Characterization of the dynamic activities of a population of microbubbles driven by pulsed ultrasound exposure in sonoporation.

ABSTRACT: Ultrasound-driven microbubble activities have been exploited to transiently disrupt the cell membrane (sonoporation) for non-viral intracellular drug delivery and gene transfection both in vivo and in vitro. In this study, we investigated the dynamic behaviors of a population of microbubbles exposed to pulsed ultrasound and their impact on adherent cells in terms of intracellular delivery and cell viability. By systematically analyzing the bubble activities at time scales relevant to pulsed ultrasound exposure, we identified two quantification parameters that categorize the diverse bubble activities subjected to various ultrasound conditions into three characteristic behaviors: stable cavitation/aggregation (type I), growth/coalescence and translation (type II) and localized inertial cavit

SUBMITTER: Fan Z 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4011999 | biostudies-literature | 2014 Jun

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature