Science to practice: will magnetic guidance of microbubbles play a role in clinical molecular imaging?

The elegant study by Wu et al presents additional evidence that vascular cell adhesion molecule-1 (VCAM-1) imaging in atherosclerotic mice is feasible and of substantial preclinical value. The current study is well performed and enhances the diagnostic armamentarium of ultrasonography (US) in molecular imaging of the endothelium. The technique is likely to have a substantial impact in the preclinical arena, where it will assist in the elucidation of endothelial biology and the assessment of new therapies in mice. The impact of the technique in the clinical arena, however, is likely to be more limited. Although final judgment will need to be held until large animal studies are performed with this approach, it is likely that more tomographic and quantitative techniques that are capable of imaging the coronary arteries, such as magnetic resonance (MR) imaging and positron emission tomography (PET), will be of greatest value in the clinical setting.