High and low frequency subharmonic imaging of angiogenesis in a murine breast cancer model

Bubble pulsation characteristics in multi-bubble systems affected by bubble size polydispersity and spatial structure

This study seeks to explore the bubble pulsation characteristics in multi-bubble environment with a special focus on the influences of the size polydispersity and the two-dimensional structure of bubbles. Three representative configurations of three interacting bubbles are formed by setting the initial radii of cavitation bubbles and inter-bubble distances appropriately, then the pulsation characteristics of a small bubble are investigated and compared by the bifurcation analysis. The results illustrate that the bubble size polydispersity and two-dimensional structure would greatly affect the bubble pulsations (i.e., the amplitude and nonlinearity of pulsations). Furthermore, the effects of two-dimensional structure are strong at a small inter-bubble distance of the large and small bubbles while the bubble size polydispersity always significantly affects the bubble pulsations for all cases. Moreover, the influences of both bubble size polydispersity and two-dimensional structure can be enhanced as the acoustic pressure increases, which can also become stronger when the large bubble is located at the same side as the small bubble and the initial radius of large bubble increases. Additionally, the effects would also be increased when the tissue viscoelasticity varies within a certain range. The present findings shed new light on the dynamics of multiple polydisperse microbubbles in viscoelastic tissues, potentially contributing to an optimization of their applications with ultrasound excitation.

Noninvasive Estimation of Tumor Interstitial Fluid Pressure from Subharmonic Scattering of Ultrasound Contrast Microbubbles

The noninvasive estimation of interstitial fluid pressure (IFP) using ultrasound contrast agent (UCA) microbubbles as pressure sensors will provide tumor treatments and efficacy assessments with a promising tool. This study aimed to verify the efficacy of the optimal acoustic pressure in vitro in the prediction of tumor IFPs based on UCA microbubbles' subharmonic scattering. A customized ultrasound scanner was used to generate subharmonic signals from microbubbles' nonlinear oscillations, and the optimal acoustic pressure was determined in vitro when the subharmonic amplitude reached the most sensitive to hydrostatic pressure changes. This optimal acoustic pressure was then applied to predict IFPs in tumor-bearing mouse models, which were further compared with the reference IFPs measured using a standard tissue fluid pressure monitor. An inverse linear relationship and good correlation (r = -0.853, p < 0.001) existed between the subharmonic amplitude and tumor IFPs at the optimal acoustic pressure of 555 kPa, and pressure sensitivity was 1.019 dB/mmHg. No statistical differences were found between the pressures measured by the standard device and those estimated via the subharmonic amplitude, as confirmed by cross-validation (mean absolute errors from 2.00 to 3.09 mmHg, p > 0.05). Our findings demonstrated that in vitro optimized acoustic parameters for UCA microbubbles' subharmonic scattering can be applied for the noninvasive estimation of tumor IFPs.

Impact of Filling Gas on Subharmonic Emissions of Phospholipid Ultrasound Contrast Agents

Subharmonic signals backscattered from gas-filled lipid-shelled microbubbles have generated significant research interest because they can improve the detection and sensitivity of contrast-enhanced ultrasound imaging. However, the emission of subharmonic signals is strongly characterized by a temporal dependence, the origins of which have not been sufficiently elucidated. The features that influence subharmonic emissions need to be identified not only to better develop next-generation microbubble contrast agents, but also to develop more efficient subharmonic imaging (SHI) modes and therapeutic strategies. We examined the effect of microbubble filling gas on subharmonic emissions. Phospholipid shelled-microbubbles with different gaseous compositions such as sulfur hexafluoride (SF₆), octafluoropropane (C₃F₈) or decafluorobutane (C₄F₁₀), nitrogen (N₂)/C₄F₁₀ or air were insonated using a driving frequency of 10 MHz and peak negative pressure of 450 kPa, and their acoustic responses were tracked by monitoring both second harmonic and subharmonic emissions. Microbubbles were first acoustically characterized with their original gas and then re-characterized after substitution of the original gas with air, SF₆ or C₄F₁₀. A measureable change in intensity of the subharmonic emissions with a 20- to 40-min delayed onset and increasing subharmonic emissions of the order 12-18 dB was recorded for microbubbles filled with C₄F₁₀. Substitution of C₄F₁₀ with air eliminated the earlier observed delay in subharmonic emissions. Significantly, substitution of SF₆ for C₄F₁₀ successfully triggered a delay in the subharmonic emissions of the resultant agents, whereas substitution of C₄F₁₀ for SF₆ eliminated the earlier observed suppression of subharmonic emissions, clearly suggesting that the type of filling gas contained in the microbubble agent influences subharmonic emissions in a time-dependent manner. Because our agents were dispersed in air-stabilized phosphate-buffered saline, these results suggest that the diffusivity of the gas from the agent to the surrounding medium is correlated with the time-dependent evolution of subharmonic emissions.

Human glandular organoid formation in murine engineering chambers after collagenase digestion and flow cytometry isolation of normal human breast tissue single cells

Women with high mammographic density (MD) are at increased risk of breast cancer (BC) after adjustment for age and body mass index. We have developed a murine biochamber model in which both high MD (HMD) and low MD (LMD) tissue can be propagated. Here, we tested whether cells isolated by collagenase digestion and fluorescence-activated cell sorting (FACS) from normal breast can be reconstituted in our biochamber model, which would allow cell-specific manipulations to be tested. Fresh breast tissue was collected from women (n = 7) undergoing prophylactic mastectomy. The tissue underwent collagenase digestion overnight and, in some cases, additional FACS enrichment to obtain mature epithelial, luminal progenitor, mammary stem, and stromal cells. Cells were then transferred bilaterally into biochambers in SCID mice (n = 5-7) and incubated for 6 weeks, before harvesting for histological analyses, and immunohistochemical staining for cytokeratins (CK), vimentin, Ki-67, murine macrophages, and Cleaved Caspase-3. Biochambers inoculated with single cells after collagenase digestion or with flow cytometry contained glandular structures of human origin (human vimentin-positive), which expressed CK-14 and pan-CK, and were proliferating (Ki-67-positive). Glandular structures from the digested tissues were smaller than those in chambers seeded with finely chopped intact mammary tissue. Mouse macrophage infiltration was higher in the chambers arising from digested tissues. Pooled single cells and FACS fractionated cells were viable in the murine biochambers and formed proliferating glandular organoids of human origin. This is among the first report to demonstrate the success of formed human glandular organoids from isolated primary mammary cells in the murine biochamber model.