Boron nitride nanotubes for boron neutron capture therapy as contrast agents in magnetic resonance imaging at 3 T

L Menichetti; D De Marchi; L Calucci; G Ciofani; A Menciassi; C Forte

doi:10.1016/j.apradiso.2011.02.032

Boron nitride nanotubes for boron neutron capture therapy as contrast agents in magnetic resonance imaging at 3 T

Appl Radiat Isot. 2011 Dec;69(12):1725-7. doi: 10.1016/j.apradiso.2011.02.032. Epub 2011 Feb 25.

Authors

L Menichetti¹, D De Marchi, L Calucci, G Ciofani, A Menciassi, C Forte

Affiliation

¹ CNR-National Research Council of Italy, Institute of Clinical Physiology, Pisa, Italy. luca.menichetti@ifc.cnr.it

PMID: 21398132
DOI: 10.1016/j.apradiso.2011.02.032

Abstract

The applicability of boron nitride nanotubes (BNNTs) containing Fe paramagnetic impurities as contrast agents in magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) was investigated. The measurement of longitudinal and transverse relaxation times of water protons in homogeneous aqueous dispersions of BNNTs wrapped with poly(L-lysine) at different concentrations allowed longitudinal (r(1)) and transverse (r(2)) relaxivities to be determined at 3T. The r(2) value was comparable to those of commercial superparamagnetic iron oxide nanoparticles, indicating that Fe-containing BNNTs have the potential to be used as T(2) contrast-enhancement agents in MRI at 3T.

MeSH terms

Boron Neutron Capture Therapy*
Cell Line
Contrast Media*
Humans
Magnetic Resonance Imaging / methods*

Substances

Contrast Media