Microfabricated High-Moment Micrometer-Sized MRI Contrast Agents

Published

August 26, 2010

Author(s)

Gary Zabow, John M. Moreland, Stephen Dodd, alan koretsky, erik shapiro

Abstract

While chemically synthesized superparamagnetic microparticles have enabled much new research based on MRI tracking of magnetically labeled cells, signal-to-noise levels still limit the potential range of applications. Here it is shown how, through top-down microfabrication, contrast agent relaxivity can be increased several-fold, which should extend the sensitivity of such cell-tracking studies. Microfabricated agents can benefit from both higher magnetic moments and higher uniformity than their chemically synthesized counterparts, implying increased label visibility and more quantitative image analyses. To assess the performance of microfabricated micrometer-sized contrast agent particles, analytic models and numerical simulations are developed and tested against new microfabricated agents described in this article, as well as against results of previous imaging studies of traditional chemically synthesized microparticle agents. Experimental data showing signal effects of 500-nm thick, 2-υm diameter, gold-coated iron and gold-coated nickel disks verify the silmulations. Additionally, it is suggested that measures of location better than the pixel resolution can be obtained and that these are aided using well-defined contrast agent particles achievable through microfabrication techniques.

Citation

Magnetic Resonance in Medicine

Volume

65

Pub Type

Journals

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Keywords

MPIO, microfabrication, contrast agent, micropartical, nanoparticle

Citation

Zabow, G. , Moreland, J. , Dodd, S. , koretsky, A. and shapiro, E. (2010), Microfabricated High-Moment Micrometer-Sized MRI Contrast Agents, Magnetic Resonance in Medicine, [online], https://tsapps.nist.gov/publication/get_pdf.cfm?pub_id=905643 (Accessed October 8, 2025)