Increased light penetration due to ultrasound-induced air bubbles in optical scattering media

Light is an attractive tool for high spatial- and contrast-resolution imaging, highly sensitive molecular imaging, and target-selective therapy, and it does not exhibit the risks associated with ionizing radiation. The main limitation of using light in clinical applications is its superficial imaging and therapeutic depth caused by high optical scattering in biological media. Here, we demonstrate that the scattering and thus defocusing of the incident light can be alleviated when simultaneously delivered ultrasound generates air bubbles in the pathway of the incident light, thus increasing the light penetration. The bubbles are temporally induced by ultrasound with an intensity that is sufficiently low to avoid tissue damage and act as a Mie scattering medium in which light is scattered predominantly in the forward direction. The change in the optical scattering property caused by the ultrasound is undone after cessation of the insonification. From the results, it is expected that this proposed method will open a new route for overcoming the limitations of current optical imaging and therapeutic techniques.