Tiny bubbles making large impact on medical ultrasound imaging

New research demonstrates ability to manipulate nanobubble size, acoustic resonance and, ultimately, ultrasound effectiveness — March 12, 2021 EurekAlert! RYERSON UNIVERSITY – Faculty of Science Research News – News release   Schematic of bubble membrane showing the influence of membrane stiffener and membrane softener in the phospholipid packing. Credit: Amin Jafari Sojahrood and Al C. […]

Contrast echocardiography facilitates appropriate management of hospitalized patients with coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) and suspected right ventricular masses: case series

March 10, 2021 — European Heart Journal Abstract Background Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) infection is associated with a coagulopathy with high incidence of venous thrombo-embolism. However, bleeding risk is also significant, causing difficulty in initiating and adjusting anticoagulation therapy in case of suspected thrombi. Cardiac masses can be challenging to be identified properly in the context of […]

An Update on the Pediatric CEUS Registry on Behalf of the “EFSUMB Pediatric CEUS Registry Working Group”

March 9, 2021 — EFSUMB Abstract The European Federation of Ultrasound in Medicine and Biology (EFSUMB) created the “EFSUMB Pediatric Registry” (EFSUMB EPR) with the purpose of collecting data regarding the intravenous application of pediatric contrast-enhanced ultrasound (CEUS). The primary aim was to document the current clinical practice and usefulness of the technique and secondarily […]

Preoperative Contrast-Enhanced Ultrasound (CEUS) Combined with 125I Seeds Localization in Sentinel Lymph Node Biopsy for Breast Cancer

February 24, 2021 — Dovepress Abstract Objective: To assess the clinical value of contrast-enhanced ultrasound (CEUS) technology in predicting axillary lymph nodes status before surgery, and to explore the feasibility of sentinel lymph nodes (SLNs) localization guided by CEUS combined with 125I implantation for breast cancer. Methods: From August 2017 to February 2019, 115 patients […]

Contrast-Enhanced vs Conventional Endoscopic Ultrasound for Diagnosis of Pancreatic Lesions

February 22, 2021 — Gastroenterology Advisor By Brandon May In this multicenter Korean trial, 240 consecutive patients (mean age, 67.30 years) with solid pancreatic lesions were randomly assigned to undergo either CEH-EUS (n=120) as participants in the interventional group or only conventional EUS (n=120) as participants in the control group. Researchers compared CEH-EUS-guided fine needle […]

FDA approves packaging for Bracco's Lumason agent

February 22, 2021 — AuntMinnie.com Bracco is set to introduce a 20-vial package of its Lumason ultrasound contrast agent following clearance by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). The new packaging of Lumason (sulfur hexafluoride lipid-type A microspheres) contrast is a good option for the environmentally conscious and better from the point of view […]

Contrast-enhanced ultrasound of the pediatric brain

February 18, 2021 — Pediatric Radiology Abstract Brain contrast-enhanced ultrasound (CEUS) is an emerging application that can complement gray-scale US and yield additionalinsights into cerebral flow dynamics. CEUS uses intravenous injection of ultrasound contrast agents (UCAs) to highlight tissueperfusion and thus more clearly delineate cerebral pathologies including stroke, hypoxic–ischemic injury and focal lesions suchas tumors […]

5 Key Trends in Ultrasound Systems

Recent advances in ultrasound image systems include AI, automation, POCUS and development of therapeutic systems February 18, 2021 — Imaging Technology News Abstract Recent advances in ultrasound image systems seen over the past year include the integration of artificial intelligence (AI), automation of functions and measurements, introduction of very specialized tool sets, the rapid growth […]

MR versus CEUS LI-RADS for Distinguishing Hepatocellular Carcinoma from other Hepatic Malignancies in High-Risk Patients

February 18, 2021 — Ultrasound in Medicine and Biology Abstract Distinguishing between other hepatic malignancies (OMs) and hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is vital to allow clinicians to determine optimal treatment and assess prognosis in patients at high risk for HCC. This study evaluated the performance of the Liver Imaging Reporting and Data System (LI-RADS) using magnetic […]

Focused Ultrasound and Microbubble Treatment Increases Delivery of Transferrin Receptor-Targeting Liposomes to the Brain

February 16, 2021 — Ultrasound in Medicine and Biology Abstract The blood-brain barrier (BBB) is a major obstacle to treating several brain disorders. Focused ultrasound (FUS) in combination with intravascular microbubbles increases BBB permeability by opening tight junctions, creating endothelial cell openings, improving endocytosis and increasing transcytosis. Here we investigated whether combining FUS and microbubbles […]

SRU CEUS Guidelines for Non-Cardiac Imaging

Contrast Enhanced Ultrasound, State of the Art in North America Ultrasound Quarterly  Authors; Richard Barr, et al Guidelines for non-cardiac CEUS, published as a SRU white paper in September 2020 and reported subsequently in the ICUS Weekly News Monitor, are now included on the ICUS website. Visit icus-society.org and click on ‘Body Imaging’ for liver, […]

Sonoporation: Underlying Mechanisms and Applications in Cellular Regulation

February 6, 2021 — BIO Integration Abstract Ultrasound combined with microbubble-mediated sonoporation has been applied to enhance drug or gene intracellular delivery. Sonoporation leads to the formation of openings in the cell membrane, triggered by ultrasound-mediated oscillations and destruction of microbubbles. Multiple mechanisms are involved in the occurrence of sonoporation, including ultrasonic parameters, microbubbles size, […]

Neuronavigation-guided focused ultrasound for transcranial blood-brain barrier opening and immunostimulation in brain tumors

February 5, 2021 — Science Advances Abstract Focused ultrasound (FUS) in the presence of microbubbles can transiently open the blood-brain barrier (BBB) to increase therapeutic agent penetration at the targeted brain site to benefit recurrent glioblastoma (rGBM) treatment. This study is a dose-escalating pilot trial using a device combining neuronavigation and a manually operated frameless […]

Quantifiable Contrast-Enhanced Ultrasound Explores the Role of Protection, Rest, Ice (Cryotherapy), Compression and Elevation (PRICE) Therapy on Microvascular Blood Flow

February 4, 2021 — Ultrasound in Medicine and Biology Abstract The aim of this randomized controlled laboratory study was to evaluate the role of standardized protection, rest, ice (cryotherapy), compression and elevation (PRICE) therapy on microvascular blood flow in human skeletal muscle. Quantifiable contrast-enhanced ultrasound was used to analyze intramuscular tissue perfusion (ITP) of the […]

The Application of Contrast Enhanced Ultrasound for Core Needle Biopsy of Subpleural Pulmonary Lesions: Retrospective Analysis in 92 Patients

February 2, 2021 Abstract The purpose of this study was to investigate the role of contrast-enhanced ultrasound (CEUS) in determining the viable target area in patients with subpleural pulmonary lesions before ultrasound-guided transthoracic core biopsy. In this retrospective study, we analyzed 92 patients with subpleural pulmonary lesions (63 males and 29 females; mean age: 65.17 […]

Clinical Utility of Contrast-enhanced Ultrasound for the Diagnosis of Lymphadenopathy

January 21, 2021 — Ultrasound in Medicine and Biology Abstract This meta-analysis aimed to evaluate the diagnostic accuracy of contrast-enhanced ultrasonography (CEUS) in identifying lymphazdenopathy. PubMed, Web of Science, Embase and the Cochrane Library were searched for relevant articles through September 2020. A total of 16 articles, which included 1787 participants, were analyzed. The summary […]

Perfusion patterns of peripheral pulmonary lesions in COVID‐19 patients using contrast‐enhanced ultrasound (CEUS)

January 18, 2021 — Journal of Ultrasound in Medicine Abstract Purpose To describe perfusion patterns of peripheral pulmonary lesions (PPLs) in COVID‐19 patients using contrast‐enhanced ultrasound (CEUS). Patients and methods From April 2020 until July 2020, 11 consecutive patients with RT‐PCR‐confirmed COVID‐19 and PPLs sized over 5 mm were investigated by B‐mode ultrasound (B‐US) and CEUS. […]

Cortical perfusion as assessed with contrast-enhanced ultrasound is lower in patients with chronic kidney disease than in healthy subjects but increases under low salt conditions

January 11, 2021 — Nephrology Dialysis Transplantation Abstract Background Disturbances in renal microcirculation play an important role in the pathophysiology of chronic kidney disease (CKD), but the lack of easy accessible techniques hampers our understanding of the regulation of the renal microcirculation in humans. We assessed whether contrast-enhanced ultrasound (CEUS) can identify differences in cortical […]

New Applications in Echocardiography for Ultrasound Contrast Agents in the 21st Century

January 8, 2020 — Ultrasound in Medicine and Biology Abstract Contrast echocardiography microbubbles are ultrasound-enhancing agents that were originally designed to help improve endocardial border definition, known as left ventricle opacification, and to enhance Doppler signals. Over time, contrast microbubbles are used to assess myocardial perfusion because they travel through the capillaries of the cardiac […]