Investigation of Inertial Cavitation of Sonosensitive and Biocompatible Nanoparticles in Flow - Through Tissue- Mimicking Phantoms Employing Focused Ultrasound

Abstract

A promising approach to drug delivery applications for chemotherapeutics is the use of drug carriers to reduce the total amount of cytostatics, minimizing side effects. In addition, the carriers, loaded with the drug, can be guided to the tumorous tissue via the vascular system, which enables a local drug release (LDR). In our case, LDR is activated due to the sonosensitive behavior of the nanocapsules by inertial cavitation (IC) caused by focused ultrasound (FUS). Thereby, IC is excited by employing sound pressures within the recommended limit allowed for diagnostic ultrasound. In order to verify this drug delivery approach for its clinical suitability, a tissue-mimicking flow -through phantom, containing a small vessel, is used. Investigations have shown that the drug releasing cavitation effect associated with the sonosensitive and biocompatible nanocapsules also occurs in fine vessel structures, even in the case of moving particles and vessel diameters dc smaller than the wavelength λ.

Surface Design Options in Polymer- and Lipid-Based siRNA Nanoparticles Using Antibodies

“…The ability to design nanoparticles that specifically recognize and target structures sounds ambitious. A number of different nanoparticle types with unique physicochemical attributes or programmed behaviours, such as nanoparticles that respond to light [106], ultrasound [107] or heat [108] to disrupt cells or release the content of the NP have been designed. Furthermore, nanoparticles can be modified to carry multiple drugs simultaneously [109], to release the contents upon some trigger (for example changes in pH) [110], or to contain a combination of diagnostic and therapeutic agents called theranostics [111].…”