Trapping and deformation of microbubbles in a dual-beam fibre-optic trap

We present results of numerical calculations to evaluate the performance of a dual-beam fibre-optic trap for low refractive index particles such as ultrasound contrast agent microbubbles. Using a geometrical optics approach, we determine the range of parameters of microbubble size and beam dimensions over which the optical trap is stable and evaluate the trapping forces and spring constants. Additionally, we calculate the optically induced stress profile over the surface of the microbubble and evaluate the resulting deformation of the microbubble using elastic membrane theory. Our results suggest that such an experiment could be a useful tool for quantifying the mechanical properties (elastic modulus) of the shell material of an ultrasound contrast agent microbubble. (paper)