Menu
MapConnectionsTopicsBulgariaThe Night (K-TRIO)Marie Skłodowska-CurieFor studentsFor teachersMethodologySurprise me
H2020Doctoral network2018–2023

UCOM · Ultrasound Cavitation in Soft Materials

Horizon 2020 — Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions

Duration
2018-10-01 → 2023-05-31
EU contribution
€4,191,689
Participants
17
Scheme
MSCA-ITN

Lines connect the coordinator with its partners.

Results in brief

Ultrasound Cavitation in Soft Materials

UCOM is the acronym of the project “Ultrasound Cavitation in sOft Materials”. Ultrasound Cavitation (US) has extended use in bioengineering. Lithotripsy to treat kidney stones, ultrasonic imaging to view the inside of the body and root canal treatment to deal with infections at the centre of a tooth, are only a few of the already existing applications which use technology that is based on the physics of ultrasound cavitation. Nevertheless, there are still a lot of unanswered questions regarding cavitation and its effects and the related technology is not yet ready for wide adoption. Therefore, studying the science behind the physical phenomena of ultrasound cavitation may further define the future of many clinical applications. To that purpose, UCOM investigated in depth how the bubbles interact with tissues, aiming to provide a safe way to use ultrasound cavitation in the existing medical applications. This is crucial, since cavitation may be harmful if not controlled properly. For example, in lithotripsy a wrong choice of the applied acoustic wave parameters can cause damage to the kidney. Additionally, the UCOM research results may contribute to the development of more medical applications, e.g., sonoporation and sonoprinting. The UCOM researchers developed, improved and validated new state-of-the-art cavitation models and interaction with soft materials (e.g., tissues) against both existing and new experimental data.

Data: CORDIS, © European Union

Project objective

The pressures and temperatures developing during the interactions of shockwaves with cavitation bubbles and soft matter induce complex phenomena, both at physical and biochemical levels. These have a non- exhaustive range of relevant applications including ultrasound-based therapies, surface cleaning and food processing. Our aim is to explore these processes both in micro and macroscales using experiments and to develop new computational capabilities for their simulations. Measurements will include temperature/ species forming in collapsing bubbles, identifying chemical reactions and possible tissue interaction, such as protein denaturation and agglomeration; tissue cavitation threshold and its control using nanoparticles, allowing development of new cavitation-mimicking-tissue materials extrapolating to actual tissue properties that will be used for in-vitro testing of equipment with minimum collateral damages. Computations will be based on advanced multi-resolution methods coupling fluid flow, chemical reactions and deforming material mechanics solvers, with physically consistent thermodynamic closure models for the involved materials; pressure wave propagation, bubble nucleation and material damage effects will link microscale phenomena to macroscale. Uncertainty quantification techniques will link computations with experimental data. UCOM builds upon the strong foundations of the PIs and their teams in training researchers in computational and experimental methods on cavitation and their strong record to successfully integrate research and technical applications. The final goal of the research and training program is to explore the enormous potential of the new and experimentally validated computational tools to guide breakthrough innovations and high-impact, high-tech technologies ranging across different sectors that all eventually enhance their careers and will be serving the well-being.

Original text from CORDIS.

Participants

  • CITY ST GEORGES UNIVERSITY OF LONDON · LONDONCoordinatorUnited Kingdom
  • AVIGNON UNIVERSITE · AVIGNON CEDEX 01France
  • DORNIER MEDTECH SYSTEMS GMBH · WesslingGermany
  • ECOLE POLYTECHNIQUE FEDERALE DE LAUSANNE · LausanneSwitzerland
  • GUYS AND ST THOMAS' NHS FOUNDATIONTRUST · LondonUnited Kingdom
  • INSTITUTE OF CANCER RESEARCH: THE ROYAL CANCER HOSPITAL LBG · LondonUnited Kingdom
  • KING'S COLLEGE LONDON · LondonUnited Kingdom
  • NATIONAL UNIVERSITY CORPORATION THE UNIVERSITY OF TOKYO · TOKYOJapan
  • OTTO-VON-GUERICKE-UNIVERSITAET MAGDEBURG · MagdeburgGermany
  • PRECISION ACOUSTICS LIMITED · DORCHESTERUnited Kingdom
  • REGENTS OF THE UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN · ANN ARBORUnited States
  • SORBONNE UNIVERSITE · ParisFrance
  • TECHNISCHE UNIVERSITAET MUENCHEN · MuenchenGermany
  • TSINGHUA UNIVERSITY · BEIJINGChina
  • UNIVERSITE DE GENEVE · GeneveSwitzerland
  • UNIVERSITEIT TWENTE · EnschedeNetherlands
  • UNIVERSITY OF WASHINGTON · Seattle WaUnited States

Links

Data: CORDIS, © European Union