Effects of diagnostic ultrasound-targeted microbubble destruction on permeability of normal liver in rats.

Abstract This work investigated the effect of diagnostic ultrasound-targeted microbubble destruction (UTMD) on the permeability of normal liver tissue and the safety of this technique. One hundred and four rats were divided into four groups: the control group, the microbubble-only (MB) group, the ultrasound-only (US) group, and the ultrasound-targeted microbubble destruction group (UTMD). The permeabilities of capillaries and cell membranes were determined using Evans blue and lanthanum nitrate as tracers, respectively. The amount of Evans blue was approximately fourfold higher in the UTMD group than in the control, MB-only, and US-only groups (all P