Safety and bio-effects of ultrasound contrast agents

The use of gas-filled microbubbles as ultrasound contrast agents raises potential safety concerns for diagnostic ultrasound imaging. A number of biological effects have been seen in experimental systems, including the induction of physiological response to cardiac exposures (premature ventricular co...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Medical & biological engineering & computing 2009-08, Vol.47 (8), p.893-900
Main Author: ter Haar, Gail
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Acoustics
Animals
Biomedical and Life Sciences
Biomedical Engineering and Bioengineering
Biomedicine
Blood
Bubbles
Cavitation
Computer Applications
Contrast agents
Contrast Media - adverse effects
Echocardiography - adverse effects
Echocardiography - methods
Effects
Gases
Human Physiology
Humans
Imaging
Medical imaging
Mice
Microbubbles - adverse effects
Practice Guidelines as Topic
Radiology
Rats
Safety
Shear stress
Special Issue - Original Article
Studies
Ultrasonic imaging
Ultrasonography - adverse effects
Ultrasonography - methods
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Summary:The use of gas-filled microbubbles as ultrasound contrast agents raises potential safety concerns for diagnostic ultrasound imaging. A number of biological effects have been seen in experimental systems, including the induction of physiological response to cardiac exposures (premature ventricular contractions) and damage at a microvascular level (microvascular rupture and petechial haemorrhage). The literature indicates that a mechanical index (MI) of 0.4 represents the threshold above which microvascular bio-effects are seen in in vivo studies. Above this value, the extent of biological effects appears to increase rapidly with both increasing in situ peak negative acoustic pressure amplitude and with contrast agent concentration. While there is no proven evidence of harm resulting from clinical use of these agents, caution is recommended when contrast-enhanced imaging is undertaken.
ISSN:0140-0118
1741-0444
DOI:10.1007/s11517-009-0507-3