松沢 徹, 丁子 清, 陳 敏華, 入江 五朗

Tohru MATSUZAWA, Kiyoshi CHOUJI, Binka CHIN, Gorou IRIE

北海道大学医学部放射線科

Department of Radiology, Faculty of Medicine, University of Hokkaido

キーワード : Ultrasonography, Contrast medium, Microbubble, Lecithin

As a new ultrasonic contrast medium (USCM), Lecithin-encapsulated microbubbles were produced by sonication. Compared to sonicated solutions of albumin (25%) and glucose (70%), the USCM produced stronger backscatter enhancement for in vitro system and persisted longer. The size of the microbubbles verified by light microscopy (mean 2.8 microns, mode 1.5 microns) was smaller than the microbubbles of other agents previously reported. The effect of intravenous injection of the USCM was evaluated using rabbits. Diffuse echo enhancement of the liver and kidney was demonstrated and persisted for several minutes. This study indicated that lecithin-encapsulated microbubbles may be used intravenously as an USCM.