title: Imaging of plaque cellular activity with contrast enhanced MRI.
abstract: A new horizon in imaging of atherosclerotic plaque is the use of contrast enhancing agents to investigate molecular and cellular markers. This chapter reviews the state of the art in contrast-enhanced imaging of atherosclerotic plaque. Topics include enhancement characteristics of different plaque tissues, modeling of dynamic contrast-enhanced MRI, and targeted contrast agents. For each topic, specific techniques for image acquisition and post-processing are presented. Quantitative results are summarized for experiments conducted with histological validation. Finally, potential applications of these techniques in detecting vulnerable lesions and in drug development are discussed.
authors.affiliation: University of Washington, Seattle, WA.
authors.forename: William
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Kerwin
mesh_terms: D015415:Biomarkers; D003287:Contrast Media; D006801:Humans; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D058226:Plaque, Atherosclerotic
chemical_list: D015415:Biomarkers; D003287:Contrast Media