Dynamic interactions between contrast agent microbubbles: High speed camera observations and simulation results

The efficacy of coated microbubbles as contrast agents for ultrasound imaging has been well established over the past two decades. More recently, their use as carriers for targeted drug delivery has also become an active area of research. However, the behaviour of microbubbles in an ultrasound field is by no means fully understood. For example, the dynamic interactions between microbubbles have frequently been neglected when considering contrast agent suspensions. In this investigation, high speed camera observations of a commercial contrast agent (SonoVue®) were made under controlled and calibrated acoustic exposure conditions (single 4 cycle (FWHM) Gaussian pulse with 0.5 MHz centre frequency and peak negative pressure