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Microbubbles in medical imaging: current applications and future directions

Nature Reviews Drug Discovery volume 3, pages 527–533 (2004)Cite this article

Abstract

Not all bubbles in the bloodstream are detrimental. During the past decade, contrast-enhanced ultrasound has evolved from a purely investigational tool to a routine diagnostic technique. This transformation has been facilitated by advances in the microbubble contrast agents and contrast-specific ultrasound imaging techniques. The ability to non-invasively image molecular events with targeted microbubbles is likely to be important for characterizing pathophysiology and for developing new therapeutic strategies in the treatment of cardiovascular and neoplastic diseases.

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Figure 1: Schematic illustration of the acoustic properties of microbubbles.
Figure 2: Imaging myocardial microvascular blood flow.
Figure 3: Strategies for microbubble targeting.
Figure 4: Targeted imaging of myocardial inflammation.
Figure 5: Targeted contrast ultrasound imaging of angiogenesis in a glioblastoma tumour.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Cardiovascular Division, Box 800158, University of Virginia Medical Center, Charlottesville, 22908, Virginia, USA

    Jonathan R. Lindner

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Competing interests

J.R.L. is a scientific advisory board member for Bristol-Myers Squibb Medical Imaging, and is a minority owner of Targeson, LLC.

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Lindner, J. Microbubbles in medical imaging: current applications and future directions. Nat Rev Drug Discov 3, 527–533 (2004). https://doi.org/10.1038/nrd1417

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