Microbubbles

Microbubbles are bubbles smaller than one millimetre in diameter, but larger than one micrometre. They have widespread application in industry, life science, and medicine. The composition of the bubble shell and filling material determine important design features such as buoyancy, crush strength, thermal conductivity, and acoustic properties.

They are used in medical diagnostics as a contrast agent for ultrasound imaging.[1] The gas-filled, e.g. air or perfluorocarbon, microbubbles oscillate and vibrate when a sonic energy field is applied and may reflect ultrasound waves. This distinguishes the microbubbles from surrounding tissues. In practice, because gas bubbles in liquid lack stability and would therefore quickly dissolve, microbubbles must be encapsulated with a solid shell. The shell is made from either a lipid or a protein such as Optison microbubbles which consist of perfluoropropane gas encapsulated by a serum albumin shell.

Microbubbles may be used for drug delivery,[2] biofilm removal,[3] membrane cleaning[4]/biofilm control and water/waste water treatment purposes.[5] They are also produced by the movement of a ship’s hull through water, creating a bubble layer; this may interfere with the use of sonar because of the tendency of the layer to absorb or reflect sound waves.[6]

References

  1. ↑ Blomley, Martin J K; Cooke, Jennifer C; Unger, Evan C; Monaghan, Mark J; Cosgrove, David O (2001). "Science, medicine, and the future: Microbubble contrast agents: A new era in ultrasound". BMJ. 322 (7296): 1222–5. doi:10.1136/bmj.322.7296.1222. PMC 1120332Freely accessible. PMID 11358777.
  2. ↑ Sirsi, Shashank; Borden, Mark (2009). "Microbubble compositions, properties and biomedical applications". Bubble Science, Engineering & Technology. 1 (1–2): 3–17. doi:10.1179/175889709X446507. PMC 2889676Freely accessible. PMID 20574549.
  3. ↑ Mukumoto, Mio; Ohshima, Tomoko; Ozaki, Miwa; Konishi, Hirokazu; Maeda, Nobuko; Nakamura, Yoshiki (2012). "Effect of microbubbled water on the removal of a biofilm attached to orthodontic appliances — an in vitro study". Dental Materials Journal. 31 (5): 821–7. doi:10.4012/dmj.2012-091. PMID 23037846.
  4. ↑ Agarwal, Ashutosh; Ng, Wun Jern; Liu, Yu, (2012). "Cleaning of biologically fouled membranes with self-collapsing microbubbles". Biofouling 29 (1): 69-76. doi:10.1080/08927014.2012.746319
  5. ↑ Agarwal, Ashutosh; Ng, Wun Jern; Liu, Yu (2011). "Principle and applications of microbubble and nanobubble technology for water treatment". Chemosphere. 84 (9): 1175–80. doi:10.1016/j.chemosphere.2011.05.054. PMID 21689840.
  6. ↑ Griffiths, Brian; Sabto, Michele (25 June 2012). "Quiet on board please: science underway". ECOS.

External links

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