Tri-modality cavitation mapping in shock wave lithotripsy

Abstract

Shock wave lithotripsy (SWL) has been widely used for non-invasive treatment of kidney stones. Cavitation plays an important role in stone fragmentation, yet it may also contribute to renal injury during SWL. It is therefore crucial to determine the spatiotemporal distributions of cavitation activities to maximize stone fragmentation while minimizing tissue injury. Traditional cavitation detection methods include high-speed optical imaging, active cavitation mapping (ACM), and passive cavitation mapping (PCM). While each of the three methods provides unique information about the dynamics of the bubbles, PCM has most practical applications in biological tissues. To image the dynamics of cavitation bubble collapse, we previously developed a sliding-window PCM (SW-PCM) method to identify each bubble collapse with high temporal and spatial resolution. In this work, to further validate and optimize the SW-PCM method, we have developed tri-modality cavitation imaging that includes three-dimensional high-speed optical imaging, ACM, and PCM seamlessly integrated in a single system. Using the tri-modality system, we imaged and analyzed laser-induced single cavitation bubbles in both free field and constricted space and shock wave-induced cavitation clusters. Collectively, our results have demonstrated the high reliability and spatial-temporal accuracy of the SW-PCM approach, which paves the way for the future in vivo applications on large animals and humans in SWL.