US patent for Acusphere contrast agents
This article was originally published in Clinica
Executive Summary
Acusphere has received a US patent relating to its gas-filled microspheres for use in enhancing ultrasound contrast agents. The patent covers the company's method of making the high-porosity (hollow) microspheres which have the low porosity outer shell from synthetic polymers. While an increased internal porosity allows the microspheres to hold more gas, thus improving the contrast agent's effectiveness, a low porosity of the external shell prevents the gas from leaking out of the micro-particle, said the company of Cambridge, Massachusetts. Acusphere has also started a US Phase I clinical trial to test its lead contrast agent, AI-700, as a means of assessing myocardial perfusion.