Oregon Health & Science University, Portland, OR, USA.
Methods Mol Biol. 2022;2419:801-808. doi: 10.1007/978-1-0716-1924-7_48.
The management of cardiovascular conditions will likely be improved by noninvasive in vivo molecular imaging technologies that can provide earlier or more accurate diagnosis. These techniques are already having a positive impact in preclinical research by providing insight into disease pathobiology or efficacy of new therapies. Contrast enhanced ultrasound (CEU) molecular imaging is a technique that relies on the ultrasound detection of targeted microbubble contrast agents to examine molecular or cellular events that occur at the blood pool-endothelial interface. For the most part, targeted contrast agents are composed of encapsulated gas microbubbles (MBs) that are 2-4 μm in diameter, or other acoustically active micro- or nanoparticles. These agents bear several tens of thousands of binding molecules per particle. Because nonadhered agent is cleared rapidly, CEU molecular imaging can be performed in a matter of minutes. MBs are detected using contrast-specific techniques that generate and receive nonlinear signals produced by MB cavitation, thereby increasing signal-to-noise ratio. Dedicated kinetic models for molecular imaging have been generated that permit the elimination of signal from nonadherent agent.
通过能够提供更早或更准确诊断的非侵入性体内分子成像技术，心血管疾病的治疗管理水平可能会得到提高。这些技术通过提供对疾病病理生物学或新疗法疗效的深入了解，在临床前研究中已经产生了积极的影响。对比增强超声（CEU）分子成像是一种依赖于靶向微泡造影剂的超声检测来检查发生在血池-内皮界面的分子或细胞事件的技术。在大多数情况下，靶向造影剂由封装的气体微泡（MB）组成，直径为 2-4μm，或其他声活性的微或纳米颗粒。这些试剂每个颗粒上带有几千个结合分子。由于未附着的试剂会被迅速清除，因此 CEU 分子成像可以在几分钟内完成。使用对比特异性技术来检测 MB，这些技术会产生和接收由 MB 空化产生的非线性信号，从而提高信噪比。已经生成了用于分子成像的专用动力学模型，这些模型可以消除非附着试剂的信号。
