Low-frequency ultrasound can drive the transport of nanoparticles and molecules in polymer gels for biotechnology applications

This paper reports the use of low-frequency ultrasound to influence transport in porous hydrogels with a transducer attached in direct contact with the hydrogel. This is a different configuration than for ultrasound-generating devices utilized previously for enhancing transport of molecules. The advantages of the system reported in this manuscript are that (i) much less acoustic power is required to influence the transport in the hydrogel that is in direct contact with the ultrasonic transducer, and (ii) no cavitation is induced in the hydrogel to influence the transport. This system was first tested in bench-top in vitro experiments by quantifying the transport of gold nanoparticles stimulated by low-frequency ultrasound. Then, to provide an in vivo example for potential biotechology applications, the system was demonstrated to be capable of transporting drugs across the tunics of a rabbit eye into the ocular circulation so as to target the transported drug to the outer retina.