Abstract
Because magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) contrast agents play a vital role in diagnosing diseases, demand for new MRI contrast agents, with an enhanced sensitivity and advanced functionalities, is very high. During the past decade, various inorganic nanoparticles have been used as MRI contrast agents due to their unique properties, such as large surface area, easy surface functionalization, excellent contrasting effect, and other size-dependent properties. This review provides an overview of recent progress in the development of nanoparticle-based T1-weighted MRI contrast agents. The chemical synthesis of the nanoparticle-based contrast agents and their potential applications were discussed and summarized. In addition, the recent development in nanoparticle-based multimodal contrast agents including T1-weighted MRI/computed X-ray tomography (CT) and T1-weighted MRI/optical were also described, since nanoparticles may curtail the shortcomings of single mode contrast agents in diagnostic and clinical settings by synergistically incorporating functionality.
Highlights
Molecular-diagnostic imaging, a field at the intersection of molecular biology and in vivo imaging, has received considerable attention in the past decades due to its diagnostic and clinical promises [1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10]
This review focuses on recent progresses in nanoparticle-based contrast agents for T1-weighted magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and T1-weighted MR/optical
Chen and coauthors have reported on a synthetic strategy of chemical oxidation/reduction reaction in-situ in mesopores, followed by hydrogen reduction, for the fabrication of non-toxic manganese oxide/mesoporous silica nanoparticle (MSN)-based T1-weighted MRI contrast agents with highly comparable imaging performance to commercial Gd-based agents [90]
Summary
Molecular-diagnostic imaging, a field at the intersection of molecular biology and in vivo imaging, has received considerable attention in the past decades due to its diagnostic and clinical promises [1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10]. Representative imaging platforms/techniques include computed X-ray tomography (CT), optical imaging, magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), positron emission tomography (PET), single-photon-emission computed tomography (SPECT), and ultrasound These techniques hold promise because they allow real-time visualization of the cellular functions of living organisms and related molecular interactions, and, importantly, they are noninvasive. Tissue MRI is capable of revealing anatomic details in organs, it is difficult to differentiate normal and diseased cells due to small native relaxation time differences In this context, imaging sensitivity can be enhanced through the use of MRI contrast agents [12,14,17]. We refer interested readers to other review articles for T2-weighted MRI specific nanoparticulate systems (or in other word nanohybrids) [16,25,26,27,28,29,35,36]
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Free) 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call
