Functionalized monodisperse microbubble production: microfluidic method for fast, controlled, and automated removal of excess coating material.

Functionalized monodisperse microbubbles have the potential to boost the sensitivity and efficacy of molecular ultrasound imaging and targeted drug delivery using bubbles and ultrasound. Monodisperse bubbles can be produced in a microfluidic flow focusing device. However, their functionalization and sequential use require removal of the excess lipids from the bubble suspension to minimize the use of expensive ligands and to avoid competitive binding and blocking of the receptor molecules.

Ring-shaped colloidal patterns on saline water films.

Hypothesis: Electrostatically stabilised colloidal particles destabilise when brought into contact with cations causing the particles to aggregate in clusters. When a drop with stabilised colloidal partices is deposited on a liquid film containing cations the delicate balance between the fluid-mechanical and physicochemical properties of the system governs the spreading dynamics and formation of colloidal particle clusters.

Experiments: High-speed imaging and digital holographic microscopy were used to characterise the spreading process.

High-Speed Optical Characterization of Protein-and-Nanoparticle-Stabilized Microbubbles for Ultrasound-Triggered Drug Release.

Objective: Ultrasound-triggered bubble-mediated local drug delivery has shown potential to increase therapeutic efficacy and reduce systemic side effects, by loading drugs into the microbubble shell and triggering delivery of the payload on demand using ultrasound. Understanding the behavior of the microbubbles in response to ultrasound is crucial for efficient and controlled release.

Methods: In this work, the response of microbubbles with a coating consisting of poly(2-ethyl-butyl cyanoacrylate) (PEBCA) nanoparticles and denatured casein was characterized.

Dependence of sonoporation efficiency on microbubble size: An in vitro monodisperse microbubble study.

Sonoporation is the process where intracellular drug delivery is facilitated by ultrasound-driven microbubble oscillations. Several mechanisms have been proposed to relate microbubble dynamics to sonoporation including shear and normal stress. The present work aims to gain insight into the role of microbubble size on sonoporation and thereby into the relevant mechanism(s) of sonoporation.

Implementing automated 3D measurements to quantify reference values and side-to-side differences in the ankle syndesmosis.

Detection of syndesmotic ankle instability remains challenging in clinical practice due to the limitations of two-dimensional (2D) measurements. The transition to automated three-dimensional (3D) measurement techniques is on the verge of a breakthrough but normative and side-to-side comparative data are missing. Therefore, our study aim was two-fold: (1) to establish 3D anatomical reference values of the ankle syndesmosis based on automated measurements and (2) to determine to what extent the ankle syndesmosis is symmetric across all 3D measurements.