(ppm) Part per million is a unit of proportion equal to 10^-6.

The mole is the basic unit of substance.
Definition: The amount of substance that contains as many elementary units as there are atoms in 0.012 kg of carbon-12.

See also Osmole, and Part Per Million.

(Osm) A unit of osmotic pressure used in physical chemistry, cell biology, and medicine.
Definition: 1 osmole is the osmotic pressure of a one molar solution (that is, a solution with a concentration of one mole per liter of solvent) of a substance that does not dissociate.
If chemical solutions are separated by a semipermeable membrane (a membrane that resists the passage of dissolved substances but permits the passage of the solvent, usually water), then the solvent will diffuse across the membrane to equalize the concentrations. This process is called osmosis.
Solutions with higher concentrations of dissolved substances are said to have higher osmotic pressure than solutions having lower concentrations; thus the solvent moves from an area of low osmotic pressure to an area of higher osmotic pressure.
Osmotic pressure depends on the total number of dissolved particles, so for a substance that dissociates into two ions, such as ordinary salt (sodium chloride), a one molar solution has an osmotic pressure of 2 osmoles. In practice, most measurements are in milliosmoles (mOsm). Typical values range from 20 mOsm for fresh water through 290 mOsm for typical human blood plasma to 1010 mOsm for salt water from the open ocean.

See also Part Per Million, and Mole.

EchoGen® is a fluorocarbon-based (dodecafluoropentane) third generation USCA. EchoGen® consists of microbubbles stabilized with surfactants in a phase shift colloid emulsion (perflenapent). EchoGen® requires no preparation, reconstitution, or refrigeration.
Perflenapent emulsion would represent a significant advance in contrast echocardiography caused by effective and long lasting opacification of the left ventricle and enhanced endocardial border delineation.
The persistence of the contrast effect permits interrogation in multiple echocardiographic views, as well as the visualization and localization of myocardial perfusion deficits at rest by producing a negative contrast effect.
October 12, 2000
Sonus Pharmaceuticals, Inc. announced a strategic decision to refocus the Company on the development of its drug delivery and blood substitute products. At the same time, Sonus has withdrawn the NDA (New Drug Application) and discontinued clinical activity for its ultrasound contrast product, EchoGen®.
August 06, 2001
Sonus Pharmaceuticals, Inc. announced that it has entered into an agreement to sell its ultrasound contrast assets for $6.5 million to Amersham plc. As part of the agreement, Sonus has also assigned to Nycomed its interest in the ultrasound contrast patent license agreement entered into with Chugai Pharmaceutical Co. Ltd. and Molecular Biosystems Inc in January 2001.