Improving the Performance of Phase-Change Perfluorocarbon Droplets for Medical Ultrasonography: Current Progress, Challenges, and Prospects
Over the past two decades, perfluorocarbon (PFC) droplets have been investigated for biomedical applications across a wide range of imaging modalities. More recently, interest has increased in “phase-change” PFC droplets (or “phase-change” contrast agents), which can convert from liquid to gas with...
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| Main Authors: | , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Wiley
2014-01-01
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| Series: | Scientifica |
| Online Access: | http://dx.doi.org/10.1155/2014/579684 |
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| Summary: | Over the past two decades, perfluorocarbon (PFC) droplets have been investigated for biomedical applications across a wide range of imaging modalities. More recently, interest has increased in “phase-change” PFC droplets (or “phase-change” contrast agents), which can convert from liquid to gas with an external energy input. In the field of ultrasound, phase-change droplets present an attractive alternative to traditional microbubble agents for many diagnostic and therapeutic applications. Despite the progress, phase-change PFC droplets remain far from clinical implementation due to a number of challenges. In this review, we survey our recent work to enhance the performance of phase-change agents for ultrasound through a variety of techniques in order to provide increased efficacy in therapeutic applications of ultrasound and enable previously unexplored applications in diagnostic and molecular imaging. |
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| ISSN: | 2090-908X |