Bracco International Bv

Maria-Bernadette Barrau

Michel Schneider

Philippe Bussat

Feng Yan

Daniel Bichon

Jerome Puginier

Eva Hybl

Nadine Gercel, Legal Representative

Gas or air filled microbubble suspensions in aqueous phases usable as imaging contrast agents in ultrasonic echography. They contain laminarized surfactants and, optionally, hydrophilic stabilizers. The laminarized surfactants can be in the form of liposomes. The suspensions are obtained by exposing the laminarized surfactants to air or a gas before or after admixing with an aqueous phase. One can impart outstanding resistance against collapse under pressure to these gas-filled microbubbles used as contrast agents in ultrasonic echography by using as fillers gases whose solubility in water, expressed in liter of gas by liter of water under standard conditions, divided by the square root of the molecular weight does not exceed 0.003.

Ultrasound contrast agents and methods of making and using them

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Genéve, Switzerland

Maria-Bernadette Barrau