Quantitative Guidelines for the Prediction of Ultrasound Contrast Agent Destruction During Injection

Experiments and theory were undertaken on the destruction of ultrasound contrast-agent microbubbles on needle injection, with the aim of predicting agent loss during in-vivo studies. Agents were expelled through a variety of syringe and needle combinations, subjecting the microbubbles to a range of pressure-drops. Imaging of the bubbles identified cases where bubbles were destroyed and the extent of destruction. Fluid-dynamical calculations determined the pressure-drop for each syringe and needle combination. It was found that agent destruction occurred at a critical pressure-drop that depended only on the type of microbubble. Protein-shelled microbubbles (sonicated bovine serum albumin) were virtually all destroyed above their critical pressure-drop of 109 +/- 7 kPa. Two types of lipid-shelled microbubbles were found to have a pressure-drop threshold above which more than 50% of the microbubbles were destroyed. The commercial lipid-shelled agent Definity was found to have a critical pressure-drop for destruction of 230 +/- 10 kPa, and for a previously-published lipid-shelled agent, it was 150 +/- 40 kPa. It is recommended that attention to the predictions of a simple formula could preclude unnecessary destruction of microbubble contrast agents during in vivo injections. This approach may also preclude undesirable release of drug or gene payloads in targeted microbubble therapies. Example values of appropriate injection rates for various agents and conditions are given.