Founded in 1991, ImaRx Pharmaceutical Corp. designs, develops and markets pharmaceuticals for medical imaging (MRI, ultrasound and computed tomography) for the radiological imaging industry.
ImaRx Pharmaceutical Corp., announced 1999 that it has been acquired by E.I DuPont de Nemours & Co., Inc. The terms of the acquisition provide a royalty-free licensing arrangement with a newly-formed company, ImaRx LLC ('LLC'), to pursue and develop new products and technologies for drug and gene delivery independent from DuPont. Yamanouchi Pharmaceutical Co. Ltd., ImaRx' licensee for Asian territories for this product, will continue to develop the product in Asia as DuPont's licensee. ImaRx LLC will have ownership of all other targeted and therapeutic products previously owned by ImaRx, including imaging products outside of diagnostic ultrasound imaging and two other imaging products, SonoRx® and LumenHance®, which are both FDA approved and licensed to BRACCO Diagnostics.
See also Lantheus Medical Imaging and Definity®.

Ultrasound Contrast Agents:

(AE) Induced acoustic emission is an effect of ultrasound contrast agents, presenting the interaction between the agent and the incident ultrasound wave.
Microbubbles break down in high-amplitude diagnostic ultrasound energy. The bubble rupture produces a transient pressure wave, which results in a characteristic mosaic pattern from tissues containing the agent. It is important to note that the color patterns of induced acoustic emission do not represent flow signals.

Ultrasound contrast agents (USCAs) improve the sensitivity of various ultrasound applications. They usually stay within the vascular space and can be injected several times. Nevertheless the contrast enhancement is limited caused by physiologic clearance and bubble destruction.

Different injection techniques to improve the imaging:
Continuous infusion yield a steady-state concentration of the USCAs, greater examination time with optimal enhancement, avoid bloom and possibly other artifacts. Continuous infusion also allows the sonographer to optimize the effective dose individually during the examination.

See also Power Modulation.

Lantheus Medical Imaging, Inc. engages in discovering, developing, and marketing medical imaging agents. Lantheus Medical Imaging has headquarters in North Billerica, Massachusetts, and offices in Puerto Rico, Canada, and Australia. During its history, the company launched the products Cardiolite (Technetium Tc99m Sestamibi Preparation Kit), which has become the gold standard for use in myocardial perfusion imaging, and Definity (perflutren lipid microsphere) for use in suboptimal echocardiograms.
From 2001 to 2008 Lantheus was part of the Bristol-Myers Squibb Medical Imaging, Inc. group.

Ultrasound Contrast Agents:

(LVO) Ultrasound contrast agents improve the echocardiography assessment of left ventricular function and the low sensitivity of changes in left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF). In addition, harmonic imaging techniques and automated border detection (ABD) together with contrast enhanced left ventricular opacification increase endocardial border delineation (EBD) and the results compared to native echocardiography.