Lopez Ramos, Edwin C.

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    Effects of bubble rupture on the viability of red blood cells subjected to an resonant acoustic standing wave
    (2023-09-22) Lopez Ramos, Edwin C.; Cancelos Mancini, Silvina; College of Engineering; Diaz Rivera, Ruben E.; Latorre Esteves, Magda M.; Gutierrez, Jorge G.; Department of Mechanical Engineering; Zapata Medina, Rocio
    Medical devices employ acoustic waves as a noninvasive imaging procedure for real time observation and diagnosis of the human body and other non-transparent media. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) regulates the output parameters for these devices based on mechanical and thermal effects under ultrasonic operation. New technologies for the non-invasive detection and rupturing of bubbles employ resonant acoustic standing waves, a physical phenomenon not comprehensively studied by the FDA. This novel prospective treatment is focused on scenarios where bubble presence in the bloodstream poses a clinical risk. The method relies on generating resonant acoustic standing waves within a limb to non-invasively accelerate dissolution of bubbles present in the bloodstream via bubble rupture. The lack of research regarding the effects of resonant acoustic standing waves limits their application in medical scenarios. As such, the objective of this work consists of determining the effects of resonant acoustic waves and bubble rupture on red blood cell (RBC) viability. For this purpose, acoustic chambers outfitted with transducers were driven at resonant frequencies to rupture bubbles in distilled water, saline solution, and mammalian defibrinated blood. Experiments consisted of rupturing single bubbles below 900µm in diameter in an acoustic chamber and simplified swine thigh transducer assembly. This was done to assess at what electrical powers the transducer must be driven to generate pressure amplitudes that may effectively rupture bubbles in both an in vitro device and a physiologically relevant geometry. A final acoustic chamber was developed using the simplified swine thigh as a benchmark. Experiments with bubble populations were done in defibrinated sheep blood. The results show that single bubble rupture accounted for 56% of the total gas content dissolved after acoustic insonation for pressures above 60kPa. In the case of bubble population experiments, up to 85% of total gas content was dissolved for pressures of 153kPa. The assessment of the effects of both the resonant acoustic standing waves and bubble rupture on defibrinated blood resulted in CBC data within reference values of healthy cells.