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Microbubbles shelled with soft materials are expected to find applications as ultrasound-sensitive drug delivery systems, including through sonoporation. Microbubbles with specific vibrational characteristics and long intravascular persistence are required for clinical uses. To achieve this aim, the kinetics of the microbubble shell components at the gas/liquid interface while being subjected to ultrasound need to be better understood. This paper investigates the vibration characteristics and lifetime of single microbubbles coated with a poloxamer surfactant, Pluronic F-68, and 1,2-dimyristoyl

The numerous applications of microbubbles in food science and medicine call for a better understanding and control of the effects of the properties of their shells on their stability and ability to resonate at chosen frequencies when submitted to an ultrasound field. We have investigated both millimetric and micrometric bubbles stabilized by an amphiphilic block copolymer, Poloxamer 188 (e.g., Pluronic F-68). Although Pluronic F-68 is routinely being used as a dispersing and foaming agent to facilitate phospholipid-based microbubble preparation, it has never been studied as a shell component per se. First, we investigated the adsorption kinetics of Pluronic F-68 at the interface between water and air, or air saturated with vapors of perfluorohexane (F-hexane), using bubble profile tensiometry analysis. F-Hexane was found to strongly accelerate the adsorption of Pluronic F-68 (at low concentrations) and decrease the interfacial tension values at equilibrium (at all concentrations). We also found that relatively stable microbubbles could unexpectedly be prepared from Pluronic F-68 in the absence of any other surfactant, but only when F-hexane was present. These bubbles showed an only limited volume increase over ∼3 h, while a 10-fold increase in size occurred within 200 s in the absence of a fluorocarbon. Remarkably, their deflation rate decreased when the Pluronic F-68 concentration decreased, suggesting that bubbles with semidilute copolymer coverage are more stable than those more densely covered by copolymer brushes. Single-bubble experiments using laser Doppler vibratometry showed that, by contrast with other surfactant-coated microbubbles, the resonance radius of the Pluronic F-68-coated microbubbles was lower than that of naked microbubbles, meaning that they are less elastic. It was also found that the bubble's vibrational displacement amplitude decreased substantially when the microbubbles were covered with Pluronic F-68, an effect that was further amplified by F-hexane.

Hollow microcapsules have been considered for potential applications as drug or gene carriers. This paper describes an investigation into the mechanical properties of microcapsules with a biocompatible polylactic acid (PLA) shell that can be destroyed using ultrasound irradiation. The microcapsules had a radius of 1 to 25 μm and a shell thickness of 100 nm to 3 μm, and their response to ultrasound pulses with a center frequency of 700 kHz to 2 MHz was investigated. It was found that approximately 50% of capsules with a radius of 20 μm were destroyed using pulses with a pressure amplitude of 50 kPa and a frequency of 700 kHz, which is close to the resonance frequency of the capsules.

Double-strand breaks in giant DNA molecules caused by continuous ultrasound at a frequency of 30 kHz were quantified using single-molecule observations. The effect of the sound pressure was investigated by placing a tube containing DNA solution under an anti-node of the acoustic standing wave. Almost no breaks occurred below the threshold sound pressure. Above this threshold, the probability of strand breaks increased linearly with sound pressure. Acoustic cavitation detected with a hydrophone strongly suggests that the main mechanism of the DNA strand break is via cavitation generated by the ultrasound.

Hollow microcapsules have been considered for potential application as drug or gene carriers. Targeted drug or gene release to tumor vascular can be achieved by destroying the capsules by high-intensity ultrasound. This report investigates fabrication of microcapsules having biocompatible polylactic acid (PLA) shell and the mechanical property for the destruction under ultrasound irradiation. The PLA hollow microcapsules with the diameter of 1 to 35 μm were fabricated by double emulsion method. Red fluorescent dye which is substitute for drug was enclosed into the capsules. The capsules have trilaminar structure. Inner air is surrounded by red fluorescent, and the PLA shell encloses them. Shell thickness of capsules was distributed from 100 nm to 3 μm. Destruction of the fabricated capsules was investigated by using ultrasound pulse with the center frequencies from 500 kHz to 2 MHz. The behavior of capsule was observed by using an optical microscope under ultrasound irradiation. The frequency dependence of the capsule destruction was investigated and 35% of the capsules with the resonance size was destroyed with 400 kPa at 700 kHz. The capsule shell was ruptured by the ultrasound, and then the inner dye was released; the dye was completely released for 120 seconds under ultrasound irradiation.