Histotripsy-mediated reactive oxygen species generation in vitro
Year: 2025
Type: article
Abstract: • Reactive oxygen species (ROS) generated by histotripsy cavitation was investigated. • ROS rate was increased threefold relative to other forms of therapeutic ultrasound. • Histotripsy activated multiple sonosensitizers with pulses longer than 20 cycles. • Acoustic emissions tracked with passive imaging correlated with ROS production. Forms of sonodynamic therapy rely on close interactions between microbubbles and agents to generate cytotoxic reactive oxygen species. Microbubbles are inherently intravascular agents, which limits the therapeutic range for effective distribution of reactive oxygen species. Histotripsy is a focused ultrasound therapy that ablates tissue via the generation of a dense cloud of bubbles spontaneously without the need for exogenous agents. This study investigated the capacity of histotripsy to generate the hydroxyl radical with and without sonodynamic agents. In the absence of sonodynamic agents, histotripsy produced the hydroxyl radical at rate that was increased by a factor of three relative to other forms of therapeutic ultrasound. These sonochemical reactions were found to correlate strongly with acoustic emissions tracked with passive cavitation imaging. Histotripsy bubble activity was found to increase the rate of hydroxyl radical production for multiple sonosensitizers relative to controls, particularly for ultrasound pulses longer than 20 cycles in duration. Overall, these data indicate histotripsy may be a viable approach for activating sonosensitve agents, and this activation may be tracked based on acoustic emission.
Source: Ultrasonics
Institution: University of Chicago
Language: English
Subfield: Biomedical Engineering
Field: Engineering
Domain: Physical Sciences
Open Access status: hybrid
Estimated APC paid: $3,680
OpenAlex ID: W4416276033