Bubble studies haven’t changed in 60 years.
Today’s bubble studies can vary in diagnostic value due to a number of factors outside of the control of cardiac sonographers. The lack of a unified solution for bubble studies presents significant issues with quality and consistency of images and can pose safety risks to patients. Poor quality images can mean missed or inaccurate diagnoses or repeat studies.
Why do bubble studies still take two people?
They also require two staff members to manually agitate and inject the bubbles, direct the patient and capture images. This process is inefficient and resource intensive, taking up to 25 additional minutes per study. 1
There has to be a better way.
Agitated Solutions, Inc. (ASI) has developed a solution designed to reduce the workflow burden to sonographers by:
Eliminating the need for saline agitation
Providing consistent quality bubbles
Allowing for one sonographer to administer the study, while conducting the imaging
Conference/Events
PFOs: Solving the Mystery of False Negatives & False Positives
September 16, 2026 | 7 pm CT
False-negative and false-positive bubble studies can have real consequences for PFO detection, clinical decision-making, and patient care. Join cardiac sonographers Maddie Jankowski, BCS, ACS, RDCS, FASE, and Kate Marriott, Senior Sonographer and Education & Quality Manager at Hearts 1st, for a practical webinar focused on recognizing the technical and physiologic factors that can affect agitated saline study results.
You’ll learn how to identify common sources of misleading findings, understand their clinical implications, and apply practical techniques to improve bubble-study performance and reduce false negatives. Attendees are eligible to earn 1 SDMS CME credit.
Register now: https://us06web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_ErvtHtjYTpaG5wQImX_UmA
Our novel contrast agent (ASI-02) is the subject of an investigational clinical trial in the United States entitled “A phase 3, open-label, multicenter, randomized crossover trial comparing the safety and efficacy of ASI-02 to agitated saline for suspected right-to-left shunt (ENHANCE)”. The ENHANCE study aims to evaluate participants age 18 or older who are undergoing a transthoracic echocardiography (TTE) with agitated saline contrast in a cardiac bubble study to opacify the right heart and aid in the detection of right-to-left shunts.
Explore today
This novel saline microbubble contrast agent is commercially available in Canada and the EU. For more information, visit www.agitatedsolutions.ca below.
1 Hu J, Lee AY, Nakagawa K, Vu K, Khan ZR, Tanoue M. Yield of Echocardiography with Bubble Studies Among Acute Ischemic Stroke Patients. J Clin Med. 2024 Oct 31;13(21):6555.Clinical Trials Underway