Acoustic Bubble Sensing Techniques and Bioapplications

Acoustic bubbles are emerging as powerful microscale sensors that convert local biochemical and biomechanical cues into measurable signals in a remote, label-free, and clinically compatible manner. Originally developed as vascular contrast agents, microbubbles are now engineered so that their resonance frequency, nonlinear oscillations, cavitation emissions, microstreaming, and radiation-force-induced motion encode information about pressure, rheology, oxygenation, and cell or tissue mechanics. In this review, we first summarize the fundamental physics of bubble dynamics, and then describe how these dynamics are translated into practical sensing observables. We then highlight key bioapplications where acoustic bubbles function as environment-responsive probes, ranging from hemodynamic pressure and fluid rheology to oxygen levels and cellular mechanics. Across these examples, we emphasize advantages such as non-invasive and wireless readout, high sensitivity arising from nonlinear bubble dynamics, and biochemical and molecular tunability. Finally, we outline current challenges and future opportunities for translating acoustic bubble-based sensing into robust, quantitative tools for biomedical applications.