Microbubble contrast agents for ultrasound are widely used in numerous medical applications, both diagnostic and therapeutic. Due to their size, similar to that of red blood cells, microbubbles are able to traverse the entire vascular bed, enabling their utilization for applications such as tumour diagnosis. Vaporizable submicron droplets of liquid perfluoro- carbon potentially represent a new generation of extravascular contrast agents for ultrasound. Droplets of a few hundred nanometers in diameter have the ability to extravasate selectively in regions of tumour growth while staying intravascular in healthy tissues. Upon extravasation, these droplets may be vaporized with ultrasound and converted into gas bubbles. In this thesis we argue that vaporized submicron perfluorocarbon droplets possess the necessary stability and acoustic characteristics to be potentially applicable as a new gener- ation of extravascular ultrasound contrast agents. We examine, separately, the ultrasound conditions necessary for vaporization of the droplets into microbubbles, the size and stability of these bubbles following vaporization, on timescales ranging from nanoseconds to minutes, and the bubbles’ acoustic response to incident diagnostic ultrasound. We show that submicron droplets may be vaporized into bubbles of a few microns in diameter using single ultrasound pulse within the diagnostic range. The efficiency of conversion is shown to be on the order of at least 10% of the exposed droplets converting into stable microbubbles. The bubbles are shown to be stabilized by the original coating material encapsulating the droplet precursors, and be stable for at least minutes following vaporization. Finally, vaporized droplets are shown to be echogenic, with acoustic characteristics comparable to these of the commercially available ultrasound contrast agents. The results presented here show that vaporized droplets possess the necessary stability properties and echogenicity required for successful application as contrast agents, suggesting potential for their future translation into clinical practice.

Microbubble contrast agents for ultrasound are widely used in numerous medical applications, both diagnostic and therapeutic. Due to their size, similar to that of red blood cells, microbubbles are able to traverse the entire vascular bed, enabling their utilization for applications such as tumour diagnosis. Vaporizable submicron droplets of liquid perfluoro- carbon potentially represent a new generation of extravascular contrast agents for ultrasound. Droplets of a few hundred nanometers in diameter have the ability to extravasate selectively in regions of tumour growth while staying intravascular in healthy tissues. Upon extravasation, these droplets may be vaporized with ultrasound and converted into gas bubbles. In this thesis we argue that vaporized submicron perfluorocarbon droplets possess the necessary stability and acoustic characteristics to be potentially applicable as a new gener- ation of extravascular ultrasound contrast agents. We examine, separately, the ultrasound conditions necessary for vaporization of the droplets into microbubbles, the size and stability of these bubbles following vaporization, on timescales ranging from nanoseconds to minutes, and the bubbles’ acoustic response to incident diagnostic ultrasound. We show that submicron droplets may be vaporized into bubbles of a few microns in diameter using single ultrasound pulse within the diagnostic range. The efficiency of conversion is shown to be on the order of at least 10% of the exposed droplets converting into stable microbubbles. The bubbles are shown to be stabilized by the original coating material encapsulating the droplet precursors, and be stable for at least minutes following vaporization. Finally, vaporized droplets are shown to be echogenic, with acoustic characteristics comparable to these of the commercially available ultrasound contrast agents. The results presented here show that vaporized droplets possess the necessary stability properties and echogenicity required for successful application as contrast agents, suggesting potential for their future translation into clinical practice.

Non-linear optical processes such as coherent anti-Stokes Raman scattering and sum frequency generation offer a view into the chemical and biological interactions of molecules that is distinctly different from linear techniques like near infra-red and fluorescence. This insight comes at a cost: non-linear techniques are more sensitive to external perturbations of the system, increasing the noise and decreasing the repeatability of the data. We work here on both aspects of these non-linear techniques, taking advantage of their power to offer new imaging techniques as well as working to quantify and reduce the non-resonant noise inherent to the system. In pursuit of the first part, we look at formalin fixed paraffin embedded tissue samples. This is the most common form of tissue storage in the world. However, the paraffin renders them unavailable for spectroscopic study. We introduce a new technique, combination coherent anti-Stokes Raman scattering microscopy and sum frequency generation microscopy, to avoid the issue of paraffin signal contamination. This high resolution, widefield technique allows for the separate identification of paraffin and the tissue embedded within it. We show in this work the capability of this technique to enable high throughput automated detection of osteoporosis in mice. In pursuit of the second part, we demonstrate experimentally for the first time, deferred build up in coherent anti-Stokes Raman scattering. We show that coherent anti-Stokes Raman scattering signal is maximized when the probe pulse is delayed by an amount dependent on the probe width and the material itself. Non-resonant contamination, however, is maximized when the probe delay is zero, meaning that it is possible to decrease the non-resonant noise while increasing the desired signal. We also show that the dephasing time is inversely dependent on the probe width, so narrower probe pulses allow for further delayed probe pulses, which in turn decrease non-resonant noise more. We demonstrate this technique by looking at the effects of hydrogen bonding in pyridine-water complexes.

Evolution of vulnerable carotid plaques are crucial reason for cerebral ischemic strokes and identifying them in the early stage can become very important in avoiding the risk of stroke. In order to improve the identification and quantification accuracy of infancy plaques better visualization techniques are needed. Improving the visualization and quantification of neovascularization in carotid plaque using contrast enhanced ultrasound imaging still remains a challenging task. In this thesis work, three optimization techniques are proposed, which showed an improvement in the sensitivity of contrast agents when compared to the conventional clinical settings and insonation strategies. They are as follows:1) Insonation at harmonic specific (2nd harmonic) resonance frequency instead of resonance frequency based on maximum energy absorption provides enhanced nonlinear contribution.2) At high frequency ultrasound imaging, shorter pulse length will provide improved harmonic signal content when compared to longer pulse lengths. Applying this concept to multi- pulse sequencing (Pulse Inversion and Cadence contrast pulse sequencing) resulted in increased magnitude of the remaining harmonic signal after pulse summations.3) Peak negative pressure optimization of Pulse Inversion and Cadence contrast pulse sequencing was showed to further enhance the nonlinear content of the backscattered signal from contrast microbubbles without increasing the safety limits, defined by the mechanical index.The results presented in this thesis are based on computational modeling (Bubblesim software) and as a future continuation we plan to verify the simulation results with vitro studies.

Les produits de contraste ultrasonore constituent un véritable apport pour l’imagerie échographique et sont aujourd’hui utilisés en clinique pour l’évaluation de la perfusion cardiaque ou encore la détection de tumeurs. Depuis quelques années, les transducteurs capacitifs micro-usinés (cMUTs) se présentent comme une alternative intéressante aux transducteurs piézoélectriques classiques et offrent certains avantages comme une large bande passante. Nous proposons dans cette thèse d’évaluer le potentiel de cette technologie pour l’imagerie de contraste. Dans un premier temps, notre étude s’est orientée vers l’adaptation des cMUTs à l’imagerie non linéaire. Ensuite, de nouvelles méthodes de détection de contraste, basées sur le comportement spécifique des microbulles, ont été développées pour exploiter les avantages de la technologie cMUT. Comparés aux méthodes conventionnelles, les résultats obtenus montrent une meilleure visualisation des agents de contraste par rapport aux tissus environnants. L’utilisation de cMUTs améliore l’efficacité de ces méthodes démontrant, ainsi, leur intérêt pour l’imagerie de contraste. / Using ultrasound contrast agents, many clinical diagnoses have now been improved thanks to new contrast dedicated imaging techniques. Contrast agents are now used routinely in cardiology and in radiology to improve the detection and visualization of blood perfusion in various organs (e.g. tumors). Since a few years, Capacitive Micromachined Ultrasonic Transducers (cMUTs) have emerged as a good alternative to traditional piezoelectric transducer. cMUTs provide several advantages such as wide frequency bandwidth which could be further developed for nonlinear imaging. In this dissertation, we propose to exploit cMUT for contrast agent imaging. Firstly, the excitation signal was adapted to suppress the inherent nonlinear behavior of cMUT. Then, new detection methods based on specific acoustic properties of microbubbles have been developed and evaluated with a cMUT probe. Results show a good suppression from tissue responses whereas echoes from microbubbles are enhanced. Furthermore, the efficiency of each method is improved by the use of cMUT revealing the potential of this new transducer technology for contrast agent detection.

La microscopie multiphotonique est un outil essentiel d’investigation en biologie cellulaire et tissulaire. Son extension à l’endoscopie est l’objet d’intenses efforts de recherche pour des applications en neurosciences (imagerie cérébrale du petit animal) ou en clinique (diagnostic précoce, aide à la biopsie). Ce manuscrit porte sur le développement d’un endomicroscope multiphotonique présentant des performances inédites. Ce dispositif est alimenté par un oscillateur titane-saphir standard. Vient ensuite un module de pré-compensation des distorsions linéaires et non linéaires se produisant dans la fibre endoscopique. Ce module permet d’obtenir des impulsions compressées de 39 fs à la sortie d’une fibre microstructurée air-silice innovante à double gaine de 5 mètres de long qui est optimisée pour l’excitation multiphotonique (cœur central de 3,4 µm à maintien de polarisation) et la collection du signal produit par les cibles biologiques. A l’extrémité de la fibre, on trouve une sonde endoscopique, de 2,2 mm de diamètre pour 37 mm de long, composée d’un micro-scanner à fibre optique et d’un micro-objectif achromatique de distance de travail supérieure à 400 µm. La résolution spatiale de l’appareil vaut 0,83 µm et l’acquisition se fait en simultané sur deux canaux spectraux à 8 images/s. L’appareil a permis l’enregistrement d’images in vivo sans marquage des tubules et de la capsule rénale, respectivement par fluorescence à deux photons des flavines et par génération de second harmonique du collagène, avec 30 mW sur les tissus et jusqu’à 300 µm sous la surface de l’organe. / Multiphoton microscopy is an essential investigative tool in cell and tissue biology. Its extension to endoscopy is the subject of intensive research for applications in neuroscience (brain imaging of small animals) or clinical (early diagnosis, help for biopsy). This manuscript focuses on the development of an endomicroscope with multiphoton unprecedented performance. This device is powered by a standard titanium-sapphire oscillator. Then comes a pre-compensation module of linear and nonlinear distortions occurring in the endoscopic fiber. This module provides compressed pulses of 39 fs at the direct output of 5 meters long innovative double-clad air-silica microstructured fiber which is optimized for multiphoton excitation (polarization maintaining central core of 3.4 µm) and the collection of the signal produced by biological targets. At the end of the fiber, there is an endoscopic probe, 2.2 mm in diameter and 37 mm long, composed of a micro fiber scanning system and an achromatic micro-objective with a working distance greater than 400 µm. The spatial resolution of the device is 0.83 µm and the acquisition is done simultaneously on two spectral channels at 8 frames/s. The device has recorded in vivo images without label of the tubules and the renal capsule, respectively by two-photon excitation fluorescence of flavins and second harmonic generation of collagen, with 30 mW on the tissues and 300 µm below the surface of the organ.