This interview originally ran in the July 2007 issue of DOTmed Business News. For an ultrasound update, read the May 2008 issue, now online.

An Interview with Barry B. Goldberg, MD - Researcher, Educator, Philanthropist

For over 40 years, Dr. Barry Goldberg has been at the forefront of diagnostic and therapeutic ultrasound research, development, and education. His charitable and educational efforts have helped bring the benefits of ultrasound to literally millions of people around the world. Dr. Goldberg was gracious enough to sit down with DOTmed Business News and give us his assessment of the past, present and future of ultrasound.

DOTmed Business News: Let's start with the big picture: what are your most important contributions or significant accomplishments in the field of ultrasound? What do you feel you've done that has done the most to advance the science of ultrasound?

Barry B. Goldberg: The two areas of medicine I have always been very interested in are research and education. As you stated, I was very lucky to become aware of the just-emerging technology of diagnostic ultrasound in 1964, and over the years I have been able to lead a number of research projects that have led to improved diagnoses. I have always been a strong believer in education and in teaching others. If you've discovered new things and are doing new things, and don't pass on your knowledge - so you're the only person who can do it - then it's lost, and that's a shame. At first, I taught one-on-one; people would come as apprentices and observe. That has grown over the years and has led to all the programs here at the Jefferson Ultrasound Institute (JUREI - pronounced 'jury') that I founded and direct - and JUREI itself is probably my proudest achievement, because it brings the benefits of ultrasound to so many people. At JUREI we conduct about 40 to 50 courses a year in all aspects of ultrasound and train almost a thousand people a year from many countries around the world. Being able to teach and influence others helps improve the quality of care. In this way, you know you're helping not just one person, but many people. Doing so in the emerging and developing areas of the world is a very satisfying experience. Letters from those I've helped to teach, describing how they've applied their knowledge to save lives as well as teach others, is really very gratifying.

DMBN: What is the current focus of your Research Group at JUREI?

Goldberg: One of the main areas of focus for our group is the evaluation of tumors using unique ultrasound contrast agents. The agents we're injecting into the body are little micro-bubbles of gas, which are coated to keep them from dissolving rapidly. The sizes are made such that they're approximately the size of red blood cells. When you inject the agent intravenously, the micro-bubbles circulate through the body many times, eventually being broken down and eliminated - but not until they do their job. It turns out that a single gas bubble is, say, about a thousand times more reflective than a red blood cell. Therefore, you can image much smaller blood vessels when you have injected contrast, and can even go down to the size of tumor vessels, so it's an excellent way of demonstrating the vascularity in tumors, or areas of decrease - or absence of vascularity. It's like an X-ray arteriogram. You can really image the vascularity of many organs and tell whether they are normal or abnormal, in almost all areas of the body.

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