Therapeutic applications of microbubbles

Abstract

While microbubbles have been developed for diagnosis as ultrasound contrast agents, the greatest potential of these agents may lie in therapy. Microbubbles have extensive applications for treating vascular thrombosis, drug and gene delivery. Targeted microbubbles containing ligands for cell or site-specific recognition have been developed. These agents function like ‘‘smart bubbles’’ to home in on their targets. One such agent, MRX-408, a microbubble bearing targeting ligands directed to the activated receptor of platelets has undergone extensive pre-clinical testing. Recent studies comparing Sonothrombolysis with MRX-408 and nontargeted microbubbles show significantly more clot lysis with targeted as compared to nontargeted microbubbles. The targeted bubbles effectively concentrate cavitation nuclei within the clot. Additional targeted microbubbles for drug and gene delivery are also under development.