A Numerical and Experimental Evaluation of Microbubble Communication Using OpenFOAM

Abstract

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.