Investigation of damage in vascular endothelial cells caused by lipid bubbles under ultrasound irradiation to verify the protective effect on cells

We investigated the viability of vascular endothelial cells engrafted on the basement membrane of a flow channel to verify the protective effect from cell damage under ultrasound exposure with a frequency of 3 MHz and a maximum sound pressure of 400 kPa-pp. We used two types of lipid bubbles (LBs), namely LBs (+) attached to the cells and LBs (–) not attached to the cells. We confirmed that the engrafted cells on the basement remained after ultrasound exposure and were resistant to flow. We found significant cell damage using LBs (–) regardless of the flow condition, whereas cell damage was not observed with LBs (+). A difference in irradiation direction of ultrasound was not detected. By making use of the adhesion of LBs (+) on the cells, since there was a significant increase in cell survival rate, we prove the potential for the adhesion of LBs (+) to protect cells from cell damage.