Boulder Summer School on Ultrasound Contrast Agents

The University of Colorado Boulder is hosting the first summer school on ultrasound contrast agents, May 20-23, 2019.  The topical school is an extension of the short course entitled “Microbubbles and Nanodroplets for Biomedical Ultrasound Applications: Design Principles and Methods” given by Mark Borden and Rik Vos at the 2018 IEEE International Ultrasonics Symposium.  This 4-day school will provide greater breadth and depth, focusing on practical tips to help you design and synthesize your own ultrasound contrast agents.  In addition to lectures, practical hands-on laboratory sessions will be held for microbubble synthesis, characterization, modeling and imaging.  Students can apply for support from the IEEE UFFC.

Overview

Microbubbles and other echogenic colloids are used in biomedical ultrasonics as contrast agents, molecular imaging probes and targeted drug delivery vehicles.  The short course entitled “Microbubbles and Nanodroplets for Biomedical Ultrasound Applications: Design Principles and Methods” given at the 2018 IEEE International Ultrasonics Symposium in Kobe, Japan, provided an overview of the basic chemistry and physics of ultrasound contrast agents relevant to these applications.  This topical school will provide greater breadth and depth, focusing on practical tips to help you design and synthesize your own ultrasound contrast agents.  In addition to lectures, practical laboratory sessions will be held for hands-on demonstrations of microbubble synthesis and characterization.

Objectives

The primary objectives of the school are as follows:

Expose participants to the fundamentals of ultrasound contrast agent engineering.
Enhance understanding of the participants about the processes involved in design and production of stable microbubble suspensions of desired size distribution.
To increase the awareness about the usefulness of microbubbles, nanodrops and other UCAs in important biomedical applications, such as ultrasound imaging and targeted drug delivery.

Teaching Faculty

Mark Borden, University of Colorado, USA
Todd Murray, University of Colorado, USA
Andrew Goodwin, University of Colorado, USA
Rik Vos, Erasmus Medical Center, Netherlands
James Kwan, NTU, Singapore
Tim Segers, University of Twente, Netherlands
Shashank Sirsi, UT Dallas, USA
Paul Dayton, UNC, Chapel Hill, USA