SEATTLE — The University of Washington says researchers have developed a new oral contrast agent that produces better images during CT scans.
The study was conducted by the University of Washington School of Medicine along with the Mayo Clinic, the University of California San Francisco, and Nextrast Inc.
The new solution, the dark borosilicate oral contrast agent, addresses an ongoing issue doctors encounter with CT scans and the bowels.
CT scans are often used to diagnose bowel diseases.
“We carefully designed this new class of oral contrast agent to overcome many of the diagnostic shortcomings of existing contrast agents for a broad range of diseases,” said the study coauthor and radiologist at the University of California at San Francisco, Dr. Benjamin Yeh.
Yeh is also the cofounder of Nextrast Inc. that created the solution
This new solution expands the stomach and bowels, allowing the bowels be seen better in a CT scan.
32 patients took part in the initial study with the new solution, some of whom took regular water and others who took iodine-based oral contrast agents.
Of the seven that took the new solution researchers were able to find all medical relevant findings.
Researchers believe the solution could be helpful with other diagnoses that rely on CT scans.
Dr.Achille Mileto, a radiologist at the University of Washington School of Medicine and the study’s first author, said, “The novel dark borosilicate contrast agent has the potential to improve the assessment of numerous pathologies, including the detection of cancer and inflammatory disorders.”
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