Developing MR probes for molecular imaging

Michael T McMahon; Kannie W Y Chan

doi:10.1016/B978-0-12-411638-2.00009-4

Developing MR probes for molecular imaging

Adv Cancer Res. 2014:124:297-327. doi: 10.1016/B978-0-12-411638-2.00009-4.

Authors

Michael T McMahon¹, Kannie W Y Chan²

Affiliations

¹ F.M. Kirby Research Center for Functional Brain Imaging, Kennedy Krieger Institute, Baltimore, Maryland, USA; The Russell H. Morgan Department of Radiology and Radiological Sciences, Division of MR Research, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, Maryland, USA. Electronic address: mcmahon@mri.jhu.edu.
² F.M. Kirby Research Center for Functional Brain Imaging, Kennedy Krieger Institute, Baltimore, Maryland, USA; The Russell H. Morgan Department of Radiology and Radiological Sciences, Division of MR Research, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, Maryland, USA; Cellular Imaging Section and Vascular Biology Program, Institute for Cell Engineering, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, Maryland, USA.

PMID: 25287693
DOI: 10.1016/B978-0-12-411638-2.00009-4

Abstract

Molecular imaging plays an important role in the era of personalized medicine, especially with recent advances in magnetic resonance (MR) probes. While the first generation of these probes focused on maximizing contrast enhancement, a second generation of probes has been developed to improve the accumulation within specific tissues or pathologies, and the newest generation of agents is also designed to report on changes in physiological status and has been termed "smart" agents. This represents a paradigm switch from the previously commercialized gadolinium and iron oxide probes to probes with new capabilities, and leads to new challenges as scanner hardware needs to be adapted for detecting these probes. In this chapter, we highlight the unique features for all five different categories of MR probes, including the emerging chemical exchange saturation transfer, (19)F, and hyperpolarized probes, and describe the key physical properties and features motivating their design. As part of this comparison, the strengths and weaknesses of each category are discussed.

Keywords: CEST; MRI probes; PHIP; SABRE; SEOP; paraCEST.

Publication types

Review

MeSH terms

Animals
Contrast Media*
Fluorescent Dyes*
Humans
Magnetic Resonance Imaging / methods*
Molecular Imaging / methods*
Neoplasms / diagnosis*
Neoplasms / metabolism

Substances

Contrast Media
Fluorescent Dyes