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Development of Stealth Polymeric Ultrasound Contrast Agents
Conference proceeding

Development of Stealth Polymeric Ultrasound Contrast Agents

James I Andorko, Margaret A Wheatley and IEEE
2013 39th Annual Northeast Bioengineering Conference
Apr 2013

Abstract

Acoustics Educational institutions Polyethylene Programmable logic arrays Surface morphology Ultrasonic imaging Ultrasound contrast agent; Microsphere; PEG; PEG-PLA; TPGS
Previous research in our lab has shown that when injected intravenously, drug-loaded polymeric ultrasound contrast agents (UCAs) accumulate within the liver and spleen likely caused by recognition of the UCA by the complement proteins within the blood and uptake by the mononuclear phagocyte system. This study investigates two means of incorporating polyethylene glycol (PEG), a well-researched molecule used for immune system avoidance, into the shell of UCAs to facilitate avoidance mechanisms. The first route used a PEG-polylactic acid (PLA) copolymer to create the UCAs via a water-oil-water emulsion technique. A second approach used d-α tocopheryl polyethylene glycol 1000 succinate (TPGS) as a surfactant during the creation of UCAs with PLA. The resulting formulations of pegylated UCAs were compared to control UCAs created from PLA and a surfactant solution of polyvinyl alcohol (PVA). The impact of adding PEG on size, surface charge, surface morphology, acoustic enhancement, and UCA stability was determined under simulated body conditions. It was seen that complete replacement of PLA with PEG-PLA or PVA with TPGS did not result in functional UCAs. However, PEG could be added by both means in conjunction with PLA and PVA to create UCAs with minimal changes to properties.

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Collaboration types
Domestic collaboration
Web of Science research areas
Engineering, Biomedical
Engineering, Electrical & Electronic
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