Tachibana Katsuro
Dept. of Anatomy, Faculty of Medicine, Fukuoka University, Jounan-ku, Fukuoka, Japan.
Gan To Kagaku Ryoho. 2013 Mar;40(3):291-3.
Ultrasound is often used for non-invasive diagnostic use in a clinical setting. Therapeutic ultrasound, on the other hand, has mainly been applied for its thermal or mechanical effects. Medical applications of high-energy ultrasound to ablate cancers are now under investigation(high intensity focused ultrasound: HIFU). Recently, there have been reports on the application of non-thermal ultrasound energy for treating various diseases in combination with drugs. Furthermore, the introduction of microbubbles, molecular targeted echo contrast agents, and carriers/enhancers of drugs has added a whole new dimension to diagnosis and therapy. Ultrasound irradiation of tissues and cells is effective for enhancing drug targeting, lowering systemic drug toxicity, and improving drug absorption rates. Efficient delivery of a drug into target cells or tissues for therapeutic purposes had always been a big challenge requiring multidisciplinary effort by experts in different scientific fields. Current advances in molecular imaging and therapy will also be discussed.
超声常用于临床环境中的非侵入性诊断。另一方面，治疗性超声主要因其热效应或机械效应而被应用。高能超声消融癌症的医学应用目前正在研究中（高强度聚焦超声：HIFU）。最近，有关于非热超声能量与药物联合治疗各种疾病的报道。此外，微泡、分子靶向超声造影剂以及药物载体/增强剂的引入为诊断和治疗增添了全新的维度。超声照射组织和细胞对于增强药物靶向性、降低全身药物毒性以及提高药物吸收率是有效的。将药物有效递送至靶细胞或组织以用于治疗目的一直是一项巨大的挑战，需要不同科学领域的专家进行多学科协作。本文还将讨论分子成像和治疗方面的当前进展。
