Ultrasound Signal Enhancement of Halloysite Clay Nanotubes at Medical Diagnostic Frequencies

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Abstract

Aim of this work was to investigate the effect ofultrasound incident frequency on the echographic contrastenhancement power of an experimental drug delivery agent,halloysite clay nanotubes (HNTs), and to determine a suitableconfiguration in terms of both insonification frequency andparticle concentration for an effective employment as targetedcontrast agent. Various HNT concentrations (range 0.25-3.00mg/mL) were dispersed in custom-designed tissue-mimickingphantoms and exposed to different ultrasound frequencies (7-11MHz) through a conventional clinically-available echographicdevice. Off-line analysis included the evaluation of bothamplitude of backscattered ultrasound signals and imagebrightness. Amplitude of HNT-backscattered signals showed alinear increase with particle concentration, while imagebrightness enhancement was limited by logarithmic compressioneffects. On the other hand, backscatter amplitude showedsignificant increments with increasing ultrasound frequency upto 10 MHz, then showing a concentration-dependent behaviorwithout further enhancements. Overall, the most effectiveresponse was found when a 10-MHz ultrasound frequency wasemployed to insonify HNTs at a concentration of 1.5 mg/mL. Inconclusion, the present study optimized the combination ofincident ultrasound frequency and HNT concentration, in orderto obtain an echographic image enhancement suitable for medicalapplications. Future dedicated studies will assess the feasibility ofautomatic detection of HNTs within echographic images andtheir possible employment as theranostic agents.

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  • S. Casciaro; F. Conversano; P. Pisani; A. Greco; E. Casciaro; M. Di Paola; R. Franchini; A. Lay-Ekuakille; S. Leporatti; G. Gigli

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Anno di pubblicazione

2015

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