New oral contrast agent helps spot 'previously impossible-to-detect' findings on CT
A new oral contrast agent is proving to be more beneficial than current alternatives on the market, according to phase 2 findings from a pilot feasibility study.
So far, the study’s results indicate that the imaging agent—dark borosilicate oral contrast media—offers better visualization of bowel structures and disease compared to conventional oral contrast media. Experts involved in its development are confident the agent has the potential to overcome shortcomings that have hindered other imaging approaches.
"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," Benjamin Yeh, MD, a co-author on the study, radiologist at the University of California at San Francisco and co-founder of Nextrast, which created the new agent, said in a news release. "The clinical phase 2 results confirm that our dark agent can reveal previously impossible-to-detect findings, including very small bowel tumors and subtle inflammatory conditions that are often missed with conventional agents at CT."
Researchers from Mayo Clinic, the University of Washington School of Medicine, the University of California San Francisco, and Nextrast have been studying the agent’s utility in patients with known or suspected inflammatory bowel disease (Site A) or suspected peritoneal carcinomatosis (Site B). Findings from the patients’ exams are compared alongside their previous imaging, which was completed with conventional oral contrast agents.
Use of the dark agent yielded significantly higher attenuation differences between the bowel wall and lumen. Bowel wall visualization, distention and distended bowel length also were significantly higher from the stomach to the ileum using dark borosilicate oral contrast media. This resulted in additional imaging findings for 22% of participants. Of note, radiologists who interpreted the exams expressed preference for the images containing the new agent as well.
"CT scans performed with the new agent will likely do a better job of displaying pathologies in the stomach and proximal small bowel, areas where CT with traditional oral contrast performs poorly," noted lead author Joel Fletcher, MD, medical director of the Mayo Clinic CT Clinical Innovation Center. "Pathologies within the lumen will be better displayed because the lumen is more distended, and the brightness of the pathologies on the CT images will be increased, making them more conspicuous.”
While the findings are positive, the researchers acknowledged that the agent’s utility needs to be studied in larger sample sizes.
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In addition to her background in journalism, Hannah also has patient-facing experience in clinical settings, having spent more than 12 years working as a registered rad tech. She began covering the medical imaging industry for Innovate Healthcare in 2021.