(489ad) Lipid Coated Microbubble Multi-Gas Dissolution

Gas-filled particles (microbubbles), which are smaller than ten micrometers in diameter and suspended in water, are ubiquitous in nature; they form in the oceans by breaking waves and have a profound impact on the acoustic properties, solid sedimentation rates, and mass transport rates across the atmosphere-ocean interface. Synthetic microbubbles are being developed for use in the food sciences and cosmetics to add volume and texture, as well as in the biomedical sciences for drug delivery, medical imaging and systemic gas transport. It is therefore critical to understand what occurs when the microbubble is surrounded by complex mediums, such as blood. For example, a microbubble is expected to grow if the surrounding liquid is supersaturated in the gas that fills the microbubble core. Likewise, it must shrink if the surrounding fluid is undersaturated in that gas. The situation becomes more complex when one considers the possibility of multiple gases in the microbubble and the surrounding medium. We will demonstrate that in solving the multi gas system theoretically, we can demonstrate the growth of a microbubble due to an influx of foreign gas. We have also developed a unique flow system, which will directly show microbubble growth using video microscopy.