Spatial distribution of sonoluminescence and sonochemiluminescence generated by cavitation bubbles in 1.2 MHz focused ultrasound field

An intensified charge coupled device (ICCD) camera was used to observe the spatial distribution of sonoluminescence (SL) and sonochemiluminescence (SCL) generated by cavitation bubbles in a 1.2 MHz focused ultrasound (FU) field in order to investigate the mechanisms of acoustic cavitation under different sonication conditions for FU therapeutic applications.It was found that SL emissions were located in the post-focal region. When the intensity of SL and SCL increased as the power rose, the growth of SCL was much higher than that of SL. In the post-focal region, the SCL emissions moved along specific paths and formed branch-like streamers. At the beginning of the ultrasound irradiation, cavitation bubbles generated SCL in both the pre-focal and the post-focal region. When the electrical power or the sonication time increased, the SCL in the post-focal region increased and became higher than that in the pre-focal region. The intensity of SCL in the focal region is usually the weakest because of “oversaturation”.The spatial distribution of SCL near a tissue boundary differed from that obtained in free fields. It organized into special structures under different acoustic amplitudes. When the electrical power was relatively low, the SCL emission was conical shape which suggested a standing wave formation at the tissue-fluid boundary. When the electrical power exceeded a certain threshold, only a bright spot could be captured in the focus. The cavitation bubbles which centralized in the focus concentrated energy and hindered the formation of standing waves. With rising electrical power at high levels, besides a bright spot in the focus, there were some irregular light spots in pre-focal region, which indicated some cavitation bubbles or small bubble clusters achieved the threshold of SCL and induced the reaction with the luminol solution.     

Influence of frequency sweep on sonochemiluminescence and sonoluminescence

Bubbles generated by acoustic cavitation may be efficient in light production by direct emission (sonoluminescence) or indirect emission (sonochemiluminescence) depending on operating parameters such as acoustic pressure and surface tension. These conditions are quite difficult to reach at very high frequencies, even by concentrating the acoustic power at a given location via focusing the acoustic field thanks to the transducer shape (High Intensity Focused Ultrasound). The current work aims at probing the cavitation bubble behaviour under short frequency sweeps by monitoring sonochemiluminescence and sonoluminescence activities. When the frequency was swept in reverse (negative sweep), an enhancement in the SCL, relative to the SCL observed under a single frequency irradiation, was observed. Conversely, a positive frequency sweep resulted in the quenching of SCL intensity. The degree of SCL enhancement and quenching was also dependent on the rate at which the frequency was being swept and on the change in the size of cavitation bubbles. The size of cavitation bubbles varied with varying starting sweep frequency (3.4, 3.6 and 4.2 MHz), affecting both SCL and sonoluminescence (SL) emissions. The addition of a surfactant (sodium dodecyl sulphate) affected the observed results, possibly due to its influence on coalescence between cavitation bubbles. The results suggest that the enhancement and quenching are related to the response of bubbles generated by the starting frequency to the direction of the frequency sweep and the influence of the sweep rate on growth and coalescence of bubbles, which affected the population of the active bubbles.     

Influence of dissolved-air concentration on spatial distribution of bubbles for sonochemistry

The pulsation of ultrasonic cavitation bubbles at various dissolved-air concentration in a sonochemical reaction field of standing-wave type is investigated experimentally by laser-light scattering. When a thin light sheet, finer than half the wavelength of sound, is introduced into the cavitation bubbles at an antinode of sound pressure, the scattered light intensity oscillates. The peak-to-trough light intensity is correlated with the number of bubbles that contribute to the sonochemical reaction. It is shown that as the dissolved air concentration becomes higher, the weighted center of the spatial distribution of the peak-to-trough intensity tends to shift towards the liquid surface. At higher concentration of the dissolved air, a great deal of bubbles with size distribution generated due to coalescence between bubbles disturbs sound propagation to change the sound phase easily. A standing wave to trap tiny oscillating bubbles is established only at the side which is nearer to the liquid surface. Also at higher concentration, liquid flow induced by drag motion of bubbles by the action of radiation force becomes apparent and position-unstable region of bubble is enlarged from the side of sound source towards the liquid surface. Therefore, the position of oscillating bubbles active for sonochemical reaction is limited at the side which is nearer to the liquid surface at higher concentration of the dissolved air.     

Experimental investigation on the ultrasonic impregnation of wood through measurements of the intensity of sonoluminescence

Ultrasonic impregnation is thought to be an effective way of permeation of liquid into material through the material-surface reforming with the attack by an ultrasonic cavitation jet or by the shock wave emitted from a collapsing bubble, or through dynamic transformation of material like a sponge. The action of a cavitation bubble can also provide penetration of liquid into the interior of the material. This paper investigates whether there is a correlation between the intensity of sonoluminescence (SL) measured at different positions and the increment in the mass of the wood material (cedar) after sonication with immersion into water in order to clarify the role of cavitation bubbles for ultrasonic impregnation. It was found that a high mass change was obtained for the material located at the position for high (the maximum) SL intensity. The number density of ultrasonic cavitation bubbles that are able to collapse leading to the emission of SL is correlated with the degree of ultrasonic impregnation.     

Characterization of HIFU transducers designed for sonochemistry application: Cavitation distribution and quantification

Acoustic field distribution was determined in HIFU sonoreactors as well as localization of cavitation activity by crossing different techniques: modeling, hydrophone measurements, laser tomography and SCL measurements. Particular care was taken with quantification of this last technique by pixels or photon counting. Cavitation bubbles generated by HIFU are mainly located on the outer layer of the propagation cone in the post-focal zone. Greatest acoustic activity is not located at the geometrical focal, but corresponds to a high concentration of bubbles zone. On the contrary, the main sonochemical activity shifts slightly toward the transducer, whereas quenching of inertial cavitation is observed directly at the focal. Finally, SCL thresholds have been determined.     

Sonoluminescence and sonochemiluminescence from a microreactor

Micromachined pits on a substrate can be used to nucleate and stabilize microbubbles in a liquid exposed to an ultrasonic field. Under suitable conditions, the collapse of these bubbles can result in light emission (sonoluminescence, SL). Hydroxyl radicals (OH()) generated during bubble collapse can react with luminol to produce light (sonochemiluminescence, SCL). SL and SCL intensities were recorded for several regimes related to the pressure amplitude (low and high acoustic power levels) at a given ultrasonic frequency (200kHz) for pure water, and aqueous luminol and propanol solutions. Various arrangements of pits were studied, with the number of pits ranging from no pits (comparable to a classic ultrasound reactor), to three-pits. Where there was more than one pit present, in the high pressure regime the ejected microbubbles combined into linear (two-pits) or triangular (three-pits) bubble clouds (streamers). In all situations where a pit was present on the substrate, the SL was intensified and increased with the number of pits at both low and high power levels. For imaging SL emitting regions, Argon (Ar) saturated water was used under similar conditions. SL emission from aqueous propanol solution (50mM) provided evidence of transient bubble cavitation. Solutions containing 0.1mM luminol were also used to demonstrate the radical production by attaining the SCL emission regions.     

Sonoluminescence

Sonoluminescence (SL) is the name given to the light emitted when a liquid is cavitated in a particular (rather violent) manner. The appropriate cavitation conditions can be realized by using high intensity ultrasound, a spark discharge, a laser pulse, or by flowing the liquid through a Venturi tube. SL occurs in a wide variety of liquids, its intensity and spectrum depending on the nature of the solvent and the solute (including dissolved gas). The intensity, but apparently not the spectrum, also depends on the frequency of the sound and on the temperature and hydrostatic pressure of the liquid. In a standing wave sound field the SL originates from bubbles attracted to the pressure antinodes and has its maximum intensity when the bubble volume is a minimum. The phase of the sound cycle at which this occurs depends on the amplitude and frequency of the sound field. Spectral measurements show that SL originates mainly from the recombination of free radicals created within the high temperature and high pressure environment of a bubble undergoing an adiabatic compression, as may happen either during transient cavitation or during highly non-linear, but stable, cavitation. In discussing these, and other, attributes of SL this review emphasizes developments over the past 20 years. Because of the importance of the dynamical theory of bubbles to a full understanding of SL, it includes an account of bubble dynamics. In addition, it describes the various experimental techniques employed in the creation and analysis of SL. Although the review lays particular stress on the SL produced via acoustic cavitation, it also examines the characteristics of the SL produced using other methods of cavitation.     

Root canal irrigation system using remotely generated high-power ultrasound

Root canal treatment is performed to remove the bacteria proliferating in the root canals of a tooth. Many conventional root canal irrigation methods use an instrument inserted into the root canals. However, bacteria removal is often incomplete in the apical region of the root canal, and the treatment carries clinical risks, such as instrument fracture and extrusion of irrigation liquid through the canal apex. We here suggest a novel, remotely generated high-intensity ultrasound irrigation system that exhibits better irrigation performance and a reduced clinical risk. Our device employs powerful ultrasonic waves generated by a transducer placed outside a target tooth. The generated ultrasonic waves are guided to travel into the root canals. In the root canals of the target tooth, acoustic cavitation occurs, and vapor bubbles are created. The dynamic motions of vapor bubbles create remarkable cleaning effects. Using root canal models, we tested the cleaning performance of the proposed system and compared it with other conventional irrigation methods. The results revealed that biofilm in the apical region of the root canal models can be removed exclusively using the proposed system, thus demonstrating an improvement in cleaning performance. We also measured pressure at the apex of the root canals of an extracted tooth while operating the proposed system. Our system exhibited a smaller pressure compared to the syringe irrigation method, thus suggesting a reduced risk of apical extrusion of the irrigation liquid. Since the proposed system operates without inserting instruments into the root canal, it can clean multiple root canals in a tooth simultaneously with a single treatment. The proposed device would be a breakthrough in root canal treatment in terms of irrigation performance, clinical safety, and ease of treatment.     

Multibubble sonoluminescence enhancement by fluid flow

Forced fluid flow can cause the enhancement of multibubble sonoluminescence (SL) under suitable conditions. The effect of directional flow with a circulator is similar to that of rotating flow with a stirrer. The mechanism of the enhancement is that both flows prevent cavitation bubbles from coalescing and clustering, which are responsible for the quenching of SL. The intensity of sonochemiluminescence (SCL) in an aqueous luminol solution increases with flow speed at higher ultrasonic powers more significantly than that of SL in distilled water. However, in the range of low ultrasonic power, the intensities of SL and SCL decrease with flow speed. Therefore, an optimum flow speed exists in relation to ultrasonic power and frequency.     

Sonoluminescence emission spectra of a 3.6 MHz HIFU in sweeping mode

Use of sweeping mode with a 3.6 MHz High Intensity Focused Ultrasound (HIFU) allows cavitation activity to be controlled. This is especially true in the pre-focal zone where the high concentration of bubbles acts as an acoustic reflector and quenches cavitation above this area. Previous studies attributed the enhancement of cavitation activity under negative sweep to the activation of more bubble nuclei, requiring deeper investigations. After mapping this activity with SCL measurements, cavitation noise spectra were recorded. The behavior of the acoustic broadband noise follows the sonochemical one i.e., showing the same attenuation (positive scan) or intensification (negative scan) of cavitational activity. In 1 M NaCl 3.7 mM 2-propanol solution saturated by a mixture of Ar-15.5%O₂-2.2%N₂, intensities of SL spectra are high enough to allow detection of several molecular emissions (OH, NH, C₂, Na) under negative frequency sweeps. This is the first report of molecular emissions at such high frequency. Their intensities are low, and they are very broad, following the trend obtained at fixed frequency up to 1 MHz. Under optimized conditions, CN emission chosen as a spectroscopic probe is strong enough to be simulated, which is reported for the first time at such high frequency. The resulting characteristics of the plasma do not show any spectral difference, so bubble nature is the same in the pre-and post-focal zone under different sweeping parameters. Consequently, SL and SCL intensification was not related to a change in plasma nature inside the bubbles but to the number of cavitation bubbles.     

Comparisons of sonoluminescence from single-bubbles and cavitation fields: bridging the gap

Sonoluminescence (SL) refers to the generation of light through the energetic pulsations of acoustic cavitation bubbles in a liquid. For years, SL was observed primarily in cavitation fields. These bubbles are believed by many to undergo near-adiabatic compression, resulting in the heating of the bubble contents and the subsequent emission of light. Recently, researchers have discovered a 'new' form of sonoluminescence in which light is observed to emanate from a single bubble undergoing very large volume excursions. The mechanism for light production is unknown, but many believe it is due to a rapid heating of the central core by an imploding shock wave. Based in part on the emission time scales, there is a common belief that the two forms of SL are quite distinct. We address this issue by comparing the two phenomena with regards to their light-flash durations and emission spectra--leading to some surprising differences and similarities.     

Cavitation occurring in capillary tubes

Surface etches caused by cavitation often occur behind the blade of a rapidly rotating propeller or on a vibrating surface where liquid is subjected to suddenly reduced or oscillating saturation pressure. This phenomenon has never been reported in a continuous capillary pipe in which flow pressure varied gently without injection of external radiation energy. On the other aspect, acoustically tinkling signals were recognized decades ago during operation of the oscillation capillary heat pipe, but lacking of vigorous scientific understanding of the root causes. In this article, we report cavitation and its surface etches in meandering capillary tubes with the inner diameter of 1.8 mm. Numerous etching pits were observed on the interior face at the heat rejection region after over 200 hours operation. Irregular copper debris, with sizes ranging from 20 to 500 μm, is found in the reclaimed operating fluid. Analysis of temperature and acoustic data indicates that, driven by spiking temperature difference, highly turbulent two-phase flow carries the saturated vapor bubbles from the evaporator to the subcooled condensation region in a very short time of oscillation, turning vapor phase into oversaturated status. Rapid condensation accelerated shrinkage of the vapor bubbles causing strong micro jet impingement to damage the pipe wall, radiating acoustical signals.     

Study on the bubble transport mechanism in an acoustic standing wave field

The use of bubbles in applications such as surface chemistry, drug delivery, and ultrasonic cleaning etc. has been enormously popular in the past two decades. It has been recognized that acoustically-driven bubbles can be used to disturb the flow field near a boundary in order to accelerate physical or chemical reactions on the surface. The interactions between bubbles and a surface have been studied experimentally and analytically. However, most of the investigations focused on violently oscillating bubbles (also known as cavitation bubble), less attention has been given to understand the interactions between moderately oscillating bubbles and a boundary. Moreover, cavitation bubbles were normally generated in situ by a high intensity laser beam, little experimental work has been carried out to study the translational trajectory of a moderately oscillating bubble in an acoustic field and subsequent interactions with the surface. This paper describes the design of an ultrasonic test cell and explores the mechanism of bubble manipulation within the test cell. The test cell consists of a transducer, a liquid medium and a glass backing plate. The acoustic field within the multi-layered stack was designed in such a way that it was effectively one dimensional. This was then successfully simulated by a one dimensional network model. The model can accurately predict the impedance of the test cell as well as the mode shape (distribution of particle velocity and stress/pressure field) within the whole assembly. The mode shape of the stack was designed so that bubbles can be pushed from their injection point onto a backing glass plate. Bubble radial oscillation was simulated by a modified Keller–Miksis equation and bubble translational motion was derived from an equation obtained by applying Newton’s second law to a bubble in a liquid medium. Results indicated that the bubble trajectory depends on the acoustic pressure amplitude and initial bubble size: an increase of pressure amplitude or a decrease of bubble size forces bubbles larger than their resonant size to arrive at the target plate at lower heights, while the trajectories of smaller bubbles are less influenced by these factors. The test cell is also suitable for testing the effects of drag force on the bubble motion and for studying the bubble behavior near a surface.     

A computational simulation study on the acoustic pressure generated by a dental endosonic file: Effects of intensity,file shape and volume

One of the uses of ultrasound in dentistry is in the field of endodontics (i.e. root canal treatment) in order to enhance cleaning efficiency during the treatment. The acoustic pressures generated by the oscillation of files in narrow channels has been calculated using the COMSOL simulation package. Acoustic pressures in excess of the cavitation threshold can be generated and higher values were found in narrower channels. This parallels experimental observations of sonochemiluminescence. The effect of varying the channel width and length and the dimensions and shape of the file are reported. As well as explaining experimental observations, the work provides a basis for the further development and optimisation of the design of endosonic files.     

New insights into the mechanisms of ultrasonic emulsification in the oil–water system and the role of gas bubbles

Ultrasonic emulsification (USE) assisted by cavitation is an effective method to produce emulsion droplets. However, the role of gas bubbles in the USE process still remains unclear. Hence, in the present paper, high-speed camera observations of bubble evolution and emulsion droplets formation in oil and water were used to capture in real-time the emulsification process, while experiments with different gas concentrations were carried out to investigate the effect of gas bubbles on droplet size. The results show that at the interface of oil and water, gas bubbles with a radius larger than the resonance radius collapse and sink into the water phase, inducing (oil–water) blended liquid jets across bubbles to generate oil-in-water-in-oil (O/W/O) and water-in-oil (W/O) droplets in the oil phase and oil-in-water (O/W) droplets in the water phase, respectively. Gas bubbles with a radius smaller than the resonance radius at the interface always move towards the oil phase, accompanied with the generation of water droplets in the oil phase. In the oil phase, gas bubbles, which can attract bubbles nearby the interface, migrate to the interface of oil and water due to acoustic streaming, and generate numerous droplets. As for the gas bubbles in the water phase, those can break neighboring droplets into numerous finer ones during bubble oscillation. With the increase in gas content, more bubbles undergo chaotic oscillation, leading to smaller and more stable emulsion droplets, which explains the beneficial role of gas bubbles in USE. Violently oscillating microbubbles are, therefore, found to be the governing cavitation regime for emulsification process. These results provide new insights to the mechanisms of gas bubbles in oil–water emulsions, which may be useful towards the optimization of USE process in industry.     

Shear strain from irrotational tissue displacements near bubbles

Particle displacements can be much greater near bubbles than they would be in a homogeneous liquid or tissue when exposed to an acoustic wave. In a plane wave, shear and bulk strains are of the same order of magnitude. In contrast, for a bubble oscillating close to its resonance frequency, the shear strain in the medium near the bubble is roughly four orders of magnitude greater than the bulk strain. This can lead to shear strains of a few percent even with acoustic excitation pressures far below the pressure thresholds required to cause inertial cavitation. High shear strains near oscillating bubbles could potentially be the cause of bioeffects. After acoustic exposures at audio frequencies, hemorrhages in tissues as diverse as lung, liver, and kidney have been observed at shear strains on the order of 1%.     

Dissolved gas and ultrasonic cavitation – A review

The physics and chemistry of nonlinearly oscillating acoustic cavitation bubbles are strongly influenced by the dissolved gas in the surrounding liquid. Changing the gas alters among others the luminescence spectrum, and the radical production of the collapsing bubbles. An overview of experiments with various gas types and concentration described in literature is given and is compared to mechanisms that lead to the observed changes in luminescence spectra and radical production. The dissolved gas type changes the bubble adiabatic ratio, thermal conductivity, and the liquid surface tension, and consequently the hot spot temperature. The gas can also participate in chemical reactions, which can enhance radical production or luminescence of a cavitation bubble. With this knowledge, the gas content in cavitation can be tailored to obtain the desired output.     

Cavitation mapping by sonochemiluminescence with less bubble displacement induced by acoustic radiation force in a 1.2 MHz HIFU

An acoustic radiation force counterbalanced appliance was employed to map the cavitation distribution in water. The appliance was made up of a focused ultrasound transducer and an aluminum alloy reflector with the exactly same shape. They were centrosymmetry around the focus of the source transducer. Spatial–temporal dynamics of cavitation bubble clouds in the 1.2 MHz ultrasonic field within this appliance were observed in water. And they were mapped by sonochemiluminescence (SCL) recordings and high-speed photography. There were significant differences in spatial distribution and temporal evolution between normal group and counterbalanced group. The reflector could avoid bubble directional displacement induced by acoustic radiation force under certain electric power (⩽50 W). As a result, the SCL intensity in the pre-focal region was larger than that of normal group. In event of high electric power (⩾70 W), most of the bubbles were moving in acoustic streaming. When electric power decreased, bubbles kept stable and showed stripe structure in SCL images. Both stationary bubbles and moving bubbles have been captured, and exhibited analytical potential with respect to bubbles in therapeutic ultrasound.     

Studies on threshold pressures of sonoluminescence for bubbles with different noble gases

Large oscillations of gas and vapor filled bubbles in liquid during acoustic cavitation. This highly nonlinear bubble motion is accompanied by the emission of light-sonoluminescence (SL)[1, 2]. The noble gases inside the bubble can influence the SL[3—5]. At an acoustic pressure, the intensity of SL increases with the molecular mass of noble gas inside the bubbles[6]. There are several kinds of theories about SL mechanism. At present, the bremsstrahlung mechanism is widely admitted. The b…     

Cavitation bubble behavior and bubble–shock wave interaction near a gelatin surface as a study of in vivo bubble dynamics

The collapse of a single cavitation bubble near a gelatin surface, and the interaction of an air bubble attached to a gelatin surface with a shock wave, were investigated. These events permitted the study of the behavior of in vivo cavitation bubbles and the subsequent tissue damage mechanism during intraocular surgery, intracorporeal and extracorporeal shock wave lithotripsy. Results were obtained with high-speed framing photography. The cavitation bubbles near the gelatin surface did not produce significant liquid jets directed at the surface, and tended to migrate away from it. The period of the motion of a cavitation bubble near the gelatin surface was longer than that of twice the Rayleigh's collapse time for a wide range of relative distance, L/R_max, excepting for very small L/R_max values (L was the stand-off distance between the gelatin surface and the laser focus position, and R_max was the maximum bubble radius). The interaction of an air bubble with a shock wave yielded a liquid jet inside the bubble, penetrating into the gelatin surface. The liquid jet had the potential to damage the gelatin. The results predicted that cavitation-bubble-induced tissue damage was closely related to the oscillatory bubble motion, the subsequent mechanical tissue displacement, and the liquid jet penetration generated by the interaction of the remaining gas bubbles with subsequent shock waves. The characteristic bubble motion and liquid jet formation depended on the tissue's mechanical properties, resulting in different damage mechanisms from those observed on hard materials.