OBJECTIVES This study was undertaken to optimize echocardiographic parameters for successful gene delivery to the heart and to extend the method from adenoviral to plasmid deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA). BACKGROUND We have previously shown that ultrasound-targeted microbubble destruction can direct tissue expression of adenoviral transgenes to the heart. The optimal echocardiographic parameters ...

Although promising results are achieved in ultrasound mediated drug delivery, its underlying biophysical mechanisms remain to be elucidated. Pore formation as well as endocytosis has been reported during ultrasound application. Due to the plethora of ultrasound settings used in literature, it is extremely difficult to draw conclusions on which mechanism is actually involved. To our knowledge, w...

Gas-filled microbubbles have the potential to become a unique MR contrast agent due to their magnetic susceptibility effect, biocompatibility and localized manipulation via ultrasound cavitation. In this study, two types of microbubbles, custom-made albumin-coated microbubbles (A-MB) and a commercially available lipid-based clinical ultrasound contrast agent (SonoVue), were investigated with in...

Micropore filters are used during extracorporeal circulation to prevent gaseous and solid particles from entering the patient's systemic circulation. Although these devices improve patient safety, limitations in current designs have prompted the development of a new concept in micropore filtration. A prototype of the new design was made using 40-μm filter screens and compared against four comme...

Surfactant stabilized microbubbles are widely used clinical contrast agents for ultrasound imaging. In this work, the light propagation through a turbid medium in the presence of microbubbles has been investigated. Through a series of experiments, it has been found that the optical attenuation is increased when the microbubbles in a turbid medium are insonified by ultrasound. Such microbubble e...

Site-specific perforation of the plasma membrane can be achieved through ultrasound-triggered cavitation of a single microbubble positioned adjacent to the cell. However, for this perforation approach (sonoporation), the recovery manoeuvres invoked by the cell are unknown. Here, we report new findings on how membrane blebbing can be a recovery manoeuvre that may take place in sonoporation episo...

The MDR1 gene encoding P-glycoprotein (P-gp) is an ATP-dependent drug efflux transporter and is related to drug resistance of yolk sac tumors. Drug resistence may be an important factor for the low efficiency of chemotherapy in the treatment of testicular tumors. P-gp, encoded by the MDR1 gene, is an ATP-binding cassette transporter. P-gp exhibits high expression in capillary endothelial cells ...

Arterial filters used in the extracorporeal circuit (ECC) have been shown to minimize cerebral injury by capturing particulate matter and microbubbles. We clinically use the Affinity NT oxygenator with an Affinity arterial filter attached ("Affinity system"). The new Affinity Fusion oxygenator ("Fusion") incorporates integrated arterial filtering. Our aim was to determine if the Fusion oxygenat...

In the past decade, microbubble contrast agents have evolved from a technical curiosity into a new clinical modality for ultrasound imaging. Among other achievements, microbubbles can be credited with the first real time images of myocardial perfusion that have been made by medical imaging. The agents themselves are now into their second generation, dominated by the use of perfluorocarbon gases...

Previous research has found that low-intensity ultrasound enhanced the lethal effect of gentamicin on planktonic E. coli. We aimed to further investigate whether microbubble-mediated low-intensity ultrasound could further enhance the antimicrobial efficacy of gentamicin. The planktonic E. coli (ATCC 25922) was distributed to four different interventions: control (GCON), microbubble only (GMB), ...