Year: 2005
Type: article
Abstract: Perfluorocarbon (PFC) emulsions can be imaged directly by fluorine-19 MRI. We developed an optimized protocol for preparing PFC droplets of uniform size, evaluated use of the resulting droplets as blood pool contrast agents, studied their uptake by tumours and determined the spatial resolution with which they can be imaged at 4.7 T. Perfluorocarbon droplets of three different average sizes (324, 293 and 225 nm) were prepared using a microemulsifier. Images of PFC droplets with good signal-to-noise ratio were acquired with 625 microm in-plane resolution, 3 mm slice thickness and acquisition time of approximately 4.5 min per image. Kinetics of washout were determined using a simple mathematical model. The maximum uptake of the PFC droplets was three times greater at the tumour rim than in muscle, but the washout rate was two to three times slower in the tumour. The results are consistent with leakage of the droplets into the tumour extravascular space due to the hyper-permeability of tumour capillaries. PFC droplets may allow practical and quantitative measurements of blood volume and capillary permeability in tumours with reasonable spatial resolution.
Source: Physics in Medicine and Biology
Authors: Xiaobing Fan, Jonathan N River, Adrian S Muresan, Carmen Popescu, Marta Zamora, Rita M Culp, Gregory S Karczmar
Institutions: University of Chicago, University of Illinois Chicago
Language: English
Subfield: Radiology, Nuclear Medicine and Imaging
Field: Medicine
Domain: Health Sciences
Open Access status: bronze
Funder: National Cancer Institute
OpenAlex ID: W2090504375