Biological and environmental factors affecting ultrasound-induced hemolysis in vitro: 2. Medium dissolved gas (pO2) content

Abstract The data collected in this project supported the a priori hypothesis that the concentration of dissolved oxygen in whole human blood in vitro affected the extent of ultrasound (US)-induced hemolysis under conditions conducive to the occurrence of inertial cavitation. Aliquots of whole human blood in vitro with a relatively high O 2 level had statistically significantly more 1-MHz US-induced hemolysis than aliquots with a relatively low O 2 level in the presence of controlled gas nucleation (Albunex® or ALX, supplementation), with US-induced hemolytic yields being substantially less at 2.2- and 3.5-MHz exposures or in the absence of ALX-supplementation at otherwise comparable acoustic pressures, pulse lengths and duty factors. Passive cavitation detection (pcd) measures indicated a linear relationship for hemolysis up to about 70% and pcd values (R 2 = 0.99). (E-mail: Morton_Miller@urmc.rochester.edu)