Osmotically stabilized microbubble preparations
US6258339A · kind A · utility
Assignee
Inventors
Key dates
| Filing date | May 5, 1997 |
| Grant date | Jul 10, 2001 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | May 5, 2017 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC G)Physics
- CPC primaryG02B6/0006
- WIPO fieldPharmaceuticals
- WIPO sectorChemistry
Abstract
A microbubble preparation formed of a plurality of microbubbles comprising a first gas and a second gas surrounded by a membrane such as a surfactant, wherein the first gas and the second gas are present in a molar ratio of from about 1:100 to about 1000:1, and wherein the first gas has a vapor pressure of at least about (760-x) mm Hg at 37.degree. C., where x is the vapor pressure of the second gas at 37.degree. C., and wherein the vapor pressure of each of the first and second gases is greater than about 75 mm Hg at 37.degree. C.; also disclosed are methods for preparing microbubble compositions, including compositions that rapidly shrink from a first average diameter to a second average diameter less than about 75% of the first average diameter and are stabilized at the second average diameter; kits for preparing microbubbles; and methods for using such microbubbles as ultrasound contrast agents.
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.