Nuclear Magnetic Resonance Imaging: A Review1

Novel manganese and polyester dendrimer-based theranostic nanoparticles for MRI and breast cancer therapy

Therapeutic nanoplatforms are widely used in the diagnosis and treatment of breast cancer due to the merits of enabling high soft-tissue resolution and the availability of numerous therapeutic nanoparticles. It is thus vital to develop multifunctional theranostic nanoparticles for the visualization and dynamic monitoring of tumor therapy. In this study, we designed a manganese-based and hypericin-loaded polyester dendrimer nanoparticle (MHD) for magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and hypericin-based photodynamic therapy (PDT) enhancement. We found that MHD could greatly enhance MRI contrast with a longitudinal relaxivity of 5.8 mM^-1 s^-1 due to the Mn-based paramagnetic dendrimer carrier. Meanwhile, the MRI-guided PDT inhibition of breast tumors could be achieved by the hypericin-carrying MHD and further improved by Mn²⁺-mediated alleviation of the hypoxic microenvironment and the enhancement of cellular ROS. Besides, MHD showed excellent biocompatibility and biosafety with liver and kidney clearance mechanisms. Thus, the high efficiency in MRI contrast enhancement and excellent tumor-inhibiting effects indicate MHD's potential as a novel, stable, and multifunctional nanotheranostic agent for breast cancer.

DBB - A Distorted Brain Benchmark for Automatic Tissue Segmentation in Paediatric Patients

T1-weighted magnetic resonance images provide a comprehensive view of the morphology of the human brain at the macro scale. These images are usually the input of a segmentation process that aims detecting the anatomical structures labeling them according to a predefined set of target tissues. Automated methods for brain tissue segmentation rely on anatomical priors of the human brain structures. This is the reason why their performance is quite accurate on healthy individuals. Nevertheless model-based tools become less accurate in clinical practice, specifically in the cases of severe lesions or highly distorted cerebral anatomy. More recently there are empirical evidences that a data-driven approach can be more robust in presence of alterations of brain structures, even though the learning model is trained on healthy brains. Our contribution is a benchmark to support an open investigation on how the tissue segmentation of distorted brains can be improved by adopting a supervised learning approach. We formulate a precise definition of the task and propose an evaluation metric for a fair and quantitative comparison. The training sample is composed of almost one thousand healthy individuals. Data include both T1-weighted MR images and their labeling of brain tissues. The test sample is a collection of several tens of individuals with severe brain distortions. Data and code are openly published on BrainLife, an open science platform for reproducible neuroscience data analysis.

Low eddy current RF shielding enclosure designs for 3T MR applications

PURPOSE

Magnetic resonance-compatible medical devices operate within the MR environment while benefitting from the superior anatomic information of MRI. Avoiding electromagnetic interference between such instrumentation and the MR system is crucial. In this work, various shielding configurations for positron emission tomography (PET) detectors were studied and analyzed regarding radiofrequency (RF) shielding effectiveness and gradient-induced eddy current performances. However, the results of this work apply to shielding considerations for any MR-compatible devices.

METHODS

Six shielding enclosure configurations with various thicknesses, patterns, and materials were designed: solid and segmented copper, phosphor bronze mesh (PBM), and carbon fiber composite (CFC). A series of tests was performed on RF shielding effectiveness and the gradient-induced eddy current.

RESULTS

For the shielding effectiveness, the solid copper with various thickness and PBM configurations yield significantly better shielding effectiveness (>15 dB) compared with CFC and segmented configurations. For the gradient-induced eddy current performance, the solid copper shielding configurations with different thicknesses showed significantly worse results, up to a factor of 3.89 dB, compared with the segmented copper, PBM, and the CFC configurations.

CONCLUSIONS

We evaluated the RF shielding effectiveness and the gradient-induced eddy current artifacts of several shielding designs, and only the PBM showed positive outcomes for both aspects. Magn Reson Med 79:1745-1752, 2018. © 2017 International Society for Magnetic Resonance in Medicine.

Targets and probes for non-invasive imaging of β-cells

β-cells, located in the islets of the pancreas, are responsible for production and secretion of insulin and play a crucial role in blood sugar regulation. Pathologic β-cells often cause serious medical conditions affecting blood glucose level, which severely impact life quality and are life-threatening if untreated. With 347 million patients, diabetes is one of the most prevalent diseases, and will continue to be one of the largest socioeconomic challenges in the future. The diagnosis still relies mainly on indirect methods like blood sugar measurements. A non-invasive diagnostic imaging modality would allow direct evaluation of β-cell mass and would be a huge step towards personalized medicine. Hyperinsulinism is another serious condition caused by β-cells that excessively secrete insulin, like for instance β-cell hyperplasia and insulinomas. Treatment options with drugs are normally not curative, whereas curative procedures usually consist of the resection of affected regions for which, however, an exact localization of the foci is necessary. In this review, we describe potential tracers under development for targeting β-cells with focus on radiotracers for PET and SPECT imaging, which allow the non-invasive visualization of β-cells. We discuss either the advantages or limitations for the various tracers and modalities. This article concludes with an outlook on future developments and discuss the potential of new imaging probes including dual probes that utilize functionalities for both a radioactive and optical moiety as well as for theranostic applications.

Use of trimetasphere metallofullerene MRI contrast agent for the non-invasive longitudinal tracking of stem cells in the lung

Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) is a commonly used, non-invasive imaging technique that provides visualization of soft tissues with high spatial resolution. In both a research and clinical setting, the major challenge has been identifying a non-invasive and safe method for longitudinal tracking of delivered cells in vivo. The labeling and tracking of contrast agent labeled cells using MRI has the potential to fulfill this need. Contrast agents are often used to enhance the image contrast between the tissue of interest and surrounding tissues with MRI. The most commonly used MRI contrast agents contain Gd(III) ions. However, Gd(III) ions are highly toxic in their ionic form, as they tend to accumulate in the liver, spleen, kidney and bones and block calcium channels. Endohedral metallofullerenes such as trimetallic nitride endohedral metallofullerenes (Trimetasphere®) are one unique class of fullerene molecules where a Gd3N cluster is encapsulated inside a C80 carbon cage referred to as Gd3N@C80. These endohedral metallofullerenes have several advantages over small chelated Gd(III) complexes such as increased stability of the Gd(III) ion, minimal toxic effects, high solubility in water and high proton relativity. In this study, we describe the evaluation of gadolinium-based Trimetasphere® positive contrast agent for the ​in vitro labeling and in vivo tracking of human amniotic fluid-derived stem cells within lung tissue. In addition, we conducted a 'proof-of-concept' experiment demonstrating that this methodology can be used to track the homing of stem cells to injured lung tissue and provide longitudinal analysis of cell localization over an extended time course.

[Recent developments in technics of nuclear magnetic resonance imaging]

Three main aspects of presently developed nuclear magnetic resonance imaging techniques are pointed out in this short review: first, the importance of Fourier transform as reconstruction technique is recalled; secondly, the problem of the choice of the magnetic field value is raised and third, new trends in magnetic imaging are noticed such as the use of nuclei other than hydrogen or the improvement of phase contrast methods.