Microbubbles for Molecular Imaging and Drug Delivery

In my thesis, microbubbles (MBs) for ultrasound (US) imaging, ultrasound molecular imaging, and drug delivery were studied. Microbubbles are gas-encapsulated lipid or polymer shell coated micro-particles, widely used as ultrasound contrast agents (UCA). MBs oscillate in response to the ultrasound and can interact with surrounding cells and tissues. This interaction can be enhanced by ligands, which have an affinity to biomarkers on the cell surface. These qualities of MBs make them very promising for molecular imaging of diseased tissues by means of local and specific treatment of certain areas i.e. drug delivery.