
Health Dictionary
Reliable, easy-to-read patient information on common medical conditions — written in plain language, free of jargon, and grounded in current evidence. Browse the most frequent diagnoses, understand what they mean for everyday life, and learn which steps and questions help you have a focused conversation with your doctor.
Echogenic
Introduction
Echogenicity (misspelled sometimes as echogenecity) is the ability to create an echo, i.e. return a signal in ultrasound examinations. Echogenicity could be increased by intravenously administering gas-filled microbubble contrast agent to the systemic circulation. This is because microbubbles have a high degree of echogenicity. When gas bubbles are caught in an ultrasonic frequency field, they compress, oscillate, and reflect a characteristic echo- this generates the strong and unique sonogram in contrast-enhanced ultrasound. Gas cores can be composed of air, or heavy gases like perfluorocarbon, or nitrogen (Lindner, 2004). Heavy gases are less water-soluble so they are less likely to leak out from the microbubble to impair echogenicity (McCulloch et al., 2000). Therefore, microbubbles with heavy gas cores are likely to last longer in circulation.[1]
Reasons for higher echogenicity
Reasons for higher echogenicity
During ultrasound examinations, sometimes echogenicity is higher in certain parts of body. Template:Expand
