Soft material perforation via double-bubble laser-induced cavitation microjets

Abstract

The resulting jet of two interacting laser-induced cavitation bubbles is optimized and studied as a technique for micro-scale targeting of soft materials. High controllability of double-bubble microjets can make such configurations favorable over single bubbles for applications where risk of ablation or thermal damage should be minimized such as in soft biological structures. In this study, double-bubble jets are directed toward an agar gel-based skin phantom to explore the application of micro-scale injection and toward a soft paraffin to quantify the targeting effectiveness of double-bubble over single-bubble jetting. The sharp elongation during the double-bubble process leads to fast, focused jets reaching average magnitudes of Ujet = 87.6 ± 9.9 m/s. When directed to agar, the penetration length and injected volume increase at ∼250 μm and 5 nl per subsequent jets. Such values are achieved without the use of fabricated micro-nozzles seen in existing needle-free laser injection systems. In soft paraffin, double-bubble jetting produces the same penetration length as single-bubble jetting, but with ∼45% reduction in damage area at a 3× greater target distance. Thus, double-bubble jetting can achieve smaller impact areas and greater target distances, potentially reducing collateral thermal damage and effects of strong shockwave pressures.