A biliary contrast agents pushing device, including a syringe pushing system and a remote controller is introduced. The syringe pushing system comprises an injector card slot, a support platform and an injection bolus fader. A 20 mL syringe can be fitted on the syringe pushing system and kept with the ground about 30 degree. This system can perform air bubble pumping back and contrast agents bolus injection as well as speed adjustment. Remote controller is an infrared remote control which can start and stop the syringe pushing system. With this device, the remote controlled cholangiography technology can be achieved, which can not only protect doctors from X-ray radiation but also improve the traditional T-tube cholangiography and the contrast effect, reduce postoperative complications in patients as well. The application of this device will improve the current diagnosis and treatment system, the device will benefit the majority of doctors and patients.
Contrast Media ; administration & dosage ; Humans ; Injections ; Postoperative Complications ; Syringes

OBJECTIVETo explore the efficacy of injectable gelatin matrix as a hemostatic agent for treatment of grade III-IV hepatic trauma to a canine model with contrast-enhanced ultrasound (CEUS) guidance.

METHODSTwenty-seven healthy adult dogs underwent celiotomy in induce grade III-IV hepatic trauma in the left lateral lobe of the liver. The dogs were then randomized into 3 groups, namely the treatment group in which the injectable hemostat was percutaneously injected into the injury site under CEUS guidance, and the positive and negative control groups with thrombin solution and normal saline treatment, respectively. Intra-abdominal blood loss within 30 min postoperatively, and alanine aminotransferase (ALT) and aspartate aminotransferase (AST) 7 days postoperatively were compared among the groups. Follow-up CEUS was performed in each animal 7 days after the operation.

RESULTSThe mean blood loss was 47.69 ml in the treatment group, significantly less than that in the positive control group (81.77 ml, P/0.01) and negative control group (110.35 ml, P<0.01). The treatment group had also significantly lower ALT and AST levels than the two control groups (ALT: 49.37, 62.81, and 82.83 U/L, respectively, P<0.05; AST: 48.32, 67.16, and 82.54 U/L, respectively, P<0.05). In the treatment group, CEUS did not detect hepatic lesions or ascites as found in the two control groups, and the perfusion of the liver was homogeneous.

CONCLUSIONThe injectable hemostat injected under the guidance of CEUS can effectively control grade III-IV hepatic hemorrhage in the canine model and show strong effects of stopping bleeding and promoting wound healing.

Animals ; Contrast Media ; Dogs ; Gelatin ; administration & dosage ; therapeutic use ; Hemostasis, Surgical ; Liver ; injuries ; Ultrasonography, Interventional

Branchioma ; diagnostic imaging ; surgery ; Contrast Media ; administration & dosage ; Head and Neck Neoplasms ; diagnostic imaging ; surgery ; Humans ; Radiography

Animals ; Contrast Media ; Dogs ; Dose-Response Relationship, Drug ; Echocardiography ; Haplorhini ; Hydrogen Peroxide ; administration & dosage

OBJECTIVETo observe the patterns of benign and malignant breast lesions using real-time gray-scale contrast-enhanced ultrasound and assess its value in the differential diagnosis of begign and malignant breast tumors.

METHODSTotally 116 breast lesions (benignity n = 63; malignancy n = 53) underwent real-time gray-scale contrast-enhanced ultrasound. The patterns of their enhancement were assessed from 6 aspects: degree of enhancement, process of enhancement, completeness of enhancement, homogeneity of enhancement, boundary of the enhanced lesions, and exhistance of radial enhancement around the lesions. The results were compared with the pathologic findings.

RESULTSContrast-enhanced sonographic patterns were significantly different between benign and malignant breast lesions. Most malignant lesions were non-centripetally, incompletely, and inhomogeneously enhanced. After having been injected with the microbubble contrast medium, the boundary of the lesions became unclear, and the radial enhancement around lesion were mainly seen in the malignant lesions.

CONCLUSIONThe patterns of real-time gray-scale contrast-enhanced ultrasound are remarkably different between malignant and benign breast lesions, showing promising values for its clinical application.

Breast Neoplasms ; diagnostic imaging ; Contrast Media ; administration & dosage ; Diagnosis, Differential ; Female ; Humans ; Microbubbles ; Ultrasonography, Mammary

Microbubble contrast agents for ultrasound (US) have been developed and clinically applied in recent years. Contrast-enhanced ultrasound (CEUS) has been widely used in the imaging of liver and other organs such as kidney, pancreases, spleen, prostate, ovarian, uterus as well as abdominal trauma, showing promising values in the diagnosis and differential diagnosis of various diseases. This article reviews the recent development and future protential clinical applications of CEUS.
Contrast Media ; administration & dosage ; Diagnosis, Differential ; Drug Delivery Systems ; Humans ; Microbubbles ; Ultrasonography ; methods

Radiocontrast media-induced acute severe thrombocytopenia is a very rare complication and potentially life-threatening. Here, we report the case of a 63-year-old male patient with severe acute thrombocytopenia following first exposure to intravenous non-ionic contrast media without immediate allergic reactions. His platelet count dropped from 107000/µL to 2000/µL after six hours of radiocontrast infusion. After administration of corticosteroid and transfusion of platelet concentrates, the platelet count returned gradually to normal within 5 days. To the best of our knowledge, non-ionic contrast media-induced isolated acute severe thrombocytopenia following no signs or symptoms of immediate allergic reaction has never been described.
Acute Disease ; Administration, Intravenous ; Contrast Media/administration & dosage ; Contrast Media/adverse effects ; Humans ; Infusions, Intravenous ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Platelet Count ; Thrombocytopenia/etiology

OBJECTIVETo study magnetic resonance enhancement features of inflammatory lymph nodes using different doses of ultrasmall superparamagnetic iron oxide (USPIO) particles in order to establish a standardized protocol for USPIO enhanced magnetic resonance imaging of lymph nodes.

METHODSA total of 12 healthy New Zealand rabbits were injected complete Freund's adjuvant in foot pad to establish popliteal inflammatory lymph node model. Different doses (45, 90, 135 micromol Fe/kg) of USPIO were injected intravenously. Magnetic resonance scans were performed before and after USPIO injection to observe the enhancement features of different groups. T2 signal intensity, T1 signal intensity, T2 x value, and T2 value were measured and T2 enhancement ratio was calculated at different time points.

RESULTSTwenty-four hours after USPIO injection, there was no statistical difference in T2 signal intensity and T2 enhancement ratio between 90 and 135 micromol Fe/kg dose groups, but both were superior to 45 micromol Fe/kg group (P < 0.05). There were no statistical differences in T2 signal intensity, T1 signal intensity, T2 value, and T2 enhance ratio among different postcontrast time delays from 6 to 24 hours in 90 micromol Fe/kg group (P > 0.05), and signal reduction of lymph nodes peaked 18 hours after USPIO injection. Better images were acquired with a postcontrast delay of 18-24 hours.

CONCLUSIONSLymph nodes can be enhanced well with a dose of 90 micromol Fe/kg. Postcontrast delay of 18-24 hours is appropriate for acquiring satisfactory enhancement images.

Animals ; Contrast Media ; administration & dosage ; Dextrans ; administration & dosage ; Image Enhancement ; methods ; Lymphadenitis ; diagnosis ; pathology ; Magnetic Resonance Imaging ; methods ; Magnetite Nanoparticles ; administration & dosage ; Male ; Rabbits ; Random Allocation

OBJECTIVETo compare the effects of two contrast agents, Gd-DTPA and HSA-Gd-DTPA, in magnetic resonance (MR) lymphography.

METHODSTwelve New-Zealand rabbits were randomized into Gd-DTPA and HSA-Gd-DTPA groups with subcutaneous (interdigital skin fold) injection of the two contrast agents (0.2 ml of 0.5 mmol/L Gd(3+)) for MR lymphography of the popliteal lymph nodes examined in the axial and sagital orientation. T(1)-weighted, T1-weighted fat suppressed, and T(2)-weighted spin-echo (SE) images of the lymph nodes were obtained in plain scans. The post-contrast scanning started at 30 min, 1 h and 3 h after Gd-DTPA administration and at 10 min, 30 min and 60 min after HSA-Gd-DTPA injection to obtain T(1)-weighted images with identical imaging parameters. The signal intensity of popliteal lymph node was measured and the enhancement rate calculated.

RESULTSAfter subcutaneous injection, Gd-DTPA quickly entered blood circulation to result in obvious enhancement of the anterior-tibial vein and the urine and also in heterogeneous enhancement of the popliteal lymph nodes. HSA-Gd-DTPA did not enter the blood, causing obvious homogeneous enhancement of the lymphatic vessels and lymph nodes. HSA-Gd-DTPA resulted in higher enhancement rate than Gd-DTPA, and the enhancement rate in Gd-DTPA group decreased with time as opposed to that of the HSA-Gd-DTPA group.

CONCLUSIONHSA-Gd-DTPA has better performance than Gd-DTPA in MR lymphography after subcutaneous administration.

Animals ; Contrast Media ; administration & dosage ; pharmacokinetics ; Gadolinium DTPA ; administration & dosage ; pharmacokinetics ; Humans ; Lymph Nodes ; diagnostic imaging ; Lymphography ; instrumentation ; methods ; Rabbits ; Random Allocation ; Serum Albumin ; administration & dosage ; pharmacokinetics

This study examined the corneal permeability of topical eye drop solutions added with various corneal penetrating accelerators and gadolinium-diethylene triamine pentaacetic acid (Gd-DTPA) by nuclear magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). Twenty-four New Zealand rabbits were randomly divided into 3 groups according to the random digits table: Gd-DTPA group, in which the rabbits received 23.45% Gd-DTPA; hyaluronic acid group, in which 23.45% Gd-DTPA plus 0.2% hyaluronic acid was administered; azone group, in which 23.45% Gd-DTPA with 0.2% azone was given. Fifty microliters of the eye drops was instilled into the conjunctive sac every 5 min, for a total of 6 applications in each group. Contrast medium signals in the cornea, anterior chamber, posterior chamber, and vitreous body were scanned successively by MRI. The morphology and cell density of the corneal endothelium were examined before and 24 h after the treatment. The results showed that the residence time of Gd-DTPA in the conjunctival sac in the hyaluronic acid and azone groups was longer than that in the Gd-DTPA group. The signals in the anterior chamber of the Gd-DTPA and hyaluronic acid groups were increased slightly, and those in the azone group strengthened sharply. The signal intensity continuously rose over 80 min before reaching plateau. The strengthening rate of signals in the anterior chamber was 19.63% in the Gd-DTPA group, 53.42% in the sodium hyaluronate group, and 226.94% in the azone group. No signal was detected in the posterior chamber or vitreous body in all the 3 groups. Corneal morphology and cell density did not show any significant changes after the treatment in all the 3 groups. It was concluded that azone can significantly improve the corneal permeability of drugs that are similar to Gd-DTPA in molecular weight and molecular size, and MRI is a noninvasive technique that can dynamically detect eye drop metabolism in real time.
Animals ; Azepines ; administration & dosage ; pharmacokinetics ; Contrast Media ; administration & dosage ; pharmacokinetics ; Cornea ; metabolism ; Female ; Gadolinium DTPA ; administration & dosage ; pharmacokinetics ; Magnetic Resonance Imaging ; Male ; Ophthalmic Solutions ; Permeability ; Rabbits