Multi-time scale characterization of acoustic droplet vaporization and payload release of phase-shift emulsions using high-speed microscopy

Acoustic droplet vaporization (ADV) is the phase-transitioning of perfluorocarbon emulsions, termed phase-shift emulsions, into bubbles using focused ultrasound. ADV has been utilized in many biomedical applications. For localized drug release, phase-shift emulsions with a bioactive payload can be incorporated within a hydrogel to yield an acoustically-responsive scaffold (ARS). The dynamics of ADV and associated drug release within hydrogels are not well understood. Additionally, emulsions used in ARSs often contain high molecular weight perfluorocarbons, which is unique relative to other ADV applications. In this study, we used ultra-high-speed brightfield and fluorescence microscopy, at frame rates up to 30 million and 0.5 million frames per second, respectively, to elucidate ADV dynamics and payload release kinetics in fibrin-based ARSs containing phase-shift emulsions with three different perfluorocarbons: perfluoropentane (PFP), perfluorohexane (PFH), and perfluorooctane (PFO). At an ultrasound excitation frequency of 2.5 MHz, the maximum expansion ratio, defined as the maximum bubble diameter during ADV normalized by the initial emulsion diameter, was 4.3 ± 0.8, 4.1 ± 0.6, and 3.6 ± 0.4, for PFP, PFH, PFO emulsions, respectively. ADV yielded stable bubble formation in PFP and PFH emulsions, though the bubble growth rate post-ADV was three orders of magnitudes slower in the latter emulsion. Comparatively, ADV generated bubbles in PFO emulsions underwent repeated vaporization/recondensation or fragmentation. Different ADV-generated bubble dynamics resulted in distinct release kinetics in phase-shift emulsions carrying fluorescently-labeled payloads. The results provide physical insight enabling the modulation of bubble dynamics with ADV and hence release kinetics, which can be used for both diagnostic and therapeutic applications of ultrasound.     

Spatial and temporal observation of phase-shift nano-emulsions assisted cavitation and ablation during focused ultrasound exposure

Background: Phase-shift nano-emulsions (PSNEs) with a small initial diameter in nanoscale have the potential to leak out of the blood vessels and to accumulate at the target point of tissue. At desired location, PSNEs can undergo acoustic droplet vaporization (ADV) process, change into gas bubbles and enhance focused ultrasound efficiency. The threshold of droplet vaporization and influence of acoustic parameters have always been research hotspots in order to spatially control the potential of bioeffects and optimize experimental conditions. However, when the pressure is much higher than PSNEs’ vaporization threshold, there were little reports on their cavitation and thermal effects.Object: In this study, PSNEs induced cavitation and ablation effects during pulsed high-intensity focused ultrasound (HIFU) exposure were investigated, including the spatial and temporal information and the influence of acoustic parameters.Methods: Two kinds of tissue-mimicking phantoms with uniform PSNEs were prepared because of their optical transparency. The Sonoluminescence (SL) method was employed to visualize the cavitation activities. And the ablation process was observed as the heat deposition could produce white lesion.Results: Precisely controlled HIFU cavitation and ablation can be realized at a relatively low input power. But when the input power was high, PSNEs can accelerate cavitation and ablation in pre-focal region. The cavitation happened layer by layer advancing the transducer. While the lesion appeared to be separated into two parts, one in pre-focal region stemmed from one point and grew quickly, the other in focal region grew much more slowly. The influence of duty cycle has also been examined. Longer pulse off time would cause heat transfer to the surrounding media, and generate smaller lesion. On the other hand, this would give outer layer bubbles enough time to dissolve, and inner bubbles can undergo violent collapse and emit bright light.     

Fluxons interactions in a Josephson junction with a phase-shift

We consider a long Josephson junction with a discontinuity point characterized by a gauge phase-shift. The system is described by a modified sine-Gordon equation. We study, in particular, the interactions between a fluxon and a fractional fluxon. A perturbation theory is developed in the small phase-shift limit to understand the characteristics of the interaction. Finally, numerical computations of the threshold bias current and the threshold velocity for a fluxon running over a fractional fluxon are presented.     

紧凑型窄线宽分布反馈光纤激光器

 在铒/镱共掺杂有源光纤上直接刻蚀光栅,制成一台紧凑型非对称π相移分布反馈光纤激光器。光栅总长度约50 mm,最佳相移位置在29 mm处,最佳耦合系数为150 m^-1。采用980 nm激光二极管同向泵浦,当最大泵浦功率为200 mW时,在1 550.94 nm处实现约10 mW激光输出,线宽小于0.05 nm,阈值约35 mW,斜率效率为6.06%,总光 光转换效率为5%,基本满足长距离光通信系统光源功率实用化的要求。     

He-Ne laser wavelength-shifting interferometry

The use of wavelength-shifting interferometry with a He-Ne laser source is presented. The approach is based on the thermal expansion of the laser cavity during the warm-up time, in conjunction with an unequal path interferometric configuration. The optics principles are reviewed, and a demonstrative measurement is presented. The technique extends the capability of phase-shift acquisition and processing to cases where conventional methods with piezoelectric transducers cannot be used, and particularly to external measurement cavities of large diameter.     

Phase-shift interferometry combined with surface plasmon resonance effect for two-dimensional bio-surface analysis

The phase-shift interferometry combined with surface plasmon resonance (SPR) effect has been studied as a novel technique used to analyze the bio-surface, which measures the spatial phase variation of SPR reflected light. The spatial sensitivity of the SPR imaging sensor is improved over the conventional SPR imaging systems based on optical intensity.     

Simultaneous measurement of several near-parallel surfaces with wavelength-shifting interferometry and a tunable phase-shifting method

Wavelength-shifting interferometry can distinguish in frequency space interference signals from different surfaces, and therefore allows the measurement of optical thickness variation between several quasi-parallel surfaces of a composite transparent object. Frequency analysis of the signal spectrum with a tunable phase-shifting formula can then detect the phase of the individual signals. We have devised a tunable phase-shifting method which uses a freely adjustable number of intensity samples and can be adapted to any frequency spectrum. To extract the signal reliably, two properties of the phase-shifting method are particularly important: it should suppress cross-talk from unwanted frequencies, and it should allow for some variation in the signal frequency. We show that a carefully designed sampling function envelope will combine these benefits, and demonstrate the technique in measurements of three different composite objects each consisting of three reflecting surfaces. The importance of phase-shift linearisation is discussed, and methods for selecting optimal set-up parameters are given.     

相移光腔衰荡高反射率测量中的拟合方法

 分析了相移光腔衰荡技术中由锁相放大器探测光腔输出信号一次谐波的振幅和相位随调制频率的变化曲线。拟合结果发现，联合幅频和相频曲线构造同时含有振幅和相位信息的均方差拟合函数，不同频率拟合范围得到的衰荡时间平均值为0.791 μs，最大误差由分别用幅频或相频曲线拟合得到的衰荡时间误差的8%减小到1.3%，均方差仅为0.5%。通过在拟合函数中加入系统响应时间、系统初始相位等参数，避免了相移光腔衰荡中直腔实验时测量系统频率响应曲线，提高了测量精度。     

用于绝对相位还原的对称式和非对称式二元结构光编码

基于邻域分析的相移法不适合阶跃场景测量且往往会造成相位误差的积累,为此提出了用于获取绝对相位的对称式和非对称式二元阶梯相位结构光编码方法.两种方法编码图案不同,对称式编码方法编码图案黑白条纹的宽度相等,非对称式不等.通过投影多帧二元结构光编码图案,结合相移法相位提取公式获得阶梯相位.测量时,基于传统正弦条纹投影和相移法获得高准确度包裹相位,并用阶梯相位确定对应包裹相位的级次.根据级次直接进行相位展开,进而获得绝对相位.以量块作为测量对象,两种方法的测量均方根误差达到0.072mm.两种方法均能够有效还原阶跃场景,实现三维重构.     

PMP中基于亚像素相移的噪音抑制算法

提出一种基于亚像素相移的噪音抑制算法,通过正弦条纹灰度的连续变化来实现亚像素相移,从而增加相移帧数.采用N-Bucket算法,解决了相移帧数增加后的计算量问题.模拟及实验表明,该方法可以有效地抑制噪音影响,提高测量准确度.