An ultrasound-based method to detect and characterize the laser-induced microbubbles was developed. This method is based on temporal measurement of passive acoustic emission from cavity during laser-tissue interaction and simultaneous active pulse-echo ultrasound probing of the cavitation bubble. These measurements were used to estimate the location of the nanosecond laser induced cavity and to monitor the spatial and temporal behavior of the microbubble. The measurements agreed with estimates derived from a well-known Rayleigh model of the cavity collapse. Overall, the studies indicate that the developed ultrasound technique can be used to detect and accurately measure laser-induced microbubbles in tissue.

Date Published: 6 February 2007
PDF: 9 pages
Proc. SPIE 6435, Optical Interactions with Tissue and Cells XVIII, 64350P (6 February 2007); doi: 10.1117/12.701874

Published in SPIE Proceedings Vol. 6435:
Optical Interactions with Tissue and Cells XVIII
Steven L. Jacques; William P. Roach, Editor(s)