Publications OK SMART LAB

Dual-frequency focused ultrasound using optoacoustic and piezoelectric transmitters for single-pulsed free-field cavitation in water
Authors
Hyoung Won Baac, Taehwa Lee, Jong G. Ok, Timothy Hall, and L. Jay Guo
Journal
Applied Physics Letters
Vol
103 (23), 234103 (Dec 2013)
Year
Prior to 2014
Pulsed ultrasonic cavitation is a promising modality for non-contact targeted therapy, enabling mechanical ablation of the tissue. We demonstrate a spatio-temporal superposition approach of two ultrasound pulses (high and low frequencies) producing a tight cavitation zone of 100 μm in water, which is an-order-of-magnitudes smaller than those obtained by the existing high-amplitude transducers. Particularly, laser-generated focused ultrasound (LGFU) was employed for the high-frequency operation (15 MHz). As demonstrated, LGFU plays a primary role to define the cavitation zone. The generation rate of cavitation bubbles could be dramatically increased up to 4.1% (cf. 0.06% without the superposition) with moderated threshold requirement.