Relationship between salinity of the liquid and shell composition on the resonance frequency of the C3F8 lipid coated microbubbles

Abstract

Lipid-coated microbubbles (MBs) are used in contrast-enhanced ultrasound (CEUS) imaging and MB enhanced therapeutic ultrasound (US). Understanding the MB behavior and the influence of the surrounding medium on its response to the US is necessary to select the suitable US exposure parameters. The MB lipid coating is often charged, however the influence of the ions in the medium on MB behavior is not fully understood. In this work, the influence of the medium salinity on the pressure-dependent MB behavior is investigated for the first time. MBs of different lipid shell compositions are size isolated to achieve the same size distribution. The MBs linear and pressure-dependent attenuation are measured in deionized water, PBS 1×, PBS 2×, and PBS 10× using a system of aligned PVDF 100% bandwidth transducers with a center frequency of 10 MHz and exposures with peak to peak pressure range of 3–140 kPa. With increasing salinity, the linear resonance frequency decreases up to 50% for conventional lipid shell compositions, and the pressure dependence of the resonance frequency is inhibited. By modifying the shell PEG ratio, the salinity effects can significantly be altered. Moreover, the nonlinear pressure-dependent resonance frequency is restored with applications to increased CEUS.