Dataset associated with "Influence of intercalating perfluorohexane into the lipid shell on nano and microbubbles stability"

The data presented here supports the images presented in the manuscript to clarify the effect of incorporating perfluorohexane into the microbubble. Briefly: Microbubbles have potential diagnostic and therapeutic agents. In vivo stability is important with the bubbles required to survive multiple passages through heart and lungs to permit targeting, and delivery. Here we have systematically varied key parameters affecting microbubble lifetime to significantly increase in vivo stability. Whilst shell and core composition are found to have important role in improving microbubble stability, we show that inclusion of small quantities of C6F14 in the microbubble bolus significantly improves lifetime. Our results indicate that the C6F14 inserts into lipid shell, decreasing surface tension, to 19 mN/m, and increasing shell resistance, as well as saturating the surrounding medium. Surface area isotherms suggest that C6F14 incorporates into the acyl chain region of the lipid, at high molar ratio indicating ~2 perfluorocarbon molecule per 5 lipid molecules. The resulting microbubble boluses exhibit higher in vivo image intensity, compared to the commercial compositions as well as longer lifetimes.