both inertial and stable cavitation was investigated during in vitro ultrasound-accelerated fibrinolysis by recombinant tissue plasminogen activator (rt-PA) in the presence and absence of Optison. A unique treatment configuration applied ultrasound, rt-PA and Optison to the interior of a plasma clot. Lysis efficacy was measured as clot weight reduction.

Evidence of dispersion in an artificial water-saturated sand sediment.

A laboratory experiment was conducted to measure the speed of sound in an artificial water-saturated granular sediment composed of cleaned and sorted medium-grained sand and degassed distilled water. The experiment was conducted within a range of frequencies where dispersion is predicted by a number of existing models. Between 2 and 4 kHz, the sound speed was inferred from measurements of the resonance frequencies of a thin-walled cylindrical container filled with the material.

Imaging in diffuse media with pulsed-ultrasound-modulated light and the photorefractive effect.

Acousto-optic imaging in diffuse media is a dual wave-sensing technique in which an acoustic field interacts with multiply scattered laser light. The acoustic field causes a phase modulation in the optical field emanating from the interaction region, and this phase-modulated optical field carries with it information about the local optomechanical properties of the media. We report on the use of a pulsed ultrasound transducer to modulate the optical field and the use of a photorefractive-crystal-based interferometry system to detect ultrasound-modulated light.

Computations of the acoustically induced phase shifts of optical paths in acoustophotonic imaging with photorefractive-based detection.

Acoustophotonic imaging uses ultrasound-modulated scattered light to improve the quality of optical imaging in diffusive media. Experiments that use photorefractive-crystal-based detection have shown that there is a large dc shift in the acoustically modulated or ac optical signal, which could be utilized to further improve optical imaging resolution. We report that photon paths in a diffusive medium were generated by a Monte Carlo simulation, and the optical phase shifts of the various photons induced by the presence of a realistic focused ultrasound beam were calculated.