Diagnostic ultrasound potentially represents a billion dollar a year market worldwide. The applicants' specific aims and longterm objective involve the development of an efficient and low-cost ultrasound contrast agent with improved image sensitivity such that the applicants believe could become the industry standard for a variety of diagnostic procedures (i.e. hepatosplenic imaging, cardiac imaging and wall-motion studies, blood- pool imaging [hemangiomas], and vascular flow studies). The research methodology would involve critical in vitro, in vivo, and acoustic characterization studies to aid the applicant organization, ImaRx Pharmaceutical, in determining the potential for it's application. The implications of the research could provide a means for substantially reduced health-care costs with regard to diagnostic imaging as the use of Aerosomes with ultrasound potentially could become a high quality and reliable alternative to existing, more costly, diagnostic procedures (MRI, CT, etc.). This could become particularly beneficial for small community hospitals as well as third work health care concerns as Aerosomes with ultrasound could provide high quality, low cost diagnostic healthcare. Goals of Phase II would include: acoustic characterization; shelf life stability determination; conduct of detailed pharmacology and toxicology; conduct of detailed biodistribution studies, conduct of further imaging studies, and initiate planning of Phase I clinical trials.
| Grauer, S E; Pantely, G A; Xu, J et al. (1996) Myocardial imaging with a new transpulmonary lipid-fluorocarbon echo contrast agent: experimental studies in pigs. Am Heart J 132:938-45 |
