Ultrasound-Enhanced Dye Penetration in Agar Gel Phantoms Using a Trocar-Integrated Dual-Aperture Ultrasound Transducer
High interstitial pressure and solid stress in tumors pose significant barriers to effective intratumoral drug delivery. To address this, a 320 kHz ultrasound transducer was integrated into a trocar, featuring dual side-facing acoustic apertures and an injection lumen for delivery of therapeutic agents. After trocar integration, characterization revealed a peak-negative pressure output of up to 2.8 MPa at 100 V. Dye perfusion experiments using agar phantoms demonstrated that ultrasound exposure substantially increased dye penetration, with Group 1 (240 cycles, 10% duty cycle) achieving the largest perfused area of 124.2 mm2. These results support the potential of ultrasound devices to enhance localized particle transport in tumor-mimicking environments.
