Microbubble ultrasound contrast agents: a review.

The superior scattering properties of gas bubbles compared with blood cells have made microbubble ultrasound contrast agents important tools in ultrasound diagnosis. Over the past 2 years they have become the focus of a wide and rapidly expanding field of research, with their benefits being repeated...

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Main Authors: Stride, E, Saffari, N
Format: Journal article
Language:English
Published: 2003
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author Stride, E
Saffari, N
author_facet Stride, E
Saffari, N
author_sort Stride, E
collection OXFORD
description The superior scattering properties of gas bubbles compared with blood cells have made microbubble ultrasound contrast agents important tools in ultrasound diagnosis. Over the past 2 years they have become the focus of a wide and rapidly expanding field of research, with their benefits being repeatedly demonstrated, both in ultrasound image enhancement, and more recently in drug and gene delivery applications. However, despite considerable investigation, their behaviour is by no means fully understood and, while no definite evidence of harmful effects has been obtained, there remain some concerns as to their safety. In this review the existing theoretical and experimental evidence is examined in order to clarify the extent to which contrast agents are currently understood and to identify areas for future research. In particular the disparity between the conditions considered in theoretical models and those encountered both in vitro, and more importantly in vivo is discussed, together with the controversy regarding the risk of harmful bio-effects.
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spelling oxford-uuid:977b857f-d6a3-43e4-a2cb-e40621fb5b872022-03-26T23:59:53ZMicrobubble ultrasound contrast agents: a review.Journal articlehttp://purl.org/coar/resource_type/c_dcae04bcuuid:977b857f-d6a3-43e4-a2cb-e40621fb5b87EnglishSymplectic Elements at Oxford2003Stride, ESaffari, NThe superior scattering properties of gas bubbles compared with blood cells have made microbubble ultrasound contrast agents important tools in ultrasound diagnosis. Over the past 2 years they have become the focus of a wide and rapidly expanding field of research, with their benefits being repeatedly demonstrated, both in ultrasound image enhancement, and more recently in drug and gene delivery applications. However, despite considerable investigation, their behaviour is by no means fully understood and, while no definite evidence of harmful effects has been obtained, there remain some concerns as to their safety. In this review the existing theoretical and experimental evidence is examined in order to clarify the extent to which contrast agents are currently understood and to identify areas for future research. In particular the disparity between the conditions considered in theoretical models and those encountered both in vitro, and more importantly in vivo is discussed, together with the controversy regarding the risk of harmful bio-effects.
spellingShingle Stride, E
Saffari, N
Microbubble ultrasound contrast agents: a review.
title Microbubble ultrasound contrast agents: a review.
title_full Microbubble ultrasound contrast agents: a review.
title_fullStr Microbubble ultrasound contrast agents: a review.
title_full_unstemmed Microbubble ultrasound contrast agents: a review.
title_short Microbubble ultrasound contrast agents: a review.
title_sort microbubble ultrasound contrast agents a review
work_keys_str_mv AT stridee microbubbleultrasoundcontrastagentsareview
AT saffarin microbubbleultrasoundcontrastagentsareview