Patent ID: 8586005

Claim:
A dosage formulation of a dry powder which is reconstituted with a pharmaceutically acceptable carrier for use as an injectable enhanced ultrasound contrast imaging agent, wherein the dosage formulation comprises (a) a container of a defined size for the dry powder, (b) the dry powder comprising an amount selected from the group consisting of 150-250 mg and 250-1000 mg of dry powdered microspheres comprising a poly(hydroxy acid), copolymer or blend thereof and a hydrophobic compound, wherein the microspheres are porous spheres with a honeycombed structure or sponge-like structure, wherein the microspheres have a mean size ranging from 1.8 to 3.0 microns, and (c) n-perfluorobutane (C 4 F 10 ) gas, wherein, upon reconstitution of the dry powder in the container by adding a defined amount of the pharmaceutically acceptable carrier suitable for injection, a suspension of microspheres having a concentration ranging from 1.5×10 9 to 2.8×10 9 microspheres/mL of suspension or a microsphere mass concentration ranging from 25 to 50 mg microspheres/mL suspension is formed, and wherein the suspension of microspheres provides enhanced ultrasound images of the myocardium for more than one minute.