Reduction of calcified plaque volume in ex vivo pericardial tissue, with nanobubbles

The present research investigated the effect of nanobubbles in Ringer's solution on calcified plaque within ex vivo coronary and peripheral artery tissue. The goal of the work was to determine whether nanobubbles generated using an alternating magnetic field (AMF) system can reproducibly reduce the size of plaque obstructions in ex vivo pericardial tissue specimens compared to that in an untreated control. Nanoparticle tracking analysis (NTA) measurements were used to first confirm that AMF can produce nanobubbles in Ringer's solution as well as it does in water. Experiments were performed in which ex vivo human coronary artery and peripheral artery tissues containing plaque were exposed to Ringer's solution with and without the presence of AMF generated nanobubbles. Measurements on intravascular optical coherence tomography (IVOCT) images consistently indicated that plaque volume is significantly reduced in the presence of nanobubbles. A theory of induced dissolution by nanobubble/nanoparticle cluster formation provides a causal explanation for the observed reductions in plaque size.