Make Medical Imaging Effervesce

Beginning of article

Patients with heart problems may one day get an injection of tiny bubbles as part of ultrasound technology for imaging blood flow. No ordinary bubbles, these microspheres exist as protein envelopes that encase the air bubbles as they bounce through the heart's turbulent channels, says Kenneth S. Suslick, a chemist at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.

Different materials reflect sound differently, but the similar acoustic properties of blood and muscle make them difficult to distinguish. "It's just not that easy to see anything," says Suslick.

Years ago, however, other researchers demonstrated that adding bubbles to blood makes its flow stand out …