Dayton Paul A, Rychak Joshua J
Department of Biomedical Engineering, University of California, Davis, California 95616, USA.
Front Biosci. 2007 Sep 1;12:5124-42. doi: 10.2741/2553.
Molecular imaging is a new field in bioscience which, by virtue of utilizing a contrast agent or reporter, facilitates early detection of the disease processes before phenotypic changes become apparent. Molecular imaging with ultrasound utilizes contrast agents that bear adhesion ligands designed to bind tissue markers specific for a disease process. Such agents can be detected by ultrasound with a great degree of sensitivity, providing both anatomical reference information as well as additional data such as molecular characteristics of the interrogated region. This review summarizes current applications and challenges of molecular ultrasound imaging and offers future technologies which likely follow as an improvement to the existing techniques. Due to the widespread availability of ultrasound and ease of use, molecular ultrasound imaging is likely to emerge as a powerful diagnostic technique.
分子成像是生物科学中的一个新领域，它通过使用造影剂或报告基因，在表型变化变得明显之前促进疾病过程的早期检测。超声分子成像利用携带粘附配体的造影剂，这些配体旨在结合疾病过程特有的组织标志物。这种造影剂可以通过超声以高度敏感性进行检测，既提供解剖学参考信息，也提供诸如被检查区域的分子特征等额外数据。本综述总结了分子超声成像的当前应用和挑战，并提供了可能作为现有技术改进而出现的未来技术。由于超声的广泛可用性和易用性，分子超声成像可能会成为一种强大的诊断技术。
