Purpose: This work demonstrates specifically tailored microbubble-based preparations and their suitability as MRI contrast agents for ingestion and measuring temporal and spatial pressure variation in the human stomach.
Methods: Enhanced alginate spheres were prepared by incorporating gas-filled microbubbles into sodium alginate solution followed by the polymerization of the mixture in an aqueous calcium lactate solution. The microbubbles were prepared with a phospholipid shell and perfluorocarbon gas filling, using a mechanical cavitational agitation regime.