Impact of ultrasound contrast agents in cerebrovascular diagnostics.

This review gives a summary on current ultrasound contrast agents and their composition. Methods of brain imaging using UCA, like harmonic imaging and acoustic emission, are also described. Besides contrast-enhanced conventional color duplexsonography of the extracranial brain supplying arteries, transcranial contrast investigation of the basal cerebral arteries and visualization of cerebral microcirculation are also discussed in this paper. Another main topic are the interactions between UCA, human tissue and the ultrasound system.