BACKGROUND Power Doppler is a new imaging method for detecting microbubbles during myocardial contrast echocardiography (MCE) based on the registration of variance resulting from ultrasound-induced nonlinear bubble behavior. We tested the hypothesis that power Doppler imaging can be used to quantify coronary stenoses. METHODS AND RESULTS Three left anterior descending (LAD) coronary stenoses ...

OBJECTIVE To evaluate the effectiveness of ultrasound and microbubble-liposome complex (MLC)-mediated delivery of siRNA and doxorubicin into prostate cancer cells and its therapeutic capabilities both in vitro and in vivo. MATERIALS AND METHODS Microbubble-liposome complexes conjugated with anti-human epidermal growth factor receptor type 2 (Her2) antibodies were developed to target human pro...

OBJECTIVE The goal of the study was to determine whether microbubble charge influences the microvascular retention of microbubble contrast agents. BACKGROUND Interactions between serum proteins and lipid membranes are greater with anionic compared with neutral membranes. These interactions may influence the microvascular behavior of anionic lipid microbubbles. METHODS Intravital microscopy ...

OBJECTIVES We sought to determine if intravenously injected microbubbles would be retained by the carotid arteries (CAs) in the setting of endothelial dysfunction (ED) using a linear transducer equipped with a low mechanical index pulse sequence scheme (PSS). BACKGROUND Microbubbles normally pass freely through large and small vessels but are retained in regions with ED. New high-frequency lo...

BACKGROUND Cerebral diffusion-weighted MRI lesions have been observed after catheter ablation of atrial fibrillation. We hypothesized that conditions predisposing to microembolization could be identified using a porcine model of pulmonary vein ablation and an extracorporeal circulation loop. METHODS AND RESULTS Ablations of the pulmonary veins were performed in 18 swine with echo monitoring. ...

BACKGROUND Noninvasive and tissue-specific technologies of gene transfection would be valuable in clinical gene therapy. This present study was designed to determine whether it could enhance gene transfection in vivo by the combination of ultrasound-targeted microbubble destruction (UTMD) with polyethylenimine (PEI) in tumor xenografts, and illuminate the effects of gene silencing and apoptosis...

Controlling microbubble dynamics to produce desirable biomedical outcomes when and where necessary and avoid deleterious effects requires advanced knowledge, which can be achieved only through a combination of experimental and numerical/analytical techniques. The present communication presents a multi-physics approach to study the dynamics combining viscous- in-viscid effects, liquid and struct...