Publication Date

Spring 2010

Degree Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Science (MS)

Department

Electrical Engineering

Advisor

Mallika Keralapura

Keywords

Acoustic Intensity, Drug Delivery, Microcapsule, Ultrasound

Subject Areas

Engineering, Electronics and Electrical; Engineering, Biomedical

Abstract

Ultrasound is used for many applications in diagnostics and therapy. New developments are being made specifically for the use of therapeutic ultrasound for enhancement of localized drug delivery. The long term goal of this study is to find ultrasound pulsing sequences that will allow for controlled mass diffusion from hydrogel drug reservoirs. Developing this new method requires the calibration and characterization of therapy transducers using power and acoustic intensity measurements. Mechanical index, spatial peak pulse average intensity, and spatial temporal pulse average intensity calculations were made using hydrophone measurements set-up in a tank measurement system. These were compared to safety limits defined by the Food and Drug Administration. With these calculated safety values, preliminary tissue mimicking phantom measurements were made to verify the possible efficacy of the new method. The membrane of the microcapsule bulged under continuous sonication from the transducer. Further investigation is needed to identify the mechanisms responsible for this effect.

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