Ultrasound and Microbubbles

Ultrasound diagnostic imaging is a widely used modality in clinical practice. It has advantages over other imaging modalities like MRI, CT and X-ray because it is safer, cheaper and more portable.  

Microbubbles are micrometer acoustically-active surfactant stabilized gas spheres that are proven safe for contrast-enhanced ultrasound (CEUS) imaging to measure blood perfusion and volume and to aid in early disease detection and diagnosis. 

The therapeutic benefit of a properly engineered microbubble (with size optimization and stability) can drastically improve the efficiency of ultrasound targeted  drug/gene delivery to hard to target disease sites such as the neurological disorders restricted by the blood-brain barrier and various solid tumor cancers 

Lipid-stabilized gas microbubble