Publications

Superheated nanodroplets (NDs) were recently proposed for in vivo proton range verification, owing to their ability to vaporize into echogenic microbubbles (MBs) upon exposure to ionizing radiation. In a previous publication, vaporization events were detected with 2D Ultrasound Localization Microscopy (ULM) based on a pulse-echo method. Here, we introduce P-ULM, a passive version of ULM, based on the detection of acoustic signatures emitted by ...

Superheated nanodroplet vaporization by proton radiation was recently demonstrated, opening the door to ultrasound-based in vivo proton range verification. However, at body temperature and physiological pressures, perfluorobutane nanodroplets (PFB-NDs), which offer a good compromise between stability and radiation sensitivity, are not directly sensitive to primary protons. Instead, they are vaporized by infrequent secondary particles, which ...

Methods allowing for in situ dosimetry and range verification are essential in radiotherapy to reduce the safety margins required to account for uncertainties introduced in the entire treatment workflow. This study suggests a non‑invasive dosimetry concept for carbon ion radiotherapy based on phase‑ change ultrasound contrast agents. Injectable nanodroplets made of a metastable perfluorobutane (PFB) liquid core, stabilized with a crosslinked ...

Ultrasonic pulse-echo C-scan imaging is a widespread method for detecting and characterizing defects in fiber reinforced polymer composites. However, the accurate assessment of a complex distributed damage cluster, like barely visible impact damage, in multi-layer and heterogeneous composites is not straightforward. For reliably estimating the remaining load carrying capacity and/or remaining useful lifetime of a damaged composite, a proper and ...

The potential of proton therapy to improve the conformity of the delivered dose to the tumor volume is currently limited by range uncertainties. Injectable superheated nanodroplets have recently been proposed for ultrasound-based in vivo range verification, as these vaporize into echogenic microbubbles on proton irradiation. In previous studies, offline ultrasound images of phantoms with dispersed nanodroplets were acquired after irradiation, ...

Purpose: We investigate the vaporization of phase-change ultrasound contrast agents using photon radiation for dosimetry perspectives in radiotherapy. Methods: We studied superheated perfluorobutane nanodroplets with a crosslinked poly(vinylalcohol) shell. The nanodroplets’ physico-chemical properties, and their acoustic transition have been assessed firstly. Then, poly (vinylalcohol)-perfluorobutane nanodroplets were dispersed in ...

UD glass/PA6 coupons with an open hole are subjected to tensile and compressive loading. Three layups: [0/90]5s, [+45/-45]5s and [+45/0/-45/90]3s with a shape based on ASTM D5766 were tested. Both monotonic loading as well as loading-unloading-reloading tests were executed. The strain field on the sample surface was measured with digital image correlation. This allowed identifying the distribution of the strain field during loading, permanent ...

Collateral damage to healthy surrounding tissue during conventional radiotherapy increases when deviations from the treatment plan occur. Ultrasound contrast agents (UCAs) are a possible candidate for radiation dose monitoring. This study investigated the size distribution and acoustic response of two commercial formulations, SonoVue/Lumason and Definity/Luminity, as a function of dose on clinical megavoltage photon beam exposure (24 Gy). ...