MR relaxivity measurement of iron oxide nano-particles for MR lymphography applications

The aim of this study was to assess the T1, T2 and T2* relaxivity of Ultrasmall Super Paramagnetic Iron Oxide (USPIO) nano-particles in vitro and in vivo in rat models with magnetic resonance imaging at 1.5T. First, relaxation properties of USPIO nano-particles at different doses were measured using related SE and GRE MR imaging protocols. The relation between dose and relaxation were observed which is linear; Higher dose of the nano-particles means higher relaxivity. Based on this relation, an optimum protocol can be proposed for obtaining the best image contrast at each situation. Then detection ability of MRI protocols was studied for USPIO nano-particles with injection of the particles in the rat. The optimum MR protocols were used to observe the signal change of lymph nodes in rat.