Multifunctional Microbubbles in Ultrasound Theranostics

Abstract

The discipline of medical imaging is expanding beyond an assessment of anatomical structure to functional imaging and an assessment of the nature and extent of disease. This advancement is made possible by recent discoveries in molecular science, which provide the opportunity to design targeted contrast agents. Targeted imaging using ultrasound relies on contrast agents to localize a specific molecular signature or physiologic system and combines the efficacy of a contrast agent with an adhesion molecule to target the contrast directly to the desired region. Current ultrasound contrast agents are encapsulated microbubbles and have demonstrated effectiveness in cardiology and radiology. These contrast agents become identifiers of a specific molecular signature either by their preferential uptake by a physiologic system or by specific targeting of the agent through incorporation of adhesion molecules into the microbubble shell. Targeted ultrasound contrast agents provide an opportunity to image physiology or pathology that might be otherwise difficult to distinguish from the surrounding tissue without targeted contrast enhancement. This talk proposes the multi-functional microbubbles employed with ultrasound for drugs delivery/release, mechanical cell destruction, and US/MRI targeted imaging applications, thus presenting a new strategy for ultrasound theranostics.