Modeling vascular injury due to shock-induced bubble collapse in lithotripsy

Abstract

Shock-induced collapse (SIC) of preexisting bubbles is investigated as a potential mechanism for vascular injury in shockwave lithotripsy (SWL). Preexisting bubbles exist under normal physiological conditions and grow larger and more numerous with ongoing treatment. We compute the three-dimensional SIC of a bubble using the multi-component Euler equations, and determine the resulting three-dimensional finite-strain deformation field in the material surrounding the collapsing bubble. We propose a criterion for vessel rupture and estimate the minimum bubble size, across clinical SWL pressures, which could result in rupture of microvasculature. Post-processing of the results and comparison to viscoelastic models for spherical bubble dynamics demonstrate that our results are insensitive to a wide range of estimated viscoelastic tissue properties during the collapse phase. During the jetting phase, however, viscoelastic effects are non-negligible. The minimum bubble size required to rupture a vessel is then estimated by adapting a previous model for the jet’s penetration depth as a function of tissue viscosity.