Method of ultrasonic imaging of the gastrointestinal tract and upper abdominal organs using an orally administered negative contrast medium

摘要

A method for enhanced ultrasonic imaging of the tissues defining the gastrointestinal tract and the upper abdominal organs wherein the gastrointestinal tract is filled with a chemically defined essentially sonolucent ultrasound contrast agent that is stable under gastric conditions and has a gastric emptying time of at least about twenty minutes, thus causing the lumen of the upper gastrointestinal tract to appear dark relative to the positive image of the gastrointestinal tract walls and upper abdominal organs.