We report the fabrication and optical characterization of microsphere in chalcogenide (As2Se3). We show that high Q modes of a 9.2μm diameter chalcogenide glass can be efficiently excited via evanescent coupling using a silica tapered fiber. Loaded Q factors of more than 20 000 have been measured. Fine analysis of the coupling spectrum around 1619nm led to an estimation of the microsphere eccentricity of less than 1%. Owing to the unique combination properties of chalcogenide glass and the microspheres geometry, we expect this architecture to offer an ideal environment for versatile applications on both the telecommunication and midinfrared wavelength windows.

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The development of a multimodal instrument capable of real-time in situ measurements of cavitation activity and effect in tissue mimicking phantoms during ultrasound and cavitation mediated drug delivery experiments is described here. The instrument features an acoustic arm that can expose phantoms to high-intensity focused-ultrasound while measuring cavitation activity and an optical arm that monitors cavitation effect using confocal microscopy. This combination of modalities allows real-time in situ characterisation of drug delivery in tissue and tissue mimicking phantoms during ultrasound and cavitation mediated drug delivery experiments. A representative result, obtained with a tissue mimicking phantom and acoustically activated droplets, is presented here as a demonstration of the instrument’s capabilities and potential applications.