A.A. Martinos Center for Biomedical Imaging, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA, USA.
Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA.
Commun Biol. 2024 Sep 28;7(1):1197. doi: 10.1038/s42003-024-06884-1.
Superparamagnetic iron oxide nanoparticles (SPIONs) are characterized by their exceptional susceptibility and relaxivity at ultra-low field (ULF) regimes, make them a promising contrast agent (CA) for ULF MRI. Despite their distinct advantages, the translation of these properties into clinically valuable image contrast in ULF MRI remains underexplored. In this study, we investigate the use of SPIONs to generate in vivo MRI contrast at 6.5 mT within the organs and vascular system of rodents. This investigation includes comprehensive SPION characterization and phantom imaging experiments to validate the utility of SPIONs to produce positive image contrast and to facilitate phase-sensitive imaging at ULF. Optimized balanced steady-state free precession (bSSFP) and spoiled gradient echo (SPGR) MRI sequences are used to generate in vivo contrast by leveraging the distinctive properties of SPIONs at ULF. Imaging studies in rodents reveal positive organ contrast attainable in magnitude images, and MRI phase maps can be used to visualize the vascular system. This work demonstrates the effectiveness of SPIONs in enhancing preclinical organ and vascular imaging at ULF; it bridges the gap between the study of the distinctive physical properties of SPIONs and the demonstration of in vivo image contrast.
超顺磁性氧化铁纳米颗粒(SPIONs)的特点是在超低场(ULF)下具有异常的磁化率和弛豫率,使它们成为 ULF MRI 的有前途的对比剂(CA)。尽管具有明显的优势,但将这些特性转化为 ULF MRI 中具有临床价值的图像对比度仍然没有得到充分探索。在这项研究中,我们研究了使用 SPIONs 在 6.5 mT 下在啮齿动物的器官和血管系统中产生体内 MRI 对比度。这项研究包括对 SPIONs 进行全面的特性表征和体模成像实验,以验证 SPIONs 产生阳性图像对比度并促进 ULF 下的相敏成像的实用性。优化的平衡稳态自由进动(bSSFP)和扰相梯度回波(SPGR)MRI 序列可利用 SPIONs 在 ULF 下的独特特性产生体内对比度。在啮齿动物中的成像研究显示,在幅度图像中可以获得阳性器官对比度,并且可以使用 MRI 相位图来可视化血管系统。这项工作证明了 SPIONs 在增强 ULF 下的临床前器官和血管成像中的有效性;它弥合了 SPIONs 的独特物理特性研究与体内图像对比度演示之间的差距。
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