Postema Michiel, Schmitz Georg
Institute for Medical Engineering, Department of Electrical Engineering & Information Technology, Ruhr-Universität Bochum, Building IC, 6/146, D-44780 Bochum, Germany.
Expert Rev Mol Diagn. 2006 May;6(3):493-502. doi: 10.1586/14737159.6.3.493.
In clinical ultrasound, blood cells cannot be differentiated from surrounding tissue, due to the low acoustic impedance difference between blood cells and their surroundings. Resonant gas bubbles introduced in the bloodstream are ideal markers, if rapid dissolution can be prevented. Ultrasound contrast agents consist of microscopically small bubbles encapsulated by an elastic shell. These microbubbles oscillate upon ultrasound insonification. Microbubbles with thin lipid shells have demonstrated highly nonlinear behavior. To enhance diagnostic ultrasound imaging techniques and to explore therapeutic applications, these medical microbubbles have been modeled. Several detection techniques have been proposed to improve the detectability of the microbubbles. A new generation of contrast agents, with special targeting ligands attached to the shells, may assist the imaging of nonphysical properties of target tissue. Owing to microbubble-based contrast agents, ultrasound is becoming an even more important technique in clinical diagnostics.
在临床超声检查中，由于血细胞与其周围组织之间的声阻抗差异较小，血细胞无法与周围组织区分开来。如果能防止其快速溶解，引入血流中的共振气泡是理想的标志物。超声造影剂由被弹性外壳包裹的微小气泡组成。这些微气泡在超声照射下会发生振荡。具有薄脂质外壳的微气泡已表现出高度非线性行为。为了增强诊断超声成像技术并探索治疗应用，已对这些医用微气泡进行了建模。已经提出了几种检测技术来提高微气泡的可检测性。新一代造影剂在其外壳上附着了特殊的靶向配体，可能有助于对靶组织的非物理特性进行成像。由于基于微气泡的造影剂，超声在临床诊断中正变得更加重要。
