{"entity":{"id":"sulfur-hexafluoride-microspheres","kind":"drug","name":"Sulfur hexafluoride microbubbles (ultrasound contrast)","aka":["sulfur hexafluoride","sulphur hexafluoride","Lumason","SonoVue"],"tldr":"Tiny gas bubbles injected into a vein during an ultrasound scan. In the liver they show how a lump fills with blood, which helps tell liver cancer and other lesions apart without radiation.","summary":"Bracco's Lumason (NDA 203684, first approved 10 October 2014) is indicated in echocardiography, in \"ultrasound of the liver in adult and pediatric patients to characterize focal liver lesions\" and in paediatric urinary tract ultrasound for vesicoureteral reflux (DailyMed label). In the European Union SonoVue (EMEA/H/C/000303, authorised 26 March 2001) is indicated among other uses to improve \"display of the vascularity of liver and breast lesions during Doppler sonography in adult patients leading to more specific lesion characterisation\". ATC V08DA05.","status":"approved","asOf":"2026-11-04","links":[{"label":"Drugs@FDA Lumason (NDA 203684)","url":"https://www.accessdata.fda.gov/scripts/cder/daf/index.cfm?event=overview.process&ApplNo=203684"},{"label":"DailyMed label: Lumason","url":"https://dailymed.nlm.nih.gov/dailymed/drugInfo.cfm?setid=7c679424-c3f7-ed02-892f-20ca0d775089"},{"label":"EMA: SonoVue","url":"https://www.ema.europa.eu/en/medicines/human/EPAR/sonovue"},{"label":"WHO ATC index V08DA: ultrasound contrast media","url":"https://atcddd.fhi.no/atc_ddd_index/?code=V08DA&showdescription=no"}],"tags":["contrast-agents-gaps-2026-11","diagnostic"],"related":[],"cancers":["hcc"],"sections":[],"technologies":["ultrasound-contrast-agents","ultrasound","ultrasound-elastography-ceus"],"targets":[],"drugs":[],"companies":["bracco"],"institutions":[],"pathways":[],"terms":[],"trials":[],"people":[],"bottlenecks":[],"keyPapers":[],"journals":[],"dependsOn":[],"notes":[],"provenance":{"editedBy":"OnCo contrast agent gap fill (Drugs@FDA, FDA labels, DailyMed, EMA register, WHO ATC index)","editedOn":"2026-11-04"},"brand":"Lumason","modality":"Ultrasound contrast agent, gas microbubbles (intravenous)","mechanism":"Phospholipid-shelled microbubbles of sulfur hexafluoride stay in the blood vessels and reflect ultrasound strongly, showing blood flow in the liver and other organs in real time.","approvals":[{"region":"US","year":2014,"indication":"Echocardiography; characterisation of focal liver lesions on ultrasound; paediatric urinary tract ultrasound","note":"NDA 203684; Bracco"},{"region":"EU","year":2001,"indication":"Ultrasound contrast, including characterisation of liver and breast lesions on Doppler sonography","note":"Authorised 26 Mar 2001; Bracco International"}],"mechanismSteps":[],"toxicity":[],"access":[],"regulatoryEvents":[]},"route":"/drugs/sulfur-hexafluoride-microspheres/","neighbours":{"cancer":[{"id":"hcc","kind":"cancer","name":"Hepatocellular carcinoma","route":"/cancers/hcc/"}],"technology":[{"id":"ultrasound-elastography-ceus","kind":"technology","name":"Elastography and contrast-enhanced ultrasound","route":"/technologies/ultrasound-elastography-ceus/"},{"id":"ultrasound","kind":"technology","name":"Ultrasound","route":"/technologies/ultrasound/"},{"id":"ultrasound-contrast-agents","kind":"technology","name":"Ultrasound contrast agents (microbubbles)","route":"/technologies/ultrasound-contrast-agents/"}],"company":[{"id":"bracco","kind":"company","name":"Bracco (Bracco Imaging and Bracco Diagnostics)","route":"/companies/bracco/"}]}}