Acoustic Measurements of Bubbles in Biological Tissue

An acoustic based instrument, the ABS ACOUSTIC BUBBLE SPECTROMETER®©, was investigated for the detection and quantification of bubbles in biological media. These include viscoelastic media (blood), materials of varying density (bone in tissue), non-homogenous distribution of bubbles (intravenous bubbly flow), and bubbles migrating in tissue (decompression sickness, DCS). The performance of the ABS was demonstrated in a series of laboratory experiments. Validation of the code was performed using a viscoelastic polymer solution, Polyox, in which the bubble size distribution and void fraction were determined by ABS measurements and with image analysis of high speed videos. These tests showed that the accuracy of the ABS was not significantly affected by viscoelasticity for bubbles smaller than 200 microns. The ABS detection and measurement of non-homogenous bubble distributions was demonstrated using a bubbly flow through a simulated vein surrounded by tissue. The scatter of acoustic signals due to bones in the acoustic pathway was also investigated. These in-vitro experiments were done using meat (beef) as a tissue simulant. Decompression experiments were done using beef meat which was held underwater at high pressure (9.9 atm.) then rapidly decompressed. Bubble size distributions and void fraction calculations in these experiments were then validated using image analysis of high speed video. In addition, preliminary experiments were performed with the US Navy Medical Research Center, demonstrating the utility of the modified ABS system in detecting the evolution of bubbles in swine undergoing decompression sickness (DCS). These results indicate that the ABS may be used to detect and quantify the evolution of bubbles in-vivo and aid in the monitoring of DCS