Theoretical and experimental evaluation of microstreaming created by a single microbubble: Application to sonoporation

Abstract

It is hypothesized that microstreaming might play a role in the sonoporation process, inducing shear stresses which create tension and stretching over the cell membrane and thus lead to its transient permeabilization. In this study, the results of microscopic particle-image velocimetry (PIV) for large bubbles are presented and compared to those obtained using a numerical model. Air bubbles were created in a water solution and then attached to a wall. For each bubble, the microstreaming was measured over a plane located at a distance of 50 μm from the bubble wall. Bubbles were excited using a single element transducer at 28 kHz and 7 kPa. The acoustic microstreaming generated by the air bubbl..