sonazoid

Sonazoid is an ultrasound contrast agent composed of microbubbles containing perflubutane gas. It is used for contrast-enhanced ultrasonography (CEUS), primarily to improve the detection and characterization of focal liver lesions and, in some regions, focal breast lesions. Sonazoid microbubbles are phagocytosed by Kupffer cells in the liver, enabling both vascular-phase imaging immediately after injection and Kupffer-phase imaging approximately 10 minutes post-injection. This dual-phase capability enhances sensitivity for detecting hepatic tumors such as hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) and metastases. The agent provides high mechanical index stability, allowing continuous diagnostic scanning with excellent contrast effect[1][2][3][5]. Developed initially by GE Healthcare and licensed to Daiichi Sankyo for certain markets, Sonazoid has been approved in Japan since 2007 for liver lesion diagnosis and later received additional approval for breast lesion imaging[6].

Brand names

Sonazoid

Other names

perflubutane