Collapse of cavitation bubbles in blood

The behaviour of a single bubble in blood and in water is studied by using a non-Newtonian model of spherical bubble dynamics. This model considers the compressibility of the liquid surrounding the bubble, the shear-thinning characteristic of liquid viscosity, liquid density and surface tension. It was found that, for values of the maximum bubble radius larger than $10^{-1}\un{mm}$, the collapse of a bubble in a constant pressure field in blood is more violent than in water. It suggests that the amount of collateral damage of the biological tissue induced by bubble collapse during high-speed rotational angioplasty and laser-induced angioplasty can be underestimated by experiments in vitro using water as ambient liquid.