Acoustic Cavitation Bubbles Research Articles

Simultaneous observation of cavitation bubbles generated in biological tissue by high-speed optical and acoustic imaging methods

Acoustic cavitation bubbles are useful for enhancing the heating effect in high-intensity focused ultrasound (HIFU) treatment. Many studies were conducted to investigate the behavior of such bubbles in tissue-mimicking materials, such as a transparent gel phantom; however, the detailed behavior in tissue was still unclear owing to the difficulty in optical observation. In this study, a new biological phantom was developed to observe cavitation bubbles generated in an optically shallow area of tissue. Two imaging methods, high-speed photography using light scattering and high-speed ultrasonic imaging, were used for detecting the behavior of the bubbles simultaneously. The results agreed well with each other for the area of bubble formation and the temporal change in the region of bubbles, suggesting that both methods are useful for visualizing the bubbles.

Dependence of cavitation, chemical effect, and mechanical effect thresholds on ultrasonic frequency

Cavitation, chemical effect, and mechanical effect thresholds were investigated in wide frequency ranges from 22 to 4880kHz. Each threshold was measured in terms of sound pressure at fundamental frequency. Broadband noise emitted from acoustic cavitation bubbles was detected by a hydrophone to determine the cavitation threshold. Potassium iodide oxidation caused by acoustic cavitation was used to quantify the chemical effect threshold. The ultrasonic erosion of aluminum foil was conducted to estimate the mechanical effect threshold. The cavitation, chemical effect, and mechanical effect thresholds increased with increasing frequency. The chemical effect threshold was close to the cavitation threshold for all frequencies. At low frequency below 98kHz, the mechanical effect threshold was nearly equal to the cavitation threshold. However, the mechanical effect threshold was greatly higher than the cavitation threshold at high frequency. In addition, the thresholds of the second harmonic and the first ultraharmonic signals were measured to detect bubble occurrence. The threshold of the second harmonic approximated to the cavitation threshold below 1000kHz. On the other hand, the threshold of the first ultraharmonic was higher than the cavitation threshold below 98kHz and near to the cavitation threshold at high frequency.

Computational study of state equation effect on single acoustic cavitation bubble’s phenomenon

Many models have been established to study the evolution of the bubble dynamics and chemical kinetics within a single acoustic cavitation bubble during its oscillation. The content of the bubble is a gas medium that generates the evolution of a chemical mechanism governed by the internal bubble conditions. These gases are described by a state equation, linking the pressure to the volume, temperature and species amounts, and influencing simultaneously the dynamical, the thermal and the mass variation in the cavitation bubble. The choice of the state equation to apply has then a non-neglected effect on the obtained results. In this paper, a comparative study was conducted through two numerical models based on the same assumptions and the same scheme of chemical reactions, except that the first one uses the ideal gas equation to describe the state of the species, while the second one uses the Van der Waals equation. It was found that though the dynamic of the bubble is not widely affected, the pressure and temperature range are significantly increased when passing from an ideal gas model to a real one. The amounts of chemical products are consequently raised to approximately the double. This observation was more significant for temperature and pressure at low frequency and high acoustic amplitude, while it is noticed that passing from ideal gas based approach to the Van der Waals one increases the free radicals amount mainly under high frequencies. When taking the results of the second model as reference, the relative difference between both results reaches about 60% for maximum attained temperature and 100% for both pressure and free radicals production.

Synchrotron x-ray imaging of acoustic cavitation bubbles induced by acoustic excitation

The cavitation induced by acoustic excitation has been widely applied in various biomedical applications because cavitation bubbles can enhance the exchanges of mass and energy. In order to minimize the hazardous effects of the induced cavitation, it is essential to understand the spatial distribution of cavitation bubbles. The spatial distribution of cavitation bubbles visualized by the synchrotron x-ray imaging technique is compared to that obtained with a conventional x-ray tube. Cavitation bubbles with high density in the region close to the tip of the probe are visualized using the synchrotron x-ray imaging technique, however, the spatial distribution of cavitation bubbles in the whole ultrasound field is not detected. In this study, the effects of the ultrasound power of acoustic excitation and working medium on the shape and density of the induced cavitation bubbles are examined. As a result, the synchrotron x-ray imaging technique is useful for visualizing spatial distributions of cavitation bubbles, and it could be used for optimizing the operation conditions of acoustic cavitation.

Doxorubicin Delivery into Tumor Cells by Stable Cavitation without Contrast Agents.

Doxorubicin, alone or in combination with other anticancer agents, is one of the most widely used chemotherapeutic agents and is administered in a wide range of cancers. However, the use of doxorubicin is limited due to its potential serious adverse reactions. Previous studies have established the ability of high intensity focused ultrasound (HIFU) in combination with various contrast agents to increase intracellular doxorubicin delivery in a targeted and noninvasive manner. In this study, we developed a new sonoporation device generating and monitoring acoustic cavitation bubbles without any addition of contrast agents. The device was used to potentiate the delivery of active doxorubicin into both adherent and suspended cell lines. Combining doxorubicin with ultrasound resulted in a significant enhancement of doxorubicin intracellular delivery and a decrease in cell viability at 48 and 72 h, in comparison to doxorubicin alone. More importantly and unlike previous investigations, our procedure does not require the addition of contrast agents to generate acoustic cavitation and to achieve high levels of doxorubicin delivery. The successful translation of this approach for an in vivo application may allow a significant reduction in the dosage and the adverse effects of doxorubicin therapy in patients.

Sonoluminescence: Light emission from acoustic cavitation bubble

Sonoluminescence: Light emission from acoustic cavitation bubble

Modeling and experimental analysis of acoustic cavitation bubble clouds for burst-wave lithotripsy

Understanding the dynamics of cavitation bubble clouds formed inside a human body is critical for the design of burst-wave lithotripsy (BWL), a newly proposed method that uses focused ultrasound pulses with amplitude of O(10) MPa and frequency of O(0.1) MHz to fragment kidney stones. We present modeling and three-dimensional direct numerical simulations of interactions between bubble clouds and ultrasound pulses in water. We study two configurations: isolated clouds in a free field, and clouds near a rigid surface. In the modeling, we solve for the bubble radius evolution and continuous flow field using a WENO-based compressible flow solver. In the solver, Lagrangian bubbles are coupled with the continuous phase, defined on an Eulerian grid, at the sub-grid scale using volume averaging techniques. Correlations between the initial void fraction and the maximum collapse pressure in the cloud are discussed. We demonstrate acoustic imaging of the bubbles by post-processing simulated pressure signals at particular sensor locations indicating waves scattered by the clouds. Finally, we compare the simulation results with experimental results including high-speed imaging and hydrophone measurements. The time evolution of the cloud void fraction and the scattered acoustic field in the simulation agree with the experimental results. [Funding supported by NIH 2P01-DK043881.]

Velocity analysis for collapsing cavitation bubble near a rigid wall under an ultrasound field

Acoustic cavitation bubble and its production extreme physics such as shockwaves and micro-jets on a solid wall have attracted great interest in the application of ultrasound (e.g., ultrasonic medical, ultrasonic cleaning, and ultrasonic machining). However, the prediction and control of micro-jets induced by ultrasonic field have been a very challenging work, due to the complicated mechanisms of collapsing of cavitation bubbles. In order to determine the interaction of micro-jet with the key parameters that influence the acoustic cavitation, the dynamics of bubble growth and collapse near a rigid boundary in water is investigated. Using the method of mirror image, a revised bubble dynamics equation in radial oscillation for a bubble near a plane rigid wall is derived from the double-bubble equation (the Doinikov equation). In the present equation, the gas inside the bubble is assumed to be the van der Waals gas, and the weak compressibility of the liquid is also assumed. The revised equation is then employed to simulate numerically the dynamical behaviors of a bubble, using the fourth-order Runge-Kutta method with variable step size adaptive control. Numerical simulations of the motion characteristics and collapse velocities of a bubble near a rigid boundary or a free boundary have been performed, under various conditions of initial bubble radius, spacing between the center of the bubble and the wall, acoustic pressure and ultrasonic frequency, in order to explain the effects of these key parameters on the acoustic cavitation intensity. It is shown that, compared with free boundary, the effect of rigid boundary on the bubble plays a significant role in suppressing the bubble oscillation. The intensity of bubble collapsing is reduced as the increase of the initial bubble radius and ultrasonic frequency, and increased by enlarging the spacing between the center of the bubble and the wall. There exists an optimal acoustic pressure (almost 3.5 times bigger than the ambient pressure), at which the collapse of a bubble near a rigid wall can be the most violent. Furthermore, the relationship between the collapse velocity of a bubble near a rigid boundary and its micro-jet is described. Results demonstrate that the velocity of micro-jet is dependent on that of bubble collapse, and it can be controlled by adjusting the velocity of bubble collapse indirectly. Calculation results of the micro-jet in this paper are compared with some numerical and experimental results given in the literature and good apparent trends between them are obtained. These results will give important implications for further understanding the dynamics of cavitation bubble on a solid wall induced by the ultrasonic field and its different requirements in engineering applications.

Sono-assembly of nanostructures via tyrosine–tyrosine coupling reactions at the interface of acoustic cavitation bubbles

The reactive and oscillating surface of cavitation microbubbles acts as a catalytic binding site for the coupling of amphiphilic biomolecules.

The penetration of acoustic cavitation bubbles into micrometer-scale cavities

The penetration of acoustically induced cavitation bubbles in micrometer-scale cavities is investigated experimentally by means of high-speed photography and acoustic measurements. Micrometer-scale cavities of different dimensions (width=40μm, 80μm, 10mm and depth=50μm) are designed to replicate the cross section of microvias in a PCB. The aim here is to present a method for enhancing mass transfer due to the penetration of bubbles in such narrow geometries under the action of ultrasound. The micrometer-scale cavities are placed in a test-cell filled with water and subjected to an ultrasound excitation at 75kHz. A cavitation bubble cluster is generated at the mouth of the cavity which acts as a continuous source of bubbles that penetrate into the cavity. The radial oscillation characteristics and translation of these bubbles are investigated in detail here. It is observed that the bubbles arrange themselves into streamer-like structures inside the cavity. Parameters such as bubble population and size distribution and their correlation with the phase of the incident ultrasound radiation are investigated in detail here. This provides a valuable insight into the dynamics of bubbles in narrow confined spaces. Mass transfer investigations show that fresh liquid can be continuously introduced in the cavities under the action of ultrasound. Our findings may have important consequences in optimizing the filling processes for microvias with high aspect ratios.

Modeling and experimental analysis of acoustic cavitation bubbles for Burst Wave Lithotripsy

Cavitation bubbles initiated by focused ultrasound waves are investigated through experiments and modeling. Pulses of focused ultrasound with a frequency of 335 kHz and a peak negative pressure of 8 MPa is generated in a water tank by a piezoelectric transducer to initiate cavitation. The pressure field is modeled by solving the Euler equations and used to simulate single bubble oscillation. The characteristics of cavitation bubbles observed by highspeed photography qualitatively agree with the simulation results. Finally, bubble clouds are captured using acoustic B-mode imaging that works synchronized with high-speed photography.

First Iterative Solution of the Thermal Behaviour of Acoustic Cavitation Bubbles in the Uniform Pressure Approximation

The thermal behaviour of a spherical gas bubble in a liquid driven by an acoustic pressure is investigated in the uniform pressure approximation by employing an iterative method to solve the energy balance equations between the gas bubble and the surrounding liquid for the temperature distribution and the gas pressure inside the bubble. It is shown that the first iterative solution leads to the first order law of the gas pressure as a polytropic power law of the bubble wall temperature and of the bubble radius, with the polytropic index given as an explicit function of the isentropic exponent of the gas. The resulting first order law of the gas pressure reduces to the classical isothermal and adiabatic laws in the appropriate limits. The first order gas pressure law is then applied to an acoustically driven cavitation bubble by solving the Rayleigh-Plesset equation. Results obtained show that the bubble wall temperature pulsations during collapse and rebound can become a few orders of magnitude higher than the bulk liquid temperature.

Quantitative assessment of reactive oxygen sonochemically generated by cavitation bubbles

Acoustic cavitation bubbles can induce not only a thermal bioeffect but also a chemical bioeffect. When cavitation bubbles collapse and oscillate violently, they produce reactive oxygen species (ROS) that cause irreversible changes to the tissue. A sonosensitizer can promote such ROS generation. A treatment method using a sonosensitizer is called sonodynamic treatment. Rose bengal (RB) is one of the sonosensitizers whose in vivo and in vitro studies have been reported. In sonodynamic treatment, it is important to produce ROS at a high efficiency. For the efficient generation of ROS, a triggered high-intensity focused ultrasound (HIFU) sequence has been proposed. In this study, cavitation bubbles were generated in a chamber where RB solution was sealed, and a high-speed camera captured the behavior of these cavitation bubbles. The amount of ROS was also quantified by a potassium iodide (KI) method and compared with high-speed camera pictures to investigate the effectiveness of the triggered HIFU sequence. As a result, ROS could be obtained efficiently by this sequence.

Observation of cavitation bubbles and acoustic streaming in high intensity ultrasound fields

We observed the behavior of acoustic cavitation by sonochemical luminescence and ultrasound B-mode imaging with ultrasound diagnostic equipment in a standing-wave ultrasound field and focused ultrasound field. Furthermore, in order to investigate the influence of acoustic streaming on acoustic cavitation bubbles, we performed flow analysis of the sound field using particle image velocimetry. We found that acoustic cavitation bubbles are stirred by circulating acoustic streaming and local vortexes occurring in the water tank of the standing-wave ultrasound exposure system. We considered that the acoustic cavitation bubbles are carried away by acoustic streaming due to the high ultrasound pressure in the focused ultrasound field.

Physical and chemical effects of acoustic cavitation in selected ultrasonic cleaning applications

Acoustic cavitation in a liquid medium generates several physical and chemical effects. The oscillation and collapse of cavitation bubbles, driven at low ultrasonic frequencies (e.g., 20kHz), can generate strong shear forces, microjets, microstreaming and shockwaves. Such strong physical forces have been used in cleaning and flux improvement of ultrafiltration processes. These physical effects have also been shown to deactivate pathogens. The efficiency of deactivation of pathogens is not only dependent on ultrasonic experimental parameters, but also on the properties of the pathogens themselves. Bacteria with thick shell wall are found to be resistant to ultrasonic deactivation process. Some evidence does suggest that the chemical effects (radicals) of acoustic cavitation are also effective in deactivating pathogens. Another aspect of cleaning, namely, purification of water contaminated with organic and inorganic pollutants, has also been discussed in detail. Strong oxidising agents produced within acoustic cavitation bubbles could be used to degrade organic pollutants and convert toxic inorganic pollutants to less harmful substances. The effect of ultrasonic frequency and surface activity of solutes on the sonochemical degradation efficiency has also been discussed in this overview.

High-speed visualization of acoustically excited cavitation bubbles in a cluster near a rigid boundary

In the present work, high-speed visualizations at one million frames/s have been used to study the oscillation characteristics of acoustic cavitation bubbles. The bubbles are generated by acoustic cavitation using an ultrasound transducer with an excitation frequency of 75 kHz near a rigid surface and the medium used is deionized water. The cavitation bubbles tend to collect in clusters near solid boundaries, where they are visualized using a high-speed camera. The collective oscillations give rise to many interesting phenomena like bubble collapse, coalescence, fragmentation and bubble translation. The image sequences provided here contribute to the better understanding of the entire lifecycle of acoustic cavitation bubbles.

High speed observation of HIFU-induced cavitation cloud near curved rigid boundaries

This paper focuses on the experimental study of the influence of surface curvature to the behaviour of HIFU-induced cavitation cloud. A Q-switched ruby pulse laser is used to induce cavitation nuclei in deionized water. A piezoelectric ultrasonic transducer (1.7 MHz) provides a focused ultrasound field to inspire the nucleus to cavitation cloud. A PZT probe type hydrophone is applied for measuring the HIFU sound field. It was observed that the motion of cavitation cloud located near the boundary is significantly influenced by the distance between cloud and boundary, as well as the curvature of the boundary. The curvature was defined by parameters λ and ξ. Convex boundary, concave boundary, and flat boundary correspond to ξ <1, ξ >1 and ξ = 1, respectively. Different behaviours of the cloud, including the migration of the cloud, the characteristics of oscillation, etc., were observed under different boundary curvatures by high-speed photography. Sonoluminescence of the acoustic cavitation bubble clouds were also studied to illustrate the characteristics of acoustic streaming.

Surfactant-free emulsification in microfluidics using strongly oscillating bubbles

In this study, two immiscible liquids in a microfluidics channel has been successfully emulsified by acoustic cavitation bubbles. These bubbles are generated by the attached piezo transducers which are driven to oscillate at resonant frequency of the system (about 100 kHz) [1, 2]. The bubbles oscillate and induce strong mixing in the microchamber. They induce the rupture of the liquid thin layer along the bubble surface due to the high shear stress and fast liquid jetting at the interface. Also, they cause the big droplets to fragment into small droplets. Both water-in-oil and oil-in-water emulsions with viscosity ratio up to 1000 have been produced using this method without the application of surfactant. The system is highly efficient as submicron monodisperse emulsions (especially for water-in-oil emulsion) could be created within milliseconds. It is found that with a longer ultrasound exposure, the size of the droplets in the emulsions decreases, and the uniformity of the emulsion increases. Reference: [1] Tandiono, SW Ohl et al., “Creation of cavitation activity in a microfluidics device through acoustically driven capillary waves,” Lab Chip 10, 1848–1855 (2010). [2] Tandiono, SW Ohl et al., “Sonochemistry and sonoluminescence in microfluidics,” Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 108(15), 5996–5998 (2011).

Unsteady translation and repetitive jetting of acoustic cavitation bubbles.

High-speed recordings reveal peculiar details of the oscillation and translation behavior of cavitation bubbles in the vicinity of an ultrasonic horn tip driven at 20 kHz. In particular, a forward jump during collapse that is due to the rapid reduction of virtual mass is observed. Furthermore, frequently a jetting in the translation direction during the collapse phase is resolved. In spite of strong aspherical deformations and frequent splitting, these bubbles survive the jetting collapse, and they rebound recollecting fragments. Because of incomplete restoration of the spherical shape within the following driving period, higher periodic volume oscillations can occur. This is recognized as a yet unknown source of subharmonic acoustic emission by cavitation bubbles. Numerical modeling can capture the essentials of the unsteady translation.

Theoretical Procedure for the Characterization of Acoustic Cavitation Bubbles

Theoretical Procedure for the Characterization of Acoustic Cavitation Bubbles