Assessment of spin-lattice T1 and spin-spin T2 relaxation time measurements in breast cell cultures at 1.5 Tesla as a potential diagnostic tool in vitro

Abstract

Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is a critically important tool in current medicine. This dynamic diagnostic method allows for detailed and accurate imaging of the human body and diagnosis of metabolic changes by magnetic resonance spectroscopy (MRS) assays. Our work presented herein shows measurement of spin-lattice T1 and spin-spin T2 relaxation time as an indicator of changes in cellular morphology. MRI spin-lattice T1 and spin-spin T2 relaxation time measurements are innovative experiments that provide a detailed picture of the biological microenvironment within cell cultures. Here, we used two types of cell cultures: cancerous and healthy breast cells. By measuring spin-lattice T1 and spin-spin T2 relaxation time in cancerous and healthy cell cultures we can detect differences and morphological conditions of both cell lines. A number of observations indicate that MRI can detect differences between cancer and healthy cells. In order to obtain a high density of cells for our cellular MRI study, we grew the cells in 3D geometry. In this paper, we underline the potential of quantitative MRI in vitro for future cellular mapping of drug concentration and drug efficiency in cell culture. We have shown that MRI, which is used often for imaging of anatomy, is also a promising technology for specific morphological measurements of cells.