Systems, methods, and devices for production of gas-filled microbubbles
First Claim
1. A microbubble generation system comprising:
- a sonicator member;
a flow chamber surrounding a portion of the sonicator member so as to define a reaction volume between an interior surface of the flow chamber and the surrounded portion of the sonicator member,the flow chamber having a first inlet, a second inlet, and a first outlet, configured to permit a lipid solution to flow into the reaction volume through the first inlet, and a gas to flow into the reaction volume through the second inlet, and further to permit microbubbles generated in the reaction volume to be removed from the first outlet,an end of the sonicator member being arranged so as to deliver ultrasonic energy to an interface between the lipid solution and the gas in the reaction volume; and
a level sensor configured to detect a level of the lipid solution in the flow chamber;
a controller configured to control the lipid solution flow into the first inlet responsively to an output of the level sensor so as to maintain a location of said interface with respect to said end of the sonicator member such that the sonicator member is immersed in lipid solution to a level that is above an end of the sonicator member by no more than three times a gap between the end of the sonicator member and a wall of the flow chamber directly opposite the end of the sonicator member.
3 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
Gas-filled microbubbles can be synthesized using a continuous flow chamber and a sonicator. The resulting microbubble solution can be size-sorted for a particular application, such as injection into a patient for gas delivery thereto. The microbubble solution may be concentrated to have greater than 50% volume gas while maintaining microbubble sizes below 10 μm. Control of the microbubble generation process can yield highly stable microbubbles. The microbubbles may retain over half of their original gas payload for over three weeks while exhibiting minimal change in microbubble size. The systems, methods, and devices described herein thus allow for continuous or batch-wise continuous production of gas-filled microbubbles that readily release their gas payload when introduced into an under-saturated or de-saturated solution.
132 Citations
7 Claims
-
1. A microbubble generation system comprising:
-
a sonicator member; a flow chamber surrounding a portion of the sonicator member so as to define a reaction volume between an interior surface of the flow chamber and the surrounded portion of the sonicator member, the flow chamber having a first inlet, a second inlet, and a first outlet, configured to permit a lipid solution to flow into the reaction volume through the first inlet, and a gas to flow into the reaction volume through the second inlet, and further to permit microbubbles generated in the reaction volume to be removed from the first outlet, an end of the sonicator member being arranged so as to deliver ultrasonic energy to an interface between the lipid solution and the gas in the reaction volume; and a level sensor configured to detect a level of the lipid solution in the flow chamber; a controller configured to control the lipid solution flow into the first inlet responsively to an output of the level sensor so as to maintain a location of said interface with respect to said end of the sonicator member such that the sonicator member is immersed in lipid solution to a level that is above an end of the sonicator member by no more than three times a gap between the end of the sonicator member and a wall of the flow chamber directly opposite the end of the sonicator member. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7)
-
Specification