Agata Exner

Abstract Ultrasound is the second most common clinical imaging modality. Ultrasound image quality often suffers from poor contrast resolution and thus can greatly benefit from appropriate contrast agents. While micron-sized gas core particles (microbubbles) are clinically utilized in this space for applications such as echocardiography, a smaller agent could be more broadly applicable to enhance the sensitivity and specificity of disease detection.

Biological and Medical Applications of Materials and InterfacesJune 4, 2025 Bhawna Saini Department of Biomedical Engineering, Pennsylvania State University, University Park, Pennsylvania 16802, United States College of Medicine, Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Pennsylvania State University, Hershey, Pennsylvania 17033, United States Rishika Singh Department of Biomedical Engineering, Pennsylvania State University, University Park, Pennsylvania 16802, United States Agata A.

1 INTRODUCTION The American Cancer Society estimates that approximately 40% of Americans will develop cancer in their lifetime with a 15%–20% risk of dying from cancer (American Cancer Society, 2023). In 2022, there were over 600,000 deaths from cancer in the United States alone (American Cancer Society, 2022). Of those who will develop cancer, 95% will have solid tumors (American Cancer Society, 2023).