A Novel Foam Contrast Agent Suitable for Fluoroscopic Interventional Procedure: Comparative Study of Physical...

In fluoroscopic contrast study for interventional procedure, liquid contrast agent may be diluted in body fluid, losing its contrast effect. We developed a novel contrast agent of "foam state" to maintain contrast effect for enough time and performed a comparative study of physical properties and its usefulness in experimental intervention in animal model. The mean size of microbubble of foam contrast was 13.8 ± 3.6 µm. The viscosity was 201.0 ± 0.624 cP (centipoise) and the specific gravity was 0.616. The foam decayed slowly and it had 97.5 minutes of half-life. In terms of the sustainability in a slow flow environment, foam contrast washed out much more slowly than a conventional contrast. In experimental colonic stent placement, foam contrast revealed significantly better results than conventional contrast in procedure time, total amount of contrast usage, and the number of injections (p < 0.05). Our foam contrast has high viscosity and low specific gravity and maintains foam state for a sufficient time. Foam contrast with these properties was useful in experimental intervention in animal model. We anticipate that foam contrast may be applied to various kinds of interventional procedures.