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Production of microbubbles for use as echo contrast agents
Author(s) -
Butler Bruce D.
Publication year - 1986
Publication title -
journal of clinical ultrasound
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.272
H-Index - 61
eISSN - 1097-0096
pISSN - 0091-2751
DOI - 10.1002/jcu.1870140517
Subject(s) - medicine , microbubbles , echo (communications protocol) , contrast (vision) , radiology , ultrasound , artificial intelligence , computer network , computer science
A variety of agents have been proposed for use as contrast for ultrasound studies. Several reports suggest the use of microbubbles because of their superior son‐ographic resolution. We describe a method of producing calibrated microbubbles utilizing differential absorption and gas injection techniques. Gas injection methods are described using a Plexiglas® microbubbler apparatus with a fine needle orifice. The bubbles originally produced by this device are in a size range of 40–100 μm and consist of nitrogen (10%) and carbon dioxide (90%). The differential absorption technique uses THAM [tris(hydroxylmethyl)aminomethane hydrochloride] to absorb the carbon dioxide (diluent gas) from the bubbles selectively, leaving smaller microbubbles. The microbubbles can be calibrated using the electric gating principle of the Coulter Counter.