Quantification of phosphatidylserine, phosphatidic acid and free fatty acids in an ultrasound contrast agent by normal-phase high-performance liquid chromatography with evaporative light scattering detection.

Sonazoid is a new contrast agent for ultrasound imaging. The product is an aqueous suspension of perfluorobutane microbubbles coated with phospholipids obtained from hydrogenated egg phosphatidylserine (H-EPS). A normal-phase high-performance liquid chromatographic (HPLC) method with evaporative light scattering detection was developed for quantification of free fatty acids, phosphatidylserine and phosphatidic acid in H-EPS and Sonazoid.