The mole is the basic unit of substance.
Definition: The amount of substance that contains as many elementary units as there are atoms in 0.012 kg of carbon-12.

See also Osmole, and Part Per Million.

(Osm) A unit of osmotic pressure used in physical chemistry, cell biology, and medicine.
Definition: 1 osmole is the osmotic pressure of a one molar solution (that is, a solution with a concentration of one mole per liter of solvent) of a substance that does not dissociate.
If chemical solutions are separated by a semipermeable membrane (a membrane that resists the passage of dissolved substances but permits the passage of the solvent, usually water), then the solvent will diffuse across the membrane to equalize the concentrations. This process is called osmosis.
Solutions with higher concentrations of dissolved substances are said to have higher osmotic pressure than solutions having lower concentrations; thus the solvent moves from an area of low osmotic pressure to an area of higher osmotic pressure.
Osmotic pressure depends on the total number of dissolved particles, so for a substance that dissociates into two ions, such as ordinary salt (sodium chloride), a one molar solution has an osmotic pressure of 2 osmoles. In practice, most measurements are in milliosmoles (mOsm). Typical values range from 20 mOsm for fresh water through 290 mOsm for typical human blood plasma to 1010 mOsm for salt water from the open ocean.

See also Part Per Million, and Mole.

Molecular Biosystems, Inc. (MBI), founded in 1980, is a biomedical company developing a range of contrast agents for use with diagnostic ultrasound, magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), and computed tomography (CT).
Alliance Pharmaceutical Corp. acquires Molecular Biosystems in Nov. 2000.

Targeted ultrasound contrast agents provide advantages compared with usual microbubble blood pool agents. The goal of targeted ultrasound contrast agents is to significantly and selectively enhance the detection of a targeted vascular site. Tissue-specific ultrasound contrast agents improve the image contrast resolution through differential uptake. Targeted drug delivery via contrast microbubbles is another contrast media concept and provides the potential for earlier detection and characterization of disease.
Targeted contrast imaging provides a higher sensitivity and specificity than obtained with a nontargeted contrast agent.
The detection of disease-indicative molecular signatures may allow early assessment of pathology on a molecular level.
Molecular imaging should be an efficient and less invasive technique to obtain three-dimensional localization of pathology.
Ultrasound agents typically remain within the vascular space, and therefore possible targets include molecular markers on thrombus, endothelial cells, and leukocytes. Targeted contrast agents permit noninvasive detection of thrombus, cancer, inflammation, or other sites where specific integrins or other adhesion molecules are expressed. Adhesion molecules such as monoclonal antibodies, peptides, asialoglycoproteins, or polysaccharides are incorporated into the shell of the microbubble or liposome. After injection into the bloodstream, the targeted agent accumulates via adhesion receptors at the affected site, enhancing detection with an ultrasound system.

See also Acoustically Active Lipospheres, and Tissue-Specific Ultrasound Contrast Agent.

(Hb) Hemoglobin is the major endogenous oxygen-binding molecule, responsible for binding oxygen in the lung and transporting it to the tissues by means of the circulation. Hemoglobin is contained in very high concentration in the red blood cells.
Hemoglobin is a Fe chelate tightly binding one Fe ion in its II oxidation state where it carries the charge 2+. If an oxygen molecule is bound to Hb, Hb is called oxyhemoglobin, if no oxygen molecule is bound it is called deoxyhemoglobin. When hemoglobin is oxidized (i.e. in a hematoma), Fe2+ is transformed into Fe3+. The resulting hemoglobin is then called metoxyhemoglobin (Hb Fe3+).