Biodegradable, low biological toxicity radiographic contrast medium and method of x-ray imaging

摘要

A biodegradable, low biological toxicity, particulate radiographic contrast medium comprises biodegradable polymeric spheres of average molecular weight average diameter about 10-1,000 nm or about 0.01-1.0 micron carrying in at least radiographic contrasting amount of a radiographically opaque element. A method of obtaining a tomographic image of the body portion of a subject comprises administering to the subject a radiographically-detectable amount of the biodegradable, low-toxicity radiographic medium of claim 1; allowing for the spheres to be taken-up by the body portion; and X-raying an area comprising the body portion. A method of improving the contrast of a tomographic image of a body portion of a subject comprises administering to the subject a radiographically-detectable amount of the biodegradable, low-toxicity radiographic medium of claim 1; allowing for the spheres to be selectively taken-up by the body portion; and X-raying an area comprising the body portion.