Development of Ultrasound Contrast Agents for Targeted Drug and Gene Delivery

摘要

Today, ultrasound (US) applications in medicine are so extensive that one cannot imagineroutine clinical practice without them. US applications provide non-invasive, cost-efficientand well-developed modalities for imaging and diagnostics. In addition, several therapeuticapproaches involving US have gained public acceptance and compliance. For example, highintensityfocused US (HIFU) is used to ablate solid tumors and tissue regions, and lithotriptershockwaves are used to destroy kidney stones.The introducing of the first microbubble US contrast agents (MBs) has brought a greatimprovement in US diagnostics. Until the 1990’s, they were mainly used for right heartopacification and cardiac shunt diagnostics. This approach was limited due to MBs’ lowstability and large size, making them unable to pass pulmonary capillaries after intravenousinjection. Developing stable and sufficiently small gas filled MBs allowed systemiccirculation of an effective US contrast agent after intravenous injection, thus opening a widerange of new diagnostic applications. More recently, such MBs have evolved into a promisingcarrier for therapeutic substances. This work will focus on the aspects of pharmaceuticaldeveloping of MB carriers for site specific tumor and gene therapy.