Associate Professor Chih-Kuang Yeh of the Department of Biomedical Engineering and Environmental Sciences and his research team won the 8^th National Innovation Award from the Institute for Biotechnology and Medicine Industry with their development of "Multifunction Ultrasound Contrast Agents Platform" technology.

Prof. Yeh stated that the reason for their breakthrough is primarily due to the cross-fertilization between biomedical engineering and environmental science. Ultrasound contrast agents are miniscule air bubbles coated by biodegradable materials, and because the air and the blood do not have same resistance of sound waves, thus microbubbles poses the quality to amplify the ultrasound backscattered signals, as well as increase the strength of scattered signals in blood vessels. This allows the blood vessels to be more observable and enhance the sensitivity of blood flow observation, which helps early stage detection of abnormality and decrease the need for invasive procedures.

The material used for ultrasound contrast agents by Dr. Yeh's research team is phospholipids. Compare to conventional ultrasound contrast agents, the phospholipids layer used by the team has bio-molecules on the surface that will match specific receptors in the body, and with property as such, the ultrasound imaging can clearly locate the area of lesion. This type of phospholipids layer on contrast agents can be coated with lipophilic drugs, and achieve pinpoint diagnosis and treatment by tracking and following up the drug delivery. Prof. Yeh further indicated that the ultrasound contrast agents are similar to carriers, putting drugs into nano size air bubbles and use them as transporters to deliver drugs to lesion and perform on-the-target therapy.

Prof. Yeh explained that existing ultrasound contrast agents are only for basic diagnostic use, and there are currently no existing agents that can envelope drugs with antibody outer layer, however, NTHU has developed the ultrasound contrasting agent that is efficient but cost less to produce, and can also carry drugs with high stability. Thus comparing to other agents, NTHU's ultrasound contrast agents are more competitive. In fact, currently a group of researchers from a renowned Japanese university led by a professor from the Department of Materials Science and Engineering has come to study at the Department of Biomedical Engineering and Environmental Sciences of NTHU, and expressed their intention to cooperate with NTHU scientists.

Professor Yeh expressed his appreciation to his doctoral students Chung-Hsin Wang and Shih-Tsung Kang, all the professors and Chairman Hsin-Cheng Chiu at his Department and the Dean of the College of Nuclear Science, Dr. Ruey-An Doong, for their support and encouragement. He further thanked National Science Council and NTHU for sponsoring the research, which brings him this prestigious award.