Ultrasound mediated destruction of multifunctional microbubbles for image guided delivery of oxygen and drugs.

We synthesized multifunctional activatible microbubbles (MAMs) for ultrasound mediated delivery of oxygen and drugs with both ultrasound and fluorescence imaging guidance. Oxygen enriched perfluorocarbon (PFC) compound was encapsulated in liposome microbubbles (MBs) by a modified emulsification process. DiI dye was loaded as a model drug. The ultrasound targeted microbubble destruction (UTMD) process was guided by both ultrasonography and fluorescence imaging modalities. The process was validated in both a dialysis membrane tube model and a porcine carotid artery model. Our experiment results show that the UTMD process effectively facilitates the controlled delivery of oxygen and drug at the disease site and that the MAM agent enables ultrasound and fluorescence imaging guidance of the UTMD process. The proposed MAM agent can be potentially used for UTMD-mediated combination therapy in hypoxic ovarian cancer.