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Effects of microchannel confinement on acoustic vaporisation of ultrasound phase change contrast agents

The sub-micron phase change contrast agent (PCCA) composed of a perfluorocarbon liquid core can be activated into gaseous state and form stable echogenic microbubbles for contrast-enhanced ultrasound imaging. It has shown great promise in imaging microvasculature, tumour microenvironment, and cancer cells. Although PCCAs have been extensively studied for different diagnostic and therapeutic applications, the effect of biologically geometrical confinement on the acoustic vaporisation of PCCAs is still not clear. We have investigated the difference in PCCA-produced ultrasound contrast enhancement after acoustic activation with and without a microvessel confinement on a microchannel phantom. The experimental results indicated more than one-order of magnitude less acoustic vaporisation in a microchannel than that in a free environment taking into account the attenuation effect of the vessel on the microbubble scattering. This may provide an improved understanding in the applications of PCCAs in vivo.