Abstract
To realize theranostics using ultrasound and microbubbles, which have a great potential not only for diagnosis but also therapy, we utilize Bjerknes force to enhance the local concentration of microbubbles through the blood vessel network in the human body. We are now developing a method to induce microbubbles independent to flow direction, which is available by introducing a matrix array transducer. Here, we demonstrated that the phase difference between the two focal points to produce an attractive force. Another application we consider is cellular immune therapy by propelling therapeutic cells using acoustic force, where microbubbles attach to the surface of the cells to reduce the density of the aggregations. We confirmed the controllability of the aggregations under ultrasound exposure through an experiment using an artificial blood vessel and fluorescent microscope observation. Finally, we introduce our attempt at robotic control for accurate positioning of a therapeutic transducer. To clarify the system feasibility, we conducted an experiment to evaluate the position accuracy of a parallel link robot for the above-mentioned theranostics.
