From Bracco Research S. A., Geneva, Switzerland
BG1135 is a polymer-shelled new ultrasound contrast agent under development. The air-filled microsphere has a rigid, 100 nm thick polymeric shell and a mean diameter of 2.9 μm with 99% less than 8 μm.
The destruction mechanism of BG1135 is unique among microbubbles. The microbubbles of BG1135 appear to acquire a small shell defect, allowing the filling gas to stream out and creating a new gas bubble, but leaving the old shell intact. No significant differences between the diameters of the shells can be measured before and after insonation even though the agent is fragmented.

The company is a member of the Bracco Group, a highly innovative health care group and world leader in global integrated solutions for the diagnostic imaging field. The Bracco Group is headquartered in Milan, Italy. Its North American operations consist of Bracco Diagnostics and Bracco Research USA, both located in Princeton, New Jersey. Bracco Diagnostics is one of the fastest growing developers and marketers of diagnostic pharmaceuticals in North America, with products for various imaging applications, including Isovue® (iopamidol) X-ray contrast agent, ProHance®, (gadoteridol), MRI contrast agent, and nuclear medicine products.
Gadoteridol has been available in Europe and the USA for several years. Holder of the Marketing Authorization: Bracco International B.V. - Strawinskylaan 3051 - 1077 ZX Amsterdam The Netherlands. (Contact: Kirk Deeter, Phone: +NL-303-838-8708)

The Bracco Group is the world's leading provider of global diagnostic imaging solutions, with net sales of more than 1 billion euro, of which more than 64% from international sales; it has operations in 115 countries and about 3,500 employees, of whom more than 600 work in R&D. Bracco invests around 15% of its turnover in R&D and has a portfolio of 1,500 patents worldwide. The Bracco Group deploys an integrated approach to diagnostic imaging, with an offer that encompasses contrast media, its core business where it is one of the world's top players, biomedical equipment from Esaote, one of the world's primary producers of magnetic resonance and ultrasonographic medical equipment, contrast media delivery systems from Acist Medical Systems, a top US company in advanced contrast media injection systems, and medical application software from EBIT-AET and Singapore's Volume Interactions, the leading developer of advanced medical software. Bracco has formed a high-level international research network, whose three centers in Milan, Geneva and Princeton study and develop products for the latest-generation diagnostic techniques, from X-rays and computerized axial tomography to magnetic resonance and echo contrast.

Ultrasound Contrast Agents: