Optical and Acoustic Characterization of Phase-Shift Droplets with Varying Shell Compositions.

Shell-stabilized, phase-shift droplets of perfluorocarbon have shown promising potential in diagnostic and therapeutic ultrasound applications. While the role of shell composition has been well-studied for conventional gas-filled microbubbles, its influence on bubbles generated via acoustic droplet vaporization (ADV) remains understudied. This study investigates the effect of shell composition─lipid, protein, and polymer─on the stability, ADV dynamics, growth behavior, release kinetics, and acoustic response of perfluorohexane phase-shift droplets.

Development and Characterization of Hemoglobin Microbubbles for Acoustic Blood Oxygen Level Dependent Imaging.

Oxygen levels in tissues and organs are crucial for their normal functioning, and approaches to monitor them non-invasively have wide biological and clinical applications. In this study, we developed a method of acoustically detecting oxygenation using contrast-enhanced ultrasound (CEUS) imaging. Our approach involved the use of specially designed hemoglobin-based microbubbles (HbMBs) that reversibly bind to oxygen and alter the state-dependent acoustic response.

H.O.S.T.: Hemoglobin microbubble-based Oxidative stress Sensing Technology.

In this work, we discuss the development of H.O.S.

Identifying Unique Acoustic Signatures from Chemically-Crosslinked Microbubble Clusters Using Deep Learning.

Ultrasound contrast agents (UCA) are gas encapsulated microspheres that oscillate volumetrically when exposed to an ultrasound field producing a backscattered signal which can be used for improved ultrasound imaging and drug delivery. UCA's are being used widely for contrast-enhanced ultrasound imaging, but there is a need for improved UCAs to develop faster and more accurate contrast agent detection algorithms. Recently, we introduced a new class of lipid based UCAs called Chemically Cross-linked Microbubble Clusters (CCMCs).

Hemoglobin Microbubbles and the Prediction of Different Oxygen Levels Using RF Data and Deep Learning.

Ultrasound contrast agents (UCA) are gas-encapsulated microspheres that oscillate volumetrically when exposed to an ultrasound field producing backscattered signals efficiently, which can be used for improved ultrasound imaging and drug delivery applications. We developed a novel oxygen-sensitive hemoglobin-shell microbubble designed to acoustically detect blood oxygen levels. We hypothesize that structural change in hemoglobin caused due to varying oxygen levels in the body can lead to mechanical changes in the shell of the UCA.