Journal
PHYSICS IN MEDICINE AND BIOLOGY
Volume 62, Issue 17, Pages 6884-6898Publisher
IOP PUBLISHING LTD
DOI: 10.1088/1361-6560/aa8076
Keywords
ultrasound imaging; phase change contrast agent; acoustic vaporisation; microvascular; microbubble; image quantification
Funding
- Imperial-CSC scholarship
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The sub-micron phase change contrast agent (PCCA) composed of a perfluorocarbon liquid core can be activated into gaseous state and form stable echogenic microbubbles for contrast-enhanced ultrasound imaging. It has shown great promise in imaging microvasculature, tumour microenvironment, and cancer cells. Although PCCAs have been extensively studied for different diagnostic and therapeutic applications, the effect of biologically geometrical confinement on the acoustic vaporisation of PCCAs is still not clear. We have investigated the difference in PCCA-produced ultrasound contrast enhancement after acoustic activation with and without a microvessel confinement on a microchannel phantom. The experimental results indicated more than oneorder of magnitude less acoustic vaporisation in a microchannel than that in a free environment taking into account the attenuation effect of the vessel on the microbubble scattering. This may provide an improved understanding in the applications of PCCAs in vivo.
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