Tests ultrasound contrast bubbles to estimate heart pressures without a catheter
Tests ultrasound contrast bubbles to estimate heart pressure in people with heart disease.
Plain-language title generated from the registry record
Registry title: Can Tiny Bubbles Offer an Alternative to Catheters for Assessing Pressures Inside the Heart? Investigating Ultrasound Contrast Agents as Pressure Sensors Against Gold Standard Catheter Pressures in Cardiac Catheterisation Patients.
Key facts
- Where
- London, United KingdomSee the site
Could this be for you?
Answer for yourself. This is not a decision: only the study team can say whether you can take part.
- Are you between 21 and 81 years old?
Source: NCT07416279, who can take part
Where in United Kingdom
- King's College HospitalLondon, United KingdomTaking people
Questions to ask the study team
- How often do I need to come in, and for how long each time?
- Are travel costs paid?
- Can I keep my own doctor?
- What happens if I want to stop?
Trial details
- Who runs it
- King's College London
- Trial code
- NCT07416279
- Record updated
- 18 February 2026
- Original description
The goal of this clinical trial is to investigate if ultrasound contrast agents can be used to estimate filling pressures inside the heart in patients with suspected heart disease. The main questions it aims to answer are:Read full original descriptionShow less
Intracardiac Pressures From Microbubbles Instead of a Catheter: First in Human Study and Signal Calibration
The goal of this clinical trial is to investigate if ultrasound contrast agents can be used to estimate filling pressures inside the heart in patients with suspected heart disease. The main questions it aims to answer are:
* Is there a strong correlation between the contrast signal and filling pressures inside the heart? * What is the calibration approach to convert the contrast signal from dB to a measure of pressure in mmHg?
Researchers will compare the contrast signal with reference pressures measured using a catheter to see if it can be used to quantify filling pressures inside the heart.
Participants will:
* Be exposed to a small amount of additional ionising radiation to guide a catheter in position inside the heart for reference pressures * Receive an ultrasound contrast agent at the clinically recommended dose and in line with clinical guidelines, via an intravenous line in their arm * Undergo contrast echocardiography - ultrasound scan of their heart with contrast * Undergo standard echocardiography - ultrasound scan of their heart without contrast
Inclusion: Participant is willing and able to give informed consent to participate in the study; Patients who require a cardiac catheterisation procedure as part of their standard medical care; Good acoustic windows for echocardiography when lying flat on their back.
Exclusion: Known previous allergy to SonoVue, used in ultrasound contrast scans; Known allergy to any of the components of SonoVue microbubbles, for example, sulphur hexafluoride or polyethylene glycol (PEG), also known as macrogol, which is in bowel preparations used during colonoscopy and certain laxatives; A hole in their heart that lets blood flow from the right side to the left, skipping the lungs; Very high blood pressure in the arteries of the lungs (severe pulmonary hypertension); Uncontrolled high blood pressure (hypertension); Adult respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS; where severe lung inflammation prevents enough oxygen from reaching the body); Current use of the medicine dobutamine (used to treat heart failure), or have been advised not to take dobutamine; Moderate to severe heart valve disease that could affect the catheter measurements; Recent acute coronary syndrome or unstable ischaemic cardiac disease, where blood flow to the heart muscle is reduced; Participating in other research that would prolong their cardiac catheterisation procedure, to ensure that the overall process does not become too tiring or burdensome; Pregnant or may be pregnant; Participation in a clinical trial of a medicine within the past four months, to avoid any possible interactions with SonoVue.