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US 5,536,489 AGranted
Emulsions as contrast agents and method of use
AssigneeMolecular Biosystems, Inc.
InventorsRolf Lohrmann, Kenneth J. Widder, Ashwin M. Krishnan, Dung K. Hong, Jialun Meng
Life of this patent
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Abstract
This invention relates to an oil-in-water emulsion that is of a water-insoluble gas-forming chemical and a stabilizer. The emulsion being capable of forming microbubbles of gas upon application of ultrasonic energy. This composition allows for site specific imaging as the image enhancing microbubbles can be released upon the application of ultrasonic energy at the specific location where the image is desired.
Claims11
A method to enhance the contrast of tissues and organs in an ultrasonic image comprising:
- (a) injecting an emulsion comprising at least one water-insoluble gas-forming chemical and at least one stabilizer into a patient, said emulsion being capable of forming microbubbles of gas upon application of ultrasonic energy (b) applying a sufficient amount of ultrasonic energy to volatilize said chemicals to release microbubbles;
- and (c) detecting an ultrasonic image.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.