Statistics of acoustically induced bubble-nucleation events in in vitro blood: a feasibility study.
Bubbles can form in biological tissues through ultrasonic activation of natural gas nuclei. The damaging aftereffects raise safety concerns. However, the population of nuclei is currently unknown, and bubble nucleation is stochastic and thus unpredictable. This study investigates the statistical behavior of bubble nucleation experimentally and introduces a model-based analysis to determine the distribution of nuclei in biological samples-two pig blood samples in vitro. Combined ultra-fast passive and active cavitation detection with a linear array was used to detect nucleation from pulsed ultrasound excitations at 660 kHz. Single nucleation events were detected at peak rarefaction pressures from -3.6 to -24 MPa, and the nucleation probability over the range 0 to 1 was estimated from more than 330 independent acquisitions per sample. Model fitting of the experimental probability revealed that the distribution of nuclei is most likely continuous, and nuclei are rare in comparison to blood cells.
Institut Langevin, ESPCI ParisTech, CNRS UMR 7587, INSERM U979, Université Denis Diderot, Paris VII, 1 rue Jussieu 75005 Paris, France. jerome.gateau@gmail.com
Jérôme
J
Gateau
Nicolas
N
Taccoen
Mickaël
M
Tanter
Jean-François
JF
Aubry
D000818:Animals; D001769:Blood / Q000528:radiation effects*; D001774:Blood Chemical Analysis; D003627:Data Interpretation, Statistical; D005240:Feasibility Studies; D005740:Gases / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000528:radiation effects*; D019220:High-Energy Shock Waves; D066298:In Vitro Techniques; D008027:Light; D045423:Microbubbles; D012542:Scattering, Radiation; D013010:Sonication / Q000379:methods* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D013552:Swine
D005740:Gases
Blood; Bubble; Cavitation; Model-based analysis; Nucleation probability; Passive imaging; Ultra-fast imaging; Ultrasound detection