Nanoparticles in magnetic resonance imaging: from simple to dual contrast agents
Universitat de Barcelona · Institut de Nanociència i Nanotecnologia de la Universitat de Barcelona
Abstract
Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) has become one of the most widely used and powerful tools for noninvasive clinical diagnosis owing to its high degree of soft tissue contrast, spatial resolution, and depth of penetration. MRI signal intensity is related to the relaxation times (T 1, spin-lattice relaxation and T 2, spin-spin relaxation) of in vivo water protons. To increase contrast, various inorganic nanoparticles and complexes (the so-called contrast agents) are administered prior to the scanning. Shortening T 1 and T 2 increases the corresponding relaxation rates, 1/T 1 and 1/T 2, producing hyperintense and hypointense signals respectively in shorter times. Moreover, the signal-to-noise ratio can be…
Citation impact
- FWCI
- 21.76
- Percentile
- 100%
- References
- 119
Authors
3Topics & keywords
- Nanoparticle
- Contrast (vision)
- Magnetic resonance imaging
- Gadolinium
- Materials science
- Nuclear magnetic resonance
- Biomedical engineering
- Lanthanide
- Clean water and sanitation