title: B-mode enhancement at phase-inversion US with air-based microbubble contrast agent: initial experience in humans.
abstract: Pulse- or phase-inversion ultrasonography (US) sums the signals returned from two 180 degrees ultrasound pulses. Linear scattering from tissue results in a signal void while nonlinear signals from microbubbles stand out. The technique was applied with a US contrast agent in 39 human subjects. B-mode enhancement of vessels and organ parenchyma was seen in all cases. Enhancement occurred from flowing and stationary microbubbles. The flow-independent enhancement of normal and abnormal tissue represents a major advance in contrast material-enhanced US with many potential applications especially in tumor imaging.
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiology and Nuclear Medicine, Universitätsklinikum Benjamin Franklin, Freie Universität Berlin, Hindenburgdamm 30, D-12200 Berlin, Germany. t.albrecht@medizin.fu-berlin.de
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Albrecht
authors.forename: C W
authors.initials: CW
authors.lastname: Hoffmann
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Schettler
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Overberg
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Ilg
authors.forename: P L
authors.initials: PL
authors.lastname: von Behren
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Bauer
authors.forename: K J
authors.initials: KJ
authors.lastname: Wolf
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D003287:Contrast Media; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008863:Microspheres; D008875:Middle Aged; D011134:Polysaccharides; D014463:Ultrasonography / Q000379:methods*
chemical_list: D003287:Contrast Media; D011134:Polysaccharides; C059891:SHU 508