In the current study, superparamagnetic magnetite nanoparticles were surface-modified with lactobionic acid (LA) to improve their intracellular uptake and ability to target hepatocytes. Maltotrionic acid (MA)-modified nanoparticles were also synthesized as a control. Cell culture experiment showed that LA-modified nanoparticles were internalized into hepatocytes and atomic absorption spectrometer (AAS) measurement indicated that the uptake amount of LA-modified magnetite into hepatocytes was higher than that of unmodified and MA-modified nanoparticles. LA-modified nanoparticle solution was injected in rabbit and the magnetic resonance (MR) images obtained showed that LA-coated nanoparticles were selectively accumulated onto the hepatocytes. This result demonstrates that the LA-modified magnetite nanoparticles have a great potential to be used as contrast agent for liver diagnosis.