A Numerical and Experimental Evaluation of Microbubble Communication Using OpenFOAM

Reliable communication in confined environments, such as blood vessels or industrial pipelines, remain challenging due to signal attenuation and limited sensor accessibility. Therefore, this work investigates microbubbles as robust information carriers within the Internet of Bio-Nano Things (IoBNT) paradigm, leveraging their established use as ultrasound contrast agents. It presents a combined experimental and numerical analysis characterizing microbubble transport under varying flow conditions relevant to biomedical and industrial applications. Experiments with SonoVue microbubbles in a recirculating water channel validate an OpenFOAM-based Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) simulation using the incompressibleDenseParticleFluid solver. Key cases examine water vs. blood-like media and high vs. physiological flow velocities, analyzing the relative influence of fluid properties and advection on microbubble dynamics. Recirculation effects are considered in relation to in vivo circulation timescales.

Experimental Analysis of Microbubble Propagation for In-Body Data Transmission

In-body communication is an upcoming field with significant implications for medical diagnostics and therapeutic interventions. Microbubbles have gained attention due to their distinct physical properties, making them promising candidates to facilitate communication within the human body. This work explores the use of microbubbles as communication carriers, with a particular focus on their detection and the application of a modulation scheme. Through experimental analysis the feasibility and effectiveness of microbubble-based communication is tested. Filtering and peak detection methods are applied to accurately identify the presence of microbubbles despite noise, demonstrating the feasibility of microbubble-based communication systems for future biomedical applications. The results offer insights into signal integrity, noise challenges, and the optimization of detection algorithms, providing a foundation for future advancements in this field.