Microstreaming velocity field and shear stress created by an oscillating encapsulated microbubble near a cell membrane

Sonoporation mediated by microbubbles is being extensively studied as a promising technology to facilitate gene/drug delivery to cells. However, the theoretical study regarding the mechanisms involved in sonoporation is still in its infancy. Microstreaming generated by pulsating microbubble near the cell membrane is regarded as one of the most important mechanisms in the sonoporation process. Here, based on an encapsulated microbubble dynamic model with considering nonlinear rheological effects of both shell elasticity and viscosity, the microstreaming velocity field and shear stress generated by an oscillating microbubble near the cell membrane are theoretically simulated. Some factors that might affect the behaviors of microstreaming are thoroughly investigated, including the distance between the bubble center and cell membrane (d), shell elasticity (χ), and shell viscosity (κ). The results show that (i) the presence of cell membrane can result in asymmetric microstreaming velocity field, while the constrained effect of the membrane wall decays with increasing the bubble-cell distance; (ii) the bubble resonance frequency increases with the increase in d and χ, and the decrease in κ, although it is more dominated by the variation of shell elasticity; and (iii) the maximal microstreaming shear stress on the cell membrane increases rapidly with reducing the d, χ, and κ. The results suggest that microbubbles with softer and less viscous shell materials might be preferred to achieve more efficient sonoporation outcomes, and it is better to have bubbles located in the immediate vicinity of the cell membrane.     

基于微泡共振的快速微流体声学混合方法研究

微流体在生物医学、化学工程等领域应用广泛,并具有重大意义.在预处理中,液体混合也是关键且最为必要的前序.为了提高微流控腔道内液体混合的效率,本文提出基于单微泡振动的声学混合器,通过微泡共振,产生声微流,声微流形成的剪切力将在流体中产生微扰动,实现液体的混合.设计了底面直径为40μm的微孔结构,由于液体表面张力作用形成微泡,在共振频率为165 kHz的压电换能器激励下,气泡发生共振产生声微流.通过对压电换能器输入不同能量,获取混合液体的最优参数,可在37.5 ms内实现混合效果,混合均匀度达到92.7%.本文设计的单微泡振动混合器结构简单、混合效率高、混合时间短、输入能量低,可为生物化学等方面的研究提供强有力的技术支撑.     

H-22细胞声孔效应的应力阈值

理论和实验研究了超声空化场中的H-22型肝癌细胞产生可逆声孔效应的剪应力阈值.本文用1.37 MHz的聚焦声场,当超顺磁性纳米氧化铁在细胞悬液中的终浓度为410 μg/mL,换能器负载电功率为2 W,超声辐照60 s,细胞存活率90%以上时,有45.9±13.5%的细胞显示普鲁士蓝染阳性,暗示超声作用下,这些细胞表面曾出现可逆性微孔而使磁性微粒由此进入细胞内.利用无界自由空间微泡运动方程的球对称稳态解对实验条件下细胞膜表面的切变应力进行数值估算,结果表明,使H-22细胞产生可逆性声孔效应的微流剪应力阈值为697 Pa. 关键词： 声孔效应 磁性标记 微流 剪应力