How to pop open soft nanoparticles using sound waves

Ultrasound has long been an important tool for medical imaging. Recently, medical researchers have demonstrated that focused ultrasound waves can also improve the delivery of therapeutic agents such as drugs and genetic material. The waves form bubbles that make cell membranes—as well as synthetic membranes enclosing drug-carrying vesicles—more permeable. However, the bubble-membrane interaction is not well understood.