Cavitation and Microbubbles
Acoustic cavitation refers to the formation and subsequent activity of bubbles in a liquid (or tissue), exposed to ultrasound of sufficient intensity. Cavitation bubbles can interact very strongly with ultrasound, concentrating energy at the location of the bubble(s). Local instantaneous temperatures can exceed 10,000 oC and cavitation is known to etch though metal surfaces. At CavLab, MIU, we seek to develop a fundamental understanding of acoustically driven cavitation bubble behaviour, and develop strategies to target and control the phenomenon. Cavitation is internationally researched as a mechanism for enhanced therapy via the application of focused ultrasound, which is currently our primary motivation, funded by ERC Starting Grant TheraCav.
More details on Dr Prentice's work can be found on the Cavitation Laboratory's own group pages.
