MRI Contrast Media
We launched the first contrast medium for magnetic resonance imaging in 1988, setting a further milestone in the development of contrast media.
The special characteristics of the first MRI contrast medium were improved contrast and extended application possibilities. By 2006, it had been successfully used over 70 million times and helped to make Bayer Schering Pharma the world market leader in MRI contrast media.
New insights with new technologies
More recent developments in MRI contrast media include a substance for examinations that require a high concentration of contrast media – such as an MRI of the brain or for visualizing the blood flows in tumors. They also include an organ-specific contrast medium which allows an exact diagnosis of even small lesions of the liver. This contrast medium is absorbed specifically by liver cells and therefore enhances contrast in healthy liver tissue. Any pathological changes of the organ caused by tumors, metastases or other malignant or benign lesions that exhibit little or no liver-cell function can be detected, located and characterized in this way.
The beginning of a new era
Ever since MRI established itself in everyday clinical practice during the 1980s, the technology has been increasingly used to visualize blood vessels. Magnet resonance angiography (MRA), as this procedure is called, has been optimized in the meantime. Blood-pool contrast media based on the chemical element gadolinium now make it possible to produce precise and highly detailed visualizations of blood vessels.
The particular feature of this blood-pool contrast medium is the fact that it temporarily binds itself to albumin, a protein contained in blood plasma, enabling it to remain in the blood vessels for up to an hour. With a single injection, the radiologist can cover all the patient's blood vessels – from the abdominal aorta to the tiniest vessels in the big toe. Unlike traditional X-ray angiography, this form of diagnosis is minimally invasive and thus very gentle on the patient.
This innovative contrast medium was developed in cooperation with EPIX Pharmaceuticals, Inc. The target group are patients who have – or are suspected of having – a vascular disease.