Ultrasound imaging of novel microbubbles contrast media with a shell of N-palmitoyl chitosan

Objective To develop a novel microbubbles with N-palmitoyl chitosan (PCMB) contrast media,and to evaluate its effect on ultrasound contrast imaging. Methods N-palmitoyl chitosan solution was sonicated to create PCMB. Optical micrographs,Coulter counter and Zeta potential were used to determine the bubbles' size,morphology,concentration and electric potential. The contrast-enhanced images of left ventricle,liver and kidney were required during intravenous bolus-injections of 0.1 ml PCMB. was serviced as the control. The peak intensity (PI),time to peak intensity (TTP),half peak intensity (HPT) and visual opacification-time were analyzed offline with PC software. Results PCMB was well-distributed with a mean concentration of (2.88±0.45)×109 /ml,a mean diameter of (1.31±0.07)μm (99.98% of them were smaller than 8 μm) and a surface potential of (55.03±3.08)mV. Satisfactory ultrasound contrast images of the left ventricle,liver and kidney were got after PCMB. TP and TTP of PCMB was similar to Quanfuxian (P0.05),while HPT and the visual opacification-time of PCMB were obviously longer than Quanfuxian (P0.001). Conclusion The novel microbubbles,with inexpensive and good-biocompatibility shell material N-palmitoyl chitosan,have excellent efficacy on ultrasound contrast imaging.