The Italian based company is a member of the Bracco Group.
In 1988 Ote-Biomedica Elettronica S.p.A. and the biomedical division of Esacontrol S.p.A. were consolidated into a single company, Esaote Biomedica S.p.A., operating as a division of IRI-Finmeccanica.
In 1987 the company began marketing its products in the United States through Biosound Inc., which it subsequently acquired in 1990.
In the 1990's, the company began to strengthen its presence in Europe, establishing Esaote Biomedica France Sarl and Esaote Biomedica Deutschland GmbH.
In July 1994 business activities and assets of Esaote Biomedica S.p.A. were transferred to the new company Esaote S.p.A.
1995-1998 the Bracco Group becoming the main Esaote shareholder with 50% of the share capital.
In February 1997, Esaote established Esaote China Ltd. located in Hong Kong, and in April 1998 acquired Pie Medical Group, based in Maastricht - The Netherlands, which primarily operates in medical diagnostic ultrasound. Esaote-Pie Medical, is exclusively dedicated to the development and marketing of veterinary diagnostic ultrasound equipment.
GE Healthcare is the exclusive U.S. distributor of devices manufactured by Esaote Biomedica.

'The Esaote Group is a global leader in research, production and marketing of medical diagnostic equipment and related services focused on solving the medical needs of our customers worldwide. With over 16% of its employees actively engaged in Research & Development, Esaote is pursuing new diagnostic technologies to be introduced in international healthcare markets.'

Ultrasound Related Product Lines:
For products dedicated to the veterinarian practice see Esaotes Pie Medical Equipment B.V.
For products distributed in the United States see Biosound Esaote, Inc.

Ultrasound Systems:

See also Imagent®.
June 19, 2003
Alliance Pharmaceutical Corporation and Photogen Technologies, Inc. announced that they have closed the previously announced transaction whereby Photogen has acquired all of the assets of Alliance related to medical imaging, including all manufacturing and marketing rights to Imagent (formerly Imavist). Terms of the transaction were not disclosed.

June 03, 2002
Alliance Pharmaceutical Corp. announced that its ultrasound imaging agent, Imagent (perflexane lipid microspheres), has been approved for marketing by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. The product will be marketed by Alliance in partnership with Cardinal Health, Inc., a provider of products and services to the healthcare industry, and inChord Communications, Inc., an independent healthcare communications company.

March 01, 2002
'Alliance Pharmaceutical Corp. announced that it has entered into a partnership with Bayer Schering Pharma AG, Germany and Cardinal Health Inc. for the marketing of Imavist (perflexane lipid microspheres), an ultrasound contrast agent. Schering licensed worldwide marketing rights for Imavist from Alliance in September 1997. The companies have agreed to modify this agreement to allow Alliance to increase its participation in the marketing of the product. Under the terms of the modified agreement, Alliance will have exclusive marketing rights to Imavist for cardiology indications in the U.S. for five years, and Schering will receive a royalty on product sales. Schering retains marketing rights for other indications in the U.S. and all indications in the rest of the world, subject to Alliance's option to obtain additional indications and territories. Under certain circumstances, Schering would co-market the product at the end of five years. Concurrently, Alliance has entered into a five-year exclusive agreement with Cardinal Health Inc., a provider of products and services to the health-care industry, to assist in the marketing of Imavist.'

October 08, 2001
'Alliance Pharmaceutical Corp. announced a clinical study to take place at Thomas Jefferson University Hospital, Philadelphia, using Alliance's Imavist (AF0150) contrast agent with ultrasound imaging to improve detection of prostate cancer. The study, which will involve 300 adult men with suspected prostate cancer, is being funded by the U.S. Department of Defense under a competitive grant awarded to Thomas Jefferson University for investigators at Jefferson's Prostate Center. Imavist is being developed jointly by Alliance and Bayer Schering Pharma AG Germany, and is awaiting final approval from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.'

August 21, 2000
Alliance Pharmaceutical Corp. announced that it has received a letter from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) stating that the FDA has completed its review of the New Drug Application (NDA) for Imagent (AF0150), and found it to be approvable. Imagent, an ultrasound contrast agent, is being developed jointly by Alliance and Bayer Schering Pharma AG, Germany

Notes:
The manufacturer is pursuing additional radiology indications such as ultrasound imaging of the prostate and liver, and clinical trials are currently being conducted to evaluate Imagent in conjunction with ultrasound imaging for use in the detection of prostate cancer. During the course of its development, the brand name for this product has changed from Imagent to Imavist back to Imagent. Initially reported on by the manufacturer as Imagent and then, between August 2000 and March 2002, as 'Imavist (formerly Imagent).' The manufacturer's 06/03/02 press release announcing FDA approval refers to the product as 'Imagent (formerly Imavist),' and the approval notice and monograph posted at the FDA site refers to the product as Imagent. Jointly developed by Alliance Pharmaceutical Corp and Bayer Schering Pharma AG, (Germany). Source: PR Newswire - 10/10/96, 03/31/98, 10/13/99, 03/13/01, 10/08/01; FDA approvals - 05/31/02; Alliance Pharmaceutical press release - 06/03/02.

The mirror artifact is similar to the reverberation artifact. Mirror image artifacts (mirroring) can occur if the acoustical impedances of the tissue is too much different and the ultrasound is reflected multiple times on tissue layers. The echo detected does not come from the shortest sound path, the sound is reflected off an angle to another interface so that like a real mirror, the artifact shows up as the virtual object.
An empyema or lung abscess can be simulated by a mirror image artifact of a hepatic cyst. This liver lesion can appear like a lesion within the lung because the wave is reflected off the diaphragm back into the liver. The angle of reflection is equal to the angle of incidence. The sound pulse hits the interfaces within the liver lesion and is reflected back to the diaphragm once again with an angle of reflection equal to the angle of incidence and then back to the transducer.
Also by a pelvic ultrasound scan the sound can be reflected off the rectal air at an angle so that the deep wall of an artifactual cyst represents the mirror image of the inferior and anterior walls of the bladder. Mirror image artifacts can cause other strange appearances such as invasion of a transitional cell carcinoma through the bladder wall.
Also called Cross Talk.

(PWD) Pulsed wave (PW) Doppler is a Doppler ultrasound mode that evaluates blood flow velocities in a range specific area along the length of the sound beam. Measured are changes in received frequency due to relative motion (flow) between a sound source (transducer) and sound receiver (transducer).
PW Doppler produces an audible signal as well as a graphical representation of flow. The Doppler shift produced by moving blood flow is calculated by the ultrasound system.

See also Amplitude Indicator, Pulsed Ultrasound.

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.