We use cookies to understand how you use our site and to improve your experience. This includes personalizing content and advertising. To learn more, click here. By continuing to use our site, you accept our use of cookies. Cookie Policy.

Features Partner Sites Information LinkXpress hp
Sign In
Advertise with Us
GLOBETECH PUBLISHING LLC

Download Mobile App




New Metal-free Contrast Agent May Be Safer for Patients

By MedImaging International staff writers
Posted on 25 Jul 2017
Image: Researchers have developed a safer hydroxide organic MRI contrast agent, as an alternative to metal based ones, for young children and other high-risk patients (Photo courtesy of MIT / University of Nebraska).
Image: Researchers have developed a safer hydroxide organic MRI contrast agent, as an alternative to metal based ones, for young children and other high-risk patients (Photo courtesy of MIT / University of Nebraska).
Researchers have developed a new metal-free MRI contrast agent that could be used for high-risk patient groups and make longer-term tumor imaging more feasible.

Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) tumor imaging scans are often used together with intravenous contrast agents, most commonly gadolinium-based ones. These agents contain metal compounds that can be harmful for patients with kidney problems, and for young children.

Now researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT; Boston, MA, USA), and the University of Nebraska (Lincoln, NB, USA) have developed an organic nitroxide-based metal-free contrast agent that is safer for these high-risk groups. The new agent also accumulates for longer at a tumor site providing more data for MRI scans.

The researchers loaded the nitroxide agent into a spherical Brush-Arm Star Polymer (BASP) structure with a hydrophilic core and a hydrophobic shell. They also found that they could substantially increase the MRI relaxivity of the agent, to around the level of metal-based agents. The BASP shell protects the radicals in the bloodstream allowing them to survive for up to 20 hours.

The new contrast agent could also be modified to carry drugs, in addition to the MRI contrast agent, and allow for long-term imaging and follow-up treatments to monitor whether the drug is able to shrink the tumor. Another possibility under investigation is combining the contrast agent particles with antibodies that can target specific cells.

Senior author of the study, associate professor of Chemistry at MIT, Jeremiah Johnson, said, “This is an entirely organic, metal-free MRI contrast agent that would allow cancer researchers to start to think about how to image tumors in a dynamic way over long periods of time.

Related Links:
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
University of Nebraska

Digital Radiographic System
OMNERA 300M
Ultrasound Table
Women’s Ultrasound EA Table
New
Ultrasound Needle Guidance System
SonoSite L25
Multi-Use Ultrasound Table
Clinton

Channels

Ultrasound

view channel
Image: The new implantable device for chronic pain management is small and flexible (Photo courtesy of The Zhou Lab at USC)

Wireless Chronic Pain Management Device to Reduce Need for Painkillers and Surgery

Chronic pain affects millions of people globally, often leading to long-term disability and dependence on opioid medications, which carry significant risks of side effects and addiction.... Read more

Nuclear Medicine

view channel
Image: The diagnostic tool could improve diagnosis and treatment decisions for patients with chronic lung infections (Photo courtesy of SNMMI)

Novel Bacteria-Specific PET Imaging Approach Detects Hard-To-Diagnose Lung Infections

Mycobacteroides abscessus is a rapidly growing mycobacteria that primarily affects immunocompromised patients and those with underlying lung diseases, such as cystic fibrosis or chronic obstructive pulmonary... Read more

Imaging IT

view channel
Image: The new Medical Imaging Suite makes healthcare imaging data more accessible, interoperable and useful (Photo courtesy of Google Cloud)

New Google Cloud Medical Imaging Suite Makes Imaging Healthcare Data More Accessible

Medical imaging is a critical tool used to diagnose patients, and there are billions of medical images scanned globally each year. Imaging data accounts for about 90% of all healthcare data1 and, until... Read more
Copyright © 2000-2025 Globetech Media. All rights reserved.