Achievement

IGERT-Lifechips fellow, Roger Shih, has studied microbubbles generated by microfluidic flow-focusing. Basically, microbubbles are used as contrast agents for ultrasound imaging, and scientists are also exploring their potential for drug and gene delivery. Whereas conventional production methods result in a mix of bubble sizes which must be separated before use, microfluidic generation can produce monodisperse bubbles of a desired size and resonance, potentially reducing the required dosage for contrast enhancement. Although Roger's labs, led by Lifechips co-PI - Dr. Abe Lee has developed the mircofluidic bubble-generating platform, they have not performed ultrasound imaging or in vivo studies of them. Roger's lab has arranged with Olympus to loan them an ultrasound machine and endoscopic probe. Roger has begun experimenting with the machine to view microbubble contrast in silicone-based phantoms. His next project is to attempt bubble destruction with the ultrasound machine.